BIKEMONKEY

When most people start bicycling, they’ll do anything to avoid hills. Sometimes they’ll ride miles out of their way to miss a climb, or drive their car to a flat area to ride.

As they get stronger and learn how to use their gears more efficiently, hills are a challenge to be conquered.

But for some, hills seem to be the sole motivation for riding a bike. These mountain goats don’t just measure their rides in miles, but in total elevation gain.

They gather in places like Pittsburgh for the Dirty Dozen, Portland for De Ronde van Oeste Portlandia, or Los Angeles for the Fargo Street climb to find the conquer the highest urban mountaintops. Or they head to Mount Washington in New Hampshire to race to the top of that fabled climb ….