Brendan McMahon, 55, is a senior partner at PwC who has cycled all of his life, racing competitively from the age of fourteen, well before starting his career in finance.
But if he has had a head start, C-suite cyclists are enthusiastically starting to catch up.
He recently took part in the Haute Route Pyrénées, dubbed 'the endurance ride for hedge-funders', a professional-standard cycling race where participants cover over 800km in a week and climb more than 20,000m.
Thirty years ago someone like McMahon was a rarity in the Haute Route Pyrénées; today the story is rather different. At this year's race he met 'entrepreneurs, people from Silicon Valley, technology investors, bankers, accountants, litigation lawyers'. There has been, he says, 'a very significant shift in the people who are cycling'.
HotChillee, a company that organises a large number of 'professional events for amateurs', confirms McMahon's observation. The demographic of their rider is an 'HNW male A-type, between 35-55 years' and their key sectors are 'banking and finance, technology, media, legal and sport'; most are business owners or executive level.
The huge increase in CEOs and MDs taking part in such events cannot simply be put down to hundreds of simultaneous midlife crises. No, the reasons are much broader, from a traditional motivator such as showing off to newer spurs such as networking, raising money for charity and even honing your boardroom skills.
While recreational cycling can be as cheap as you want, executives getting ready for competitions can indulge expensive tastes.
According to HotChillee, these riders 'typically spend over £4,000 a year on cycling, will ride ten-plus events a year of which three are international events' and will purchase a new bike every two to three years. The Pinarello Rokh will set you back £2,695, while a Dogma F8 — the model used by Team Sky, including Chris Froome — will cost £7,000-£11,000.
It's not yet the same outlay as a sportscar, but I've heard of a surgeon spending £2,500 on wheels alone and lawyers flying to America to have frames custom-built by companies like Parlee, which will fit your bike to you just as a tailor would your new suit. For this, prices go north of £10,000. Add to that the gadgets and kit and you have a whole other world of spending opportunity.
Companies like Rapha produce high-end clothing in a mix of technical fabrics and high-quality merino wool to help you look the part both when racing and when cycling in the city.
Training for these races need no longer consume your every spare hour either. Thanks to developments in sport science, days of training can be replaced with high-intensity sessions focusing on power, allowing those who are time-poor to train around work.
You don't even need to be in premium shape when you start as it's a low-impact sport, nor do you need to book courts or find teammates, so you can cycle however, wherever and whenever you feel.
The Wattbike — essentially a sophisticated exercise bike — is a great example. It has been developed in association with British Cycling and allows at-home riders to replicate the exact setup of their racing bikes and the feel of cycling on the road indoors.
You would expect this sort of high-level technology (even a basic model will set you back £1,695) to be used mainly by professionals but, says Tom Crampton, marketing manager at Wattbike UK, the majority of sales come from the 'in-home market'. In fact, their target demographic is the 'London City boy' between the ages of 35 and 55 with high levels of disposable income but little time.
Andrew Hawes, MD of wine shipper Mentzendorff & Co, took up cycling again in his forties as for him it provided 'the perfect balance to the demands of a young family and quickly developing career'. Getting out on the bike is also a great release — a way to clear your head and work through the problems of the day.
Training first thing in the morning, as many do, has the added benefit of kickstarting your metabolism and releasing endorphins that boost your energy for the next four hours and, studies have shown, dramatically improve your performance in the office.
Cycling also allows you to take the key characteristics that help you succeed in the workplace — discipline, ambition and determination — out of the office. Pushing yourself that bit further and never being satisfied that you have reached your peak are what top-level business is all about; cycling is a natural extension, only with great scenery and fresh air rather than drab office furniture and air-conditioning.
But you can't do a Grand Tour alone. "Cycling is quite unique in being a team sport played by individuals," says Hawes.
It fosters a supportive network — you may well be competing on performance-tracking app Strava to get better times than your colleagues, but you need a team around you for motivation, to support you when you're tired by sheltering you within the peloton and for conversation over the traditional coffee stops. This collegiate atmosphere lends itself to networking.
Brendan McMahon says he has broadened his business network as a result of cycling and he puts that down to the fact that the people he meets at races are 'like-minded, both professionally and from a sports perspective'. Cycling is now the common factor in many client meetings and a mutual appreciation of the sport can be the starting point of business relationships.
It is also a hobby that fosters collaboration and trust. As McMahon says, 'If I'm going down a mountain at 50-60mph and I'm six inches away from somebody's back wheel, I need to trust that that individual knows what they are doing.' This just doesn't happen on a golf course.
In addition to helping your business, cycling can help more broadly: 10 per cent of cyclists, according to Mintel, have taken part in a sponsored cycle ride. For many in the City, cycling for a cause can be a great philanthropic outlet. Lawrence Dallaglio, former England rugby captain and founder of the biennial Dallaglio Cycle Slam, cycles for this reason — and to keep himself active now he is no longer on the field.
His Cycle Slam attracts headline sponsorship from Citibank, Bollinger and Virgin Media and this year they are on target to raise seven figures yet again. Everyone who signs up commits to raising a minimum of £3,000 for the chosen causes and while the Cycle Slam is open to everyone of all abilities and professions, Dallaglio does notice that 'there is undoubtedly a group of C-suite, very driven people who take part'.
Everyone I have spoken to, from McMahon (who rides to raise money for Room to Read) to Hawes and Dallaglio (who ride for the Dallaglio Foundation's causes), comments on the sense of achievement cycling gives them.
This feeling is the reason Dallaglio chose cycling for his fundraising event, and he prizes its teamwork aspect too: "It must be great to climb Everest and stand at the top and look out over the amazing view, but it is much greater when you climb Everest with other people and you can hold hands on the top. You get that shared sense of achievement, and that is where the Cycle Slam was born."
Perhaps for some, cycling started as a midlife crisis — men turning to a low-impact sport as an escape from work, an excuse to go on a trip to France and show off in Lycra — but it isn't that any more. It has become a popular part of business communication, networking and conversation, boosting efficiency and driving ambition and philanthropy along the way. Time to gear up.
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