What cycling taught me about coding

Alb — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 20:19:43 +0000

Hey devs!
I’m Alberto, a full-stack developer from Italy who loves two things: writing code and riding my bike.

Over the years, I realized cycling and coding have more in common than I ever thought. Here are a few lessons from the road that perfectly apply to life as a developer.

The uphill = The learning curve

When you face a steep climb, your legs burn and you feel like giving up.
That’s exactly how it feels when learning a new framework or debugging a nasty issue.

It’s painful at first, but every pedal stroke (or line of code) takes you closer to the top. And when you finally reach it, the view is worth the struggle.

The flat road = Consistency

Cycling on flat terrain isn’t glamorous, but it builds stamina.
In coding, the “flat road” is made of small, daily habits:

writing tests
refactoring
cleaning up your code

Not exciting, but absolutely essential for long-term growth.

The downhill = Flow state

After the climb, comes the downhill. Fast, smooth, and pure joy.
It’s the same feeling when your GSAP animation finally works, or when you deploy and everything runs perfectly.

That’s when you enter the flow state, and it feels amazing.

The gear = Your tools

On the bike, gears and equipment help you adapt to any terrain.
As a dev, tools like Vite, GSAP, or SCSS are your gears.

Choosing the right one for the right context makes the journey smoother.

The journey matters

Whether cycling or coding, it’s not just about reaching the finish line. It’s about the process, the people you meet, and the challenges you overcome along the way.