"The Cyclists Training Bible: A Complete Training Guide for the Competitive Road Cyclist" by Joe Friel, VeloPress, 1996. $19.95.
Well-known coach and apostle of "periodization" training, Joe Friel presents the most well-written, carefully structured and thoughtfully organized training manual currently available. This excellent text provides a clear explanation of the periodization philosophy (macrocycles, mesocycles, microcycles, bicycles, etc), and gives the reader tons of practical information about the various types of training commonly utilized by top cycling coaches. He does an excellent job of defining speed training, endurance training and power training, and carefully guides the reader through the process of setting up a customized training program. Also included are sections on nutrition, strength training, stretching, fitness assessment and the psychology behind sticking to a year-long training routine. Included in the appendix are weekly workout charts extending through the next 5 years or so, along with detailed instructions on their proper use. This book should be required reading for anyone aspiring to successful competitive road cycling. Although the highly structured programs advocated in "The Cyclists Training Bible" may not be practicable or desirable for everyone, there is much useful information to be gleaned from this professionally produced book that would otherwise require years of experimentation for the self-trained cyclist. The reader should keep in mind, however, that this book focuses entirely on training, and does not approach other important topics, such as race strategy.
"Training for Cycling: The Ultimate Guide to Improved Performance" by Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter, Berkley Publishing Group, 1992. $13.95.
If you can afford only one cycling book on your shelf, this is a good one to get. Although some of the material is beginning to look a little outdated, and the authors plug their training camp throughout, the enthusiasm and experience of these two accomplished Olympic cyclists ooze from every page of this valuable book. Scattered throughout the easy-to-read text are hundreds of tips about training, nutrition, cross-training, and especially racing. Rarely have I seen such a concentration of information of direct practical importance to the actual process of participating in, and winning, bicycle races. Both writers do excellent jobs of explaining sprint training, sprint tactics, time-trialing, cornering, and similar techniques essential to successful racing. Throughout the book one finds enjoyable examples taken from these riders' international cycling careers. This is definitely a fun book to read and a practical racing guide written by a couple of true cycling legends.
"Sport Coach Manual for Competitive Cycling" by the USA Cycling Coaching Staff, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. 1996. $19.95.
The Sport Coach manual represents the USCF's first effort to provide aspiring cycling coaches with some guidance. Luckily, future editions are planned. Having apparently been written by committee, this haphazard publication shows only sporadic evidence of editing. Readers are treated to such memorable sentences (I use the term loosely) as these: "The riders must move in a straight line as the lead rider pulls up track and keep a steady pace. If the pace is not steady; to fast and gaps in the line will open, to slow and the group will bunch up and overlap." The determined and persistent reader can, however, glean some useful information from this grossly overpriced book. Prospective coaches get a useful discussion of important administrative and management issues, along with a good overview of a coach's responsibilities and duties. One chapter provides a good discussion of pacelines and echelons that will be of interest to new riders. Brief overviews of training program design, physiology and nutrition are included. Although the 9-page section on track racing could prove useful, the section on cyclo-cross seems misplaced in a book of this type. Most things in this book, except the first few chapters, are available in infinitely better form from other, more readily available, books. I guess the USCF had to start somewhere!
========== Randall Legeai, New Orleans Bicycle Club (New Orleans, Louisiana, USA) (504) 866-6640 http://www.gnofn.org/nobc/