165. Phil Cavell: The Cycling Addiction

This week, James is joined by the bicycle polymath himself, Phil Cavell. Cyclist, bike fitter, author, writer, speaker, racer, shop owner, bike designer, wrench and generally very clever bloke, Phil, together with friend and long-term business partner, Julian Walls, helped pioneer bike fitting back in the early 2000s, opening Europe’s first dedicated bike fit studio, Cyclefit, in London on 2003.

Over the years, Phil has worked with top pros like the Trek team and a young Tom Pidcock, to amateurs from all walks of life. Bu whoever they are, they are all concerned with one thing – staying fit and getting the best out of cycling a bike.

Phil has written numerous articles for Cyclist magazine – we are real paper magazine you can buy in a real shop, issue 178 out now! – but more importantly, he's penned several books, the most recent of which, The Cycling Addiction (Bloomsbury), which we discuss today. Concerning ‘suffering, speed and the search for meaning on two wheels’, The Cycling Addiction seeks to discover what it is that draws us to such a punishing sport, and what functions of the mind, body and evolution are responsible for cyclists producing extraordinary feats of endurance, even to the point of death. But this isn’t just a chat about the physiology. Phil talks about his own experiences and others’ from a philosophical and emotional point of view, including the idea that cycling for some is a mechanism of control, identity anchor and self-esteem booster. Who hasn't got a little tingle opening Strava and seeing a new gold medal?

Chat begins at 6.17

The Cycling Addiction by Phil Cavell is out now, published by Bloomsbury.

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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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