I live far away from any mountains; but I love them. Behold, my favorite mountain! I love the way it stands out, and looks so strong and bold. Visions of it spring into my mind whenever I hear the French horn flourish that opens the Rosenkavalier First Waltz Sequence.

The occasional visits to mountains when I was a kid excited me. But would I like them so much if I had to ride a bicycle through them to get everywhere I wanted to go?

As a life-long flatland dweller, I\’m not so sure. If I  were to be transported — permanently — to high altitude, it would probably take several weeks for me to adapt enough to the thinner air to be able to ride at all. And much longer before I gained the lungs and heart to go for long rides, even UN-loaded. Nairo Quintana I\’m not!

My legs would need a lot of adapting, too. So would my head, if I had to ride along sharp switchbacks with no railing along the edge of the road. Looking down such a precipice makes me feel vertiginous; even though I\’m not afraid of heights per se.

Then there\’s the adjusting that my bicycle would need. If I had to tackle steep climbs on a regular basis, my 12-30 cassette might be too small! Remember that, when it comes to cogs, bigger is easier. And my 50/34 crank set might be too big; for chain rings, smaller is easier.

Maybe I\’ll be better off enjoying mountains vicariously: looking at pictures of them; and the lupine; and the snow. I enjoy pics of the mountain wildlife; and pics of the Tour de France mountain stages.

Oh, and one last thing: don\’t make mountains out of molehills.