Cycling Books

I laughed, I cried. What more can you expect from a book about the sport you love?

This book had me laughing so hard by the second story, that I thought I would cry. Many of the stories are very funny, a few are a little weird, and some are downright scary. A true treasure trove for someone who reads and rides.

However, I also agree with the earlier review that the photo of the fatal attempt to jump the Great Wall should not be included in the book, or at least addressed in a different fashion.

There aren't too many books about bicycling, so I'll take whatever I can get. But most of the stories in this collection are just mediocre. A couple are truly poorly written. However, if you can wade through all of them, you'll find a couple true gems. The story about a bike ride through New Orleans only months after Katrina was my favorite. The short one about a man's first indoor spinning class had me laughing out loud. Buy it and then pass it on to a friend. It won't be a book you'll want to reread.

I expected more.
There are funny stories, sad stories, historical etc.
Real pell mell.

I was skeptical to purchasing this book as the title alone does not say much. However, being the bike geek that I am, I took the chance and this was by far one of the best book buys of 2007. Think of it like that movie you never heard anything about and then buy a ticket, only to have it turn out to be one of the best films ever. In all honestly, I am not yet finished with the book yet (saving it for an upcoming long flight) but so far, it has had me laughing out load on several occasions... And I don't laugh out load.

Provided the information I needed to get started in Bicycling. It is well written and easy to understand.

Great book, very easy to understand and follow all the instructions and tips. Provides a lot of information to start in the wonderfull world of traveling by bike.

I just started this last night, I have road ridden on a mountain bike for years, on a bike that has been refit for me several times, this book is very helpful, I would like to ride more and this will help me try some different bikes. My local bike store is full of nice people,but since I am not a serious rider,and am a short heavy woman, they have little time to help me. this book fill that need.

This book is a fantastic reference for the cycling enthusiast. It quite thoroughly covers absolutely everything you can think of when it comes to cycling. I highly recommend it.

Spiffy looking and full of good information. Don't tour without taking a look at this first!

Great book. Used it when I moved back to AZ to start exploring new stuff. It is a bit dated, but all guidebooks are to some degree. If you expect a guide book to walk you through every foot of trail and spoonfeed you what pretty trees to look at along the way you might as well spend your time surfing the internet for nice pictures of trails. What fun is exploring if it's all in the book?

I used this book as all guidebooks should be used...to get you to the best trailhead and save you from wasting valuable exploration time. To that end, it is a great resource and I'd recommend it to anyone looking to experience AZ mountain biking.

My goodness, book reviews can be deceiving. Especially when an author asks good friends to write positive reviews to help sell a book. One reviewer wrote; "he's (the author) ridden every one (trail) at least twice so the information is very accurate." This is far from the truth. The author wrote about accessing trails where the access was lost to developement years before he wrote the book. He couldn't have ridden the trail even once. The distances listed between turns on existing trails are off by so much you'll find yourself stopping and turning around after you don't see any turn where he says there will be one. Like bikeboy stated in his review, the book is too much filler, the maps are too small to be helpful, the book is too bulky to be carried in a pack, and not a helpful guidebook. No local shops even carry the book because they say it will get you lost. They sell much more accurate local trail guidebooks. My husband and I use guidebooks wherever we travel and this one is the least helpful we have seen.

This thing weighs in at a whopping 19 ounces. Way too much paper filler with all sorts of peripheral information about mountain biking in general, but not enough specific details about the best Arizona trails. The maps were done with a GPS, but a gray line drawn by a computer over a b&w topo that covers only 1/4 page just does not get it. You've probably heard the expression that a camel is a horse designed by committee. This is a book written by a knowledgable mountain biker then stuffed into the Falcon/Globe-Pequot format. This fomulaic (sp?) approach to a mountain bike guide just doesn't work. The local guides and maps are cheaper, better and lighter.

Each time I return to this book I recognize how many little extras it includes, such as vertical profiles, several ways to find or select a trail, a good place to satisfy post-ride munchies, or the phone number of a local bike shop in a nearby town for an emergency repair.

As a 4th generation native of Arizona, I thought I knew my way around, but this book has paid off in directing me to a lot of out of the way trails I never would have found or even heard of swapping ideas with local riders. Do not overlook or underestimate the many "honorable mention" rides included in each chapter.

There's another popular book on Arizona mountain bike trails that is sort of a cartoon. Buy that if you want laughs, but buy Mountain Bike America: Arizona if you want a serious reference tool to get the most out of your visits to and around Arizona.

I bought this for my brother, an avid mt. biker in scottsdale. He loved it, and used it the first weekend he got it to find a new trail.

I recently purchased a recumbent bike, and was interested in learning more about them. There are not many books about recumbents, but this book was just what I was looking for. It gives the history of the bikes, some of the design issues, and a review of the industry. Many people trying to set bicycle speed records are using recumbents, and the book covers a lot of these topics in depth. Worthwhile reading.

I ordered this book for my husband and he enjoyed it very much. He keeps it out for reference and there are many irems he can refer to. Very good, informative book. Very rapid shipping .

MINUS 5 stars-save your money
Vague. Covers mostly recumbent racing of decades gone by (who cares)-coverage of so called "modern" recumbents is little. Most brands covered have gone by the wayside.

So called "Homebuilder's" section elaborates on the obvious with a few small dark pics. Very few pics in the book and the ones in there are small, dark and black & white. The color pics in the center of the book, of course, cover racing.

I bought Gunnar Fehlau's book, "The Recumbent Bicycle," while shopping for my first recumbent bike. There's a lot of recumbent bicycle information available on the web, but most of it is disjointed.

This book covers the topic of recumbent bicycles in an organized and cohesive way. It introduced me to the different types of recumbents and their merits. The chapter "Basics of Recumbent Design" was particular helpful in contrasting the advantages and disadvantages of short vs. long wheelbase geometries.

The history of recumbents provided interesting background information. The author has a sense of humor. The treatment is technical where required, but at a layman's level. The section on aerodynamics is the only one containing mathematics.

I read the book over the course of several weeks, both before and after buying my bike. The index is comprehensive and that made it easy to lookup various topics when I wanted to refer back to specific points.

The photos and illustrations are good and clear.

If you want to compare specific brands and models, subscribe to the various recumbent bicycle email lists. Read specific product reviews and owner comments at the recumbent and other bicycle web sites. Models change each year so a book detailing specific models would become out of date quickly.

I highly recommend "The Recumbent Bicycle." This is the only book I could find devoted to recumbents, and luckily it's a good one.

The land speed record for a recumbent bicycle under special conditions is 136 mph! Most speed records are more in the area of 65 mph. "Benders" can ride many miles in a day and claim not to feel tired. Those things alone should make any cyclist want to know more about the pros and cons of recumbents. The best advice in the book is to rent different styles of recumbents for personal trial before buying or building.

Many design parameters are discussed for the person who wants to build his own "bent." No actual plans are given, but there are plenty of pictures of different designs others have used. A large number of additional sources are listed.

Much of the book deals with the advantages of a "bent" over a conventional bike. I wish the book had included actual plans for both a short wheel base model and a long wheel base model.

If you have any interest in a "bent," get this book and read it.

A very interesting though at times a little dark and depressing look at professional cycling. If you have even daydreamed about being a pro this eye opening book may make you change your mind. The pressure to use drugs in cycling like many other sports is tremendous. I am content now to just put on a pro jersey and pretend.

This book tells you a number of things that I've never seen in another book. It tells you what it's like to be a pro bike racer who's NOT a star. It tells you what it feels like having taken amphetamines and then racing. It tells you how most of the pro racers make their real living. Kimmage is a pretty good writer, and the story is compelling, if perhaps not riveting. But if you're interested in pro bike racing, you should read this one.

Kimmage rode with some of the greats of cycling, but was only in the cold shadow of greatness in terms of ability. He details in the book the means taken by some cyclists to climb out of the shadows into the sunshine by taking drugs. His book was brave at the time, he was accused of 'spitting in the soup' and lost the friendship of many of his cycling peers for his writing about the drug taking. He was called a liar. But time has revealed through the 'festina affair' who were the liars. A good read, but leaves one feeling a little sad to think that sport in general, not just cycling, can be so diseased.

What's it like to be a wonderfully talented amateur bicycle racer who gets thrown into the meat-grinder of professional cycling? Kimmage answers the question in honest yet depressing detail.

An example: This book explains that the fatigued riders who did not place in the final stage of the Tour wouldn't be tested for dope, so they were free to take amphetamines. Reading "Rough Ride" is a lot like driving by a car crash. You really want to avert your eyes but can't. Kimmage's story of life as a cycling domestique is fascinating.

Kimmage makes it very clear that he is only telling his own personal story and not accusing any other rider in particular. But the practices he exposes clearly indict the entire profession. His revelations of the culture of doping within the peloton brought him withering criticism. He wasn't the first to get in trouble for revealing cycling's nasty underside. Bernard Thévenet almost died of liver failure from overuse of corticoids. When he confessed that doping was the cause of his health problems and that doping was a common practice within the peloton, the 2-time Tour winner suffered terrible opprobrium from the press, his sponsor and his fellow racers.

I believe Kimmage's book is the first (at least in English) to detail at length what life as a professional truly entailed. Since then former professional Erwann Menthéour has also written a memoir about doping in cycling which, to the best of my knowledge, has not been translated. Both he and Kimmage explained that the term for revealing cyclists' doping to the public is called "spitting in the soup". Menthéour's (who was caught using EPO) reply was "People are saying I am spitting in the soup, but it is necessary when it is poison." In the last year the wall of silence regarding doping has come tumbling down and several famous racers have confessed their misdeeds.

Yet Kimmage's book is the seminal tome and writing it was an act of courage.

The book is more than about doping. It details Kimmage's own failure to properly train and prepare for some seasons. He also describes the gut-busting exhaustion that the lesser riders suffer as they work at their limits for their more talented team leaders.

"Rough Ride" is a well-written book about racing in the 1980s but its lessons apply to the present. It is important reading for any cycling fan with an interest in what it takes to produce the spectacle we so enjoy watching.

If you enjoy the sport of cycling this is a brief look into it. I enjoyed the sections about the not-so-classic races that decent pros need to ride to earn a living; too often we only hear about the Tour or the Giro. If you are expecting great, edge of your seat writing, it won't be found here, you'd be better off with "The Rider" for that.

This book is key in begining a triathlon lifestyle. The calculations that are required for the year-round training program seem labourous but once you get started, it is well worth your time. The section on bike maintenance is simple and includes most everything to make you feel like you've been doing the sport for years. Great!

I am a previous distance runner (high school and college) who also enjoys mountain biking and recreational swimming. I have never competed in a triathalon before. For a beginner, this book focused too much on the technical aspects of training for professional triathletes.

Much of the book focused on complex training cycles and tracking methods. I had hoped to see recommended programs for beginners, such as base level resistance training to increase muscle tone and endurance, and base level cardiovascular workouts, followed by guidance for moving to the next level.

I also would have liked a listing of organizations in my area that organize triathalons.

For the most part, this book assumes the reader is already familiar with triathalons and training. I would recommend beginners look elsewhere.

This was the first book I owned on the subject and could not believe the amount of training that the authors recommended one need do to finishi a triathlon. Given that the book is a bit old, I believe that these recommendations are a sign of those times. Nowadays, people know that one can do very well at the sport of triathlon on significantly less training, and I point the interested reader in the direction of books such as "Time-saving ..." and Sleamaker's "SERIOUS Training...". These books are equally scientific, but do not put as much emphasis on having to cover so many miles, but rather inform you on how to spend whatever time you actually have to train.

I would not recommend this book to a newcomer, nor to a seasoned triathlete anymore, but a few years ago I might have...

This is a good book for everyone thinking about triathlons. It offers good advice on choosing equipment, techniques and training programs.
Instead of relying on distance, its programs focus on time and percentage. Since biking encompasses usually 50% of the race, training should focus 50% on biking (unless you're very weak in one of the other legs).

It offers sample worksheets to set up your own program, based on the type of triathlon-sprint to Ironman.

I'm a new transition to triathlons. This book works well for me because I'm prepared to accept the information the book has to offer. The information is objective and the training methods presented appear well organized with technical reasoning backing up the new concepts I learned here. I feel the author is genuinely concerned about the readers success and therefore disagree with other reviewers comments' that the there is too much (unnecessary) training. My thoughts on this matter are that Triathletes need a sufficient amount of training to efficiently compete and I think once again the author backs up the reasons why the training is important . My interpretation of the general training outline presented is that this will prepare one well for the stresses of half ironman competition, but one can adjust up or down from there to suit their racing needs. For a 1994 copyright, this book is well worth the money because the facts, figures, and methods being used appear to be genuine by even today's standards. If you wish to find something exactly for you please visit your local full service health club and pay several hundred dollars for a genuine taylored plan, this is a serious statement for those being extremely serious about this sport. But for the novice like me, this book tells me everything I need to know at this point. See you on the course friends...

Thoroughly entertaining. Insights of the peleton and racing abound. Central to the story is Ben's, the main character's, ethical struggle about doping. This theme is particularly timely given the current state of cycling and the many heroes who have succumb to the promise of power, strength, success and glory through doping. Ben must navigate some very thought provoking, tense, ethically tricky situations. The reader is given the opportunity to examine their own beliefs while gaining some insight into the athlete's strong desire for success and the external forces which can lead an athlete to compromise their ethics. Highly recommmended.

Dave Shields maintains his status as a master
story-teller in this sequel to The Tour. Like his
previous work, it's a fast paced sports thriller
that mimics the excitement and tension of the
Tour de France.

For me, the best part about this book was
learning what goes on below the simple-looking
surface of a bicycle race. Before I read The Race,
I never knew anything of the team nature of the
sport or of the careful tactics that go into
conserving the energy of teams' stars. In the
light of current doping scandals in this and
other sports, the timely exploration of the
ethics of doping is extremely thought-provoking.

As with The Race the plot of The Tour is more
complicated than most sports novels, so be
prepared for some surprises.


Lynn Hoffman, author of The New Short Course in
Wine and the forthcoming bang-BANG from Kunati
Press.(ISBN 1601640005)

Giving only a three star rating to The Tour may be colored by the fact that I read both of the Dave Shields books set during the Tour de France back to back. As a result, The Tour wasn't quite as fresh as it might have been if I had waited a couple of weeks to read it. The first book, The Race, is an exciting quick read (4 stars) about one stage in the Tour de France. The Tour isn't as tight as The Race but it's still a page turner. This isn't great literature but if you like to read, like bikes, like the Tour de France, you'll like The Tour. Each book stands on its own but if you plan to read both, it makes sense to read The Race first as The Tour takes up where The Race ends.

The storyline is very interesting but I found the writing to be a bit distracting. Lines like "Suddenly, like a flame touching petroleum, the cramp consumed his entire muscle." seem a bit over the top and other examples of this are all over the book. Interstingly enough I found his first novel, The Race, not to have this same style and consequently I thought it was a much better read.

I don't generally read sports books, and I know nothing about competitive cycling, so I really wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book. However the characters, the writing and the compelling plot line really drew me in. I was impressed with the intensity of the story, and the way the author weaves a whole bunch of different plot strands - the race, the question of doping, the past history of the participants - together. It was fascinating.

Equally amazing was the way Shields drew me into a world I previously knew nothing about. I *love* novels that, when I finish them, I feel so much smarter and knowledgeable than when I started them (probably because I was raised on Sesame Street and I still expect learning to be fun!) This is one such book. I had no idea, before I read it, that cycling is so complex and such a team sport, full of strategy. During the last Tour de France, I amazed my husband with all my 'inside info' about what was happening. Shields immerses the reader in this world in the course of a compelling and surprising story that centers on a topic always in the news these days.

What really impressed me is how Shields brings out an ambiguity about drug use in cycling. In the media, drug use is presented as an unabashed evil: it's cheating, and it's nasty and it's the downfall of the sport. While Shields acknowledges and to some extent presents this perspective, by putting the reader in the shoes of the athletes riding the Tour, he asks him/her to reconsider big questions - like 'what does it mean for things to be fair or equal anyway?' in light of this issue.

While I'm sure that cyclists will love this book, I would actually recommend it to non-cyclists as well. I think anybody who likes being immersed in another world - readers of historical fiction, for example, or people who like books set in foreign countries - would really enjoy this.

The book is comprehensive, thorough and very readable. The information is applicable to every day activities - not strictly cycling. It's worth every penny!

I had only just opened the package and was browsing the book (it's okay to do that with nonfiction) when I came across an interesting anomaly on page 117: There was no page 117. In fact, the book skipped right from 116 to 133. I took a very close look at the binding of the book, and the pages were all there, wedged closely together in the normal fashion; no pages had been torn out. The pages must have been misnumbered then, right? No, 116 definitely cut off mid-sentence. I searched the book, perhaps 117-132 had been simple misplaced, and not altogether lost? .. Alas, no. I can only assume that this was an error in publishing, and that the book you order would have this too. I imagine that no one else mentioned it before because they hadn't gotten that far in the book before they made their review.

As for the actual content of the book that was there, that can basically be summarized as this: make sure you get a good balance of protein, carbs, and fat -- bike slow for a long time if you want to burn fat, bike HARD and FAST if you want to build muscle. Eat vegetables, the brighter the color, the better. Just read the food pyramid, then increase portions if you are biking a lot and are still hungry. Nothing you don't already know, or couldn't figure out yourself. Oh, and this book is for endurance riders, century riders, and old people, not svelte, strapping, and handsome young 20-something year-old racers.

"The Cyclist's Food Guide" is alot easier to understand than our new food pyramid! I rode the MS Tour of Tanglewood Century last year and had a wonderful experience. True, this was not a timed event but I felt great before, during and after. Clark's knowledge helped me through that and I'm grateful.

As a doctor who specializes in nutrition, I bought this book in the hopes of having a good resource for my cycling patients. Unfortunately, this book is not evidence or research-based, and for the most part regurgitates tired, debunked dietary myths.

The problems are too numerous to enumerate here. But a couple of examples are the authors' recommendation of fast-food joints as a source of nutritious meals, and their argument that organic food sources be avoided because they lack the nutritional content of processed foods.

If you are looking for a source of sound sports/cycling nutrition advice, I highly recommend you look elsewhere.

"The Cyclist's Food Guide" presents sound nutrition advice, even for the recreational cyclist. In particular, I really appreciated the section on Eating for Cycling where my husband and I followed the guidance given about preparing for the Event Week. By maximising our muscle glycogen with appropriate nutrition and tapering our training program, we were able to enjoy thoroughly a century ride from Brisbane to the Gold Coast (Australia). So, if you are looking for a good nutrition text that targets cyclists from all walks of life then make sure you add "The Cyclist's Food Guide" to your collection.

I heard this had sweet shots of my favorite mountainbikers, so I bought it. After looking at the shots for a few days, I started to look at the words. And I loved it. I keep it on my coffeetable to comb through whenever.

Strongly recommend another book over this one, even though it is a little harder to find: Mountain Bike Madness in Central Pennsylvania: An Atlas of Central Pennsylvania's Greatest Mountain Bike Rides. Partland is a disappointment.

The authors really do not know much about mountain biking. I was excited about the idea of the book, but sorely disappointed by it.

I'm going to have to disagree with the reader from Amityville. This book is a great introduction to a sport with storied and vague beginning. It is hard to recount history when everyone has their own renditions and claims as to how it all started. My mother and her friends used to ride their English racers in the woods behind their homes in Nassau County in the 1950's. I could potentially claim that they were the mountain bike pioneers, but as in much of history, there was most likely no one person, location, date, or singular event that was the watershed for the modern sport we know today. Mr. Partland's account of this sport's beginning is as accurate and objective as any that I have read. His enjoyment and passion for any sport and machine on two wheels shines through, and the gorgeous glossy pictures only support his excitement. I read this book on the train home from work on a Friday, and spent the weekend on the road and in the woods. All of my mountain bike heroes are in this book. Overend, Tomac, Giove, Furtado, and many more. From XC to freeride and downhill, no matter your style of riding or environment to ride in, there is something here for all mountain bikers and cyclists to be excited about. In the doldrums of winter when even the most dedicated of riders turn in their saddles for a spot on the couch, this book will provide the needed inspiration to get out and RIDE!

Mountain Biking is my newest obsession-- The book is great-- It got me pumped and now I feel like I know something about it-- Mount Tam here I come!!

This is the kind of book you leave out at parties for your non-cycling friends (and even the cyclists!) It is an English/UK book that takes the approach of covering a particular sub-topic in a 2-page spread. It covers some light history of the bicycle, and covers various types of bikes and equipment. It is very well illustrated with several color pictures and concise explanations.
IT DOES NOT CONTAIN: Riding or racing techniques, nutrition and sports medicine info, very much history or personalities of the sport.
I RECOMMEND: "Learn Mountain Biking in a Weekend" by the same publisher. (it will not teach you everything you need to know, but it is a quick and dirty introduction to mountain bikng, or cycling for that matter, for the typical semi-athletic person who is already a runner, skater, skier.)

This is kind of a history of the bicycle. It was not all that useful or valuable a text. I am mainly interested in road bike riding. If you are interested in a historical review of bicycles then you might find part of it of interest.

Richard's 21st Century Bicycle Book is a great book. Ballantine starts off the book with the basic reasons why bicycles are the best form of transportation and it's effect on human society. This may turn off some people as he is very passionate about saving resources. If you are anti-green, you would probably do well to skip the beginning. Be that as it may, it is a very good introduction on bicycles. The book covers the dawn of the invention of the bicycle and the various early forms of the bike. The rest of the chapters delve into the different bike configurations, the components of the bicycles, how to ride and fit your bike to your particular body size, a great review of the futuristic bikes coming our way, servicing your bike and various odds and ends. Richard Ballantine writes in a vivid and entertaining manner and draws from personal experiences to keep the book fresh. This book gets 4 and 1/2 stars. Very good information about bikes.

I wanted to get back into bicycling and felt that I should start again as a complete novice. This book did a great job of explaining all the different kinds of bikes as well as giving a solid introduction to the world of bicyling. Ballatine writes in a concise, peppy, and easy-to-read style, and the great old-fashinoned illustrations add a nice variance to the text. Please be aware though, his audience is clearly the absolute beginner, so if you are an intermediate to expert cyclist, look elsewhere.

Just finished reading this book and I forced myself to write a review for this book because of how good it was. I mean I have read many bicycling related books and this one is in my opinion the best out there. Information-packed, cover all variety of bikes and human powered vehicles. I also thought it was quite funny with the beautiful classic illustrations throughout the book. If you want to buy only one bicycling book ever then this should be it.