# please recommend a training book



## Bob Ross (Apr 18, 2006)

My wife asks "I'm looking for a training book geared towards recreational cycling. I'd like to become faster for club rides but I'm not looking to peak for a race. I'm looking to be able to be consistent through a long Spring, Summer, Fall cycling season."

She was training with a cycling coach for the past 4 or 5 months, but he seemed more oriented towards racers, and she found that his training regimen not only didn't encourage her to do the types of rides she enjoys most, it seemed to conspire against her being able to do them! She'd be so beat from her mid-week training that when it came time to do a fast, or hilly (or fast _and_ hilly) club ride on Saturday she'd be wiped out.

She already has Joe Friel's book. Any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


----------



## leon2982 (May 20, 2007)

*Joe Friels Training Bible*

It's got to be one of the best ever.


----------



## logansites (Jan 4, 2007)

It sounds like she just needs to ride more. She isnt doing races so she doesnt need a really specific training plan. She already knows what kinds of rides she likes so she should just do more of them. If she wants to get stronger in the hills then she should ride more in the hills. Maybe she should just cut back on the mid-week training. Not take it out necessarily but it sounds like she doesnt have enough recovery time before Saturday.


----------



## ctoestreich (Aug 14, 2008)

Here are a few others I have in my library

Food For Fitness
The Lance Armstrong Performance Program

The Joe Friel book is the best.


----------



## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

Base Building for Cyclists is good too.


----------



## dead flag blues (Aug 26, 2004)

Training Bible, 4th edition.


----------



## muscleendurance (Jan 11, 2009)

the LAPP, its more of an endurance/off season book perfect for building the gains your wifes after, endurance and some mid (end?) speed, with guidelines for heavier speed workouts if she wants them later.


----------



## MontyCrisco (Sep 21, 2008)

Before I got into the Training Bible, I read "Smart Cycling" by Arnie Baker. It's a bit dated now, but still a great book and has just enough information to help someone figure out how to train, and where to look when they want to get to the next step. It's 10 years out of print but still available on the internet.


----------



## PG_Gary (Jan 21, 2008)

_Fitness Cycling_ by DeDe Dement Barry and Michael Barry might be a good choice for what your wife is after. It is geared more towards folks training for long touring rides and charity centuries. The only thing I didn't like was the first 2 - 3 chapters went over some very basic things like the different types of bikes, what a caliper brake is, types of cycling clothing, etc. I'm sure it's helpful to someone, but it felt like filler.

Friel's books are great, as is _Performance Cycling: Training for Power, Endurance, and Speed_ by Dave Morris, however, they are definately written with racers in mind.


----------



## bill (Feb 5, 2004)

logansites said:


> It sounds like she just needs to ride more. She isnt doing races so she doesnt need a really specific training plan. She already knows what kinds of rides she likes so she should just do more of them. If she wants to get stronger in the hills then she should ride more in the hills. Maybe she should just cut back on the mid-week training. Not take it out necessarily but it sounds like she doesnt have enough recovery time before Saturday.


ditto.

there is the mystique around "training," when all training is about is doing what you want to do in sufficient dosages to be able to do it. there really isn't a whole lot more to it. If you're tired, rest. if you're rested, hit it. hit it high, hit it low, hit it in between, because that's what riding is.
people worry about having the discipline, some people just don't want to think about it, and some people are plain hoping that someone else can do more for them than they can do for themselves, so they hire coaches and such.
don't get me wrong -- I read books and scour magazines and such for drills and I talk to people who seem to know what they're doing, but I come more and more back to this.
and if she's not racing, there is less need to recreate race dynamics through specific drills, which can be hard to do and does require some perspective. she just has to do more of what she wants to be able to do.


----------



## muscleendurance (Jan 11, 2009)

yep (bill) thats pretty much my philosophy of training too (having been there and got the T with all the more scientific approaches), its pretty simple, but most people just dont accept its actually so simple (I WAS one of them)! - the hard bit is just doing it.


----------

