We’re lucky to live in a time where cycling is quickly rising in popularity. Where there is a place for everyone in the sport; from the professionals pushing the limits of their body, to those of us commuting by bike.It is the freedom of two wheels that keeps us going back.
“Ride a bike. Ride a bike. Ride a bike” – Cycling Quote by Fausto Coppi
That motivation to push harder, go faster, get better. And as you’ll see from this plethora of cycling quotes we’ve put together, there is a tremendous amount of inspiration to be found in the simple act of pedalling. From Einstein to Cavendish, inspiration and motivation comes from all corners and greatness.
The best cycling quotes from cyclists
The quotes we wanted to list first are those from the heart of the sport itself. Those pros that power across hills and coasts and push themselves to the limit. From competitors in the Tour de France to occupants of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, here are some inspirational quotes from the very best of us.
“Ride as much or as little, as long or as short as you feel. But ride” – Eddy Merckx
“The race is won by the rider who can suffer the most” – Eddy Merckx
“Don’t buy upgrades, ride up grades” – Eddy Merckx
“When my legs hurt, I say: “Shut up legs! Do what I tell you to do!” – Jens Voigt
“If you go (with a break), you can either win or not win. If you don’t go for it, you definitely won’t win” – Jens Voigt
“It never gets easier, you just get faster” – Greg LeMond
“I have always struggled to achieve excellence. One thing that cycling has taught me is that if you can achieve something without a struggle it’s not going to be satisfying” – Greg LeMond
“It doesn’t matter if you’re sprinting for an Olympic gold medal, a town sign, a trailhead, or the rest stop with the homemade brownies. If you never confront pain, you’re missing the essence of the sport” – Scott Martin
“The best rides are the ones where you bite off much more than you can chew, and live through it” – Doug Bradbury
“To me, it doesn’t matter whether it’s raining or the sun is shining or whatever: as long as I’m riding a bike I know I’m the luckiest guy in the world” – Mark Cavendish
“It is the unknown around the corner that turns my wheels” – Heinz Stucke
“The bicycle is a curious vehicle. Its passenger is its engine.” – John Howard
“Crashing is part of cycling as crying is part of love.” – Johan Museeuw
“As long as I breathe, I attack.” – Bernard Hinault
“My biggest fear is not crashing on a bike… It’s sitting in a chair at 90 and saying, ‘I wish I had done more.” – Graeme Obree
“I have the impression that cycling is no longer a game but rather an employment… a job.” – Bernard Hinault
“When your legs scream stop and your lungs are bursting, that’s when it starts. That’s the hurt locker. Winners love it there.” – Chris McCormack
“When you’re turning the crankset, you’re riding the bike. When you’re coasting, you’re just along for the ride.” – Ned Overend
Bike quotes from other people
Lots of cycling quotes come from professional cyclists who’ve completely immersed themselves in the sport. But, they also come from people in all other walks of life, such as writers, politicians, designers and scientists. Here are some more inspirational cycling quotes from people who you might know… wink*.
John F. Kennedy[/caption]
“Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bike” – John F. Kennedy
“Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring” – Desmond Tutu
“When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking” – Arthur Conan Doyle
“Learn to ride a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live.” – Mark Twain
“Life is like a 10-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.” – Charles M. Schultz
“Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the human race.” – H.G. Wells
“Melancholy is incompatible with bicycling.” – James E. Starrs
“The bicycle is the noblest invention of mankind.” – William Saroyan
“Life is like riding a bicycle. In order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein
“I thought of that while riding my bicycle.” – Albert Einstein, in reference to the Theory of Relativity.
“Think of bicycles as ridable art that can just about save the world.” – Grant Petersen
“A bicycle is the finest mode of transport known to man.” – Adam Hart-Davis
“Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There’s something wrong with a society that drives a car to workout in a gym.” – Bill Nye
“When you ride a bike and you get your heart rate up and you’re out, after 30 or 40 minutes your mind tends to expand; it tends to relax.” – [former] US President George W. Bush
“Whoever invented the bicycle deserves the thanks of humanity” – Lord Charles Beresford
“Every time you miss your childhood, ride on a bicycle!” – Mehmet Murat ildan
“Bicycle means simplicity and simplicity means happiness” – Mehmet Murat ildan
“Nature loves bicycle because no harm to nature comes from the bicycle!” – Mehmet Murat ildan
“Truly, the bicycle is the most influential piece of product design ever.” – Hugh Pearman
“Riding bicycles will not only benefit the individual doing it, but the world at large.” – Udo E. Simonis
“Cycling has encountered more enemies than any other form of exercise.” – 19th-century author Louis Baudry de Saunier
“There’s a certain amount of freedom involved in cycling: you’re self-propelled and decide exactly where to go. If you see something that catches your eye to the left, you can veer off there, which isn’t so easy in a car, and you can’t cover as much ground walking” – David Byrne
“Cycling is good for people in all ways: their health, their well-being, and it does no damage to the environment” – Jeremy Corbyn
“I’m in control, liberated and free, when I’m on my bike.” – Erin O’Connor
“Cyclers see considerable more of this beautiful world than any other class of citizens. A good bicycle, well applied, will cure most ills this flesh is heir to.” – Dr. K. K. Doty
“Death may have no master, but the bicycle is, most emphatically, not its slave.” – James E Starts
“Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia.” – H.G. Wells
“A raggedy ride beats a dressed up walk.” – Simon Peat
“Life may not be about your bike, but it sure can help you get through it.” – Hallman
“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.” – Ernest Hemingway
We hope you can find some motivation in these cycling quotes, or in the very least that they might get you back out on the bike.
