Towards a Sustainable Philosophy of Endurance Sport: Cycling for Life

Ron Welters (1962) is a researcher at the Philosophy and Science Studies department of the Institute for Science in Society of Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He is a non-delegate member of the executive board of the European Association for the Philosophy of Sport. He taught courses in the Philosophy of Sport, Food Ethics, Ethos of Science, Scientific Writing, Science & Media and Effective Communication in Biomedical Research. In the autumn of 2018 he defended his Phd-thesis entitled Cycling for Life.

Our planet is inhabited by humans who are relentlessly training themselves and optimising their condition. This may seem self-focussed, but it may as well have a broader scope: we train ourselves to become better citizens or to contribute to a just and sustainable society. The concept of training can assume many shapes. This monograph focuses on one particular dimension, namely endurance sport. The phenomenon of cycling has brought endurance sport within reach of the masses. The question is, how can cycling as an endurance sport contribute not only to self-knowledge, but also to self-improvement (on the individual level) and to sustainability (on the societal level)?

Ron Welters is a dedicated long distance cyclist and runner who aims to practice what he preaches: exploring physical challenges along the vertical axis of human existence and living a sustainable life.

‘For me, cycling represents a return to the primal human of the savannahs, who during a hunt spends the entire day running, and is constantly high in the process.’ (Peter Sloterdijk).