Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #639058 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Synopsis
A training guide on ways to achieve optimum cycling performance.

Customer Reviews

Cheap and concise. What more do you want?
I'm a fairly good recreational cyclist who wants to get even better. I'm never going to be a pro though, so i didn't want anything too hardcore. This book I found to be perfect. It has techniques on how to breathe, pedal like a pro and wyas of enhancing power, endurance, speed, weight training and heart zones. I don't know what else to say. this book was totally what i was looking for.

If you are already strong roadie then maybe this book would be too basic for you, but you never know, at this price it might be worth a look anyway!

Great for new cyclists (with heart monitors)
For recreational cyclists who want to get more serious about their training, this book is an ideal starting point. I've been racing for a season-and-a-half, and I reckon I was at the development stage which would benefit most from the content. Accomplished cyclists should look elsewhere.

As promised by the book's title, readers will almost certainly make significant gains in power, speed and endurance by putting these training techniques into practice. Lots of good advice and some eye-opening information on interval training, strength work, weight training and training schedules. The book concentrates a lot on training with a heart monitor - they're not expensive, but if you're buying this book with a view to following the advice (of course you are!), you'll definitely need to buy one.

The author does a great job of not just lecturing the reader with his own opinion, but rather offers the views of others and provides the supporting evidence. The only downside is that the reader could be left confused by the apparently conflicting advice. Furthermore, I never did get my head around some of the cycling technique explanations - adding some simple diagrams would have helped.

The most useful part of the book is near to the end, where the author explains in detail how to train and how to build a training schedule. That information is worth the outlay alone... I just wish this chapter went on for another 20 pages or so, because it stops just when it gets really interesting, which is the (rather harsh) reason for docking one star.

That said, the book is well written and even amusing. It doesn't get too technical, it doesn't go into kit selection and it doesn't get boring. Most importantly, if you're relatively new to racing / time trialling / mountain biking, then buying this book will change the way you train and yes, you'll perform better as a result.

Just right for a Novice
On return to cycling after a four year lay off and being a competitive person, I felt it would be helpful to get some views on how to train without over doing it. This book looked interesting and carried a reasonable price which I felt would not be wasted if it didn't cover all the areas I was interested in.

I found the book to be very helpful, splitting up into sections which one could then go and practice, however, I found it quite hard to put down as the author was able to keep my attention and interest all the way through. There were a couple of sections on mountain biking which were of less interest as I prefer road riding, but, they did appear to have some useful content. Whether or not I will ever enter a road race remains to be seen, but, it is a book one can keep going back to to refresh ones mind.

Overall it is a very good book and well worth the money.