163. The art of the climb, with Simon Warren

This week, James and Will are joined by cyclist and author Simon Warren. It seems mad to think it, but when the idea of a clickbait listicle was just a twinkle in the internet’s eye, Simon was busy writing an actual book about cycling, which quickly became the text that defined a genre: 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs released in 2010. Featuring everything from Box Hill to Bealach na Bà, 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs documented – you guessed it –one hundred of the greatest cycling climbs across Britain in meticulous style, from statistics and geography to descriptions of the roads themselves. Simon has written more than a dozen books since, all dedicated to discovering and documenting the best climbs around the world, from Tour de France stalwarts to dusty tracks in Tuscany and cobbled bergs in Belgium.

In this episode, Simon talk about what makes good climb good but a great climb better; elevation versus length; the importance of the struggle; how Simon finds his climbs; how to plan your attack on a daunting climb; and of course, what the best climbs in the world are.

Simon has just re-released an updated version of Cycling Climbs of Scotland (Adventure Books). Plus, you can check out all of Simon's UK climbs in his one mega app, 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs App, available in all the usual places.

Chat begins at 5.57

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This episode is brought to you by Boyd Cycling, whose full range of hand-built wheels can be found at boydcycling.com...

...and the Maserati Grecale SUV car. For more information, go to maserati.com

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