The Cyclist's Training Bible by Joe Friel Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Cyclist's Training Bible
Book Review: A Great Resource that Requires a Little Work
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is for someone who wants to race a bike and doesn't want to look foolish doing it. The book has everything you need to organize and create a training regimen that will lift your racing fitness to an entirely new level. Based on the concept of periodization, i.e.-training broken into four week blocks with scheduled increases in intensity and active recovery, the ideas presented by Friel will allow the reader to schedule and implement a year-long training plan.The main drawback of the book is its complexity. The book never claims to be a one-size fits all sort of plan so there is a lot of information that will allow the reader to customize his or her own training. This can be overwhelming at first. The best approach to the book is to read it through a couple of times to get a feel for what is being said. Once this is done, the material will feel a lot less overwhelming. In any case, there is some effort to be put into understanding the book just like there is effort that must be put into training to achieve the result of better performance.
Short of going out and hiring a coach to do your thinking for you, this book is the best way to start training for competition.
Book Review: The Best Training Book Available
Summary: 5 Stars
Having studied most of the works of Armstrong, Lemond, Hinault, Burke, Carmichael, etc. and having used personal trainers including Kirk Willett, the current Prime Alliance GM, I can say that this is the one book you simply cannot do without if you want to race a bicycle. Whether you want to train 100 hours a year as a first year racer, or are looking to rack up a thousand hours and get your first real pro contract, you will benefit from this text.I work about a 50-60 hour week and raise a family. There is no way I could have achieved the level of cycling proficiency I have without this text. It makes the amount of time I decide to spend training pay dividends on race day.
This book has two potential drawbacks. First, it is possible to get too wrapped up in the minutae of planning each and every workout for the next six months. Friel offers literally hundreds of possible workouts to choose from, and a system for selecting workouts that will help you approach each ride with a specific purpose. So long as you have some ability to read and apply both principals and a suitable level of detail, this book can not be beat.
My second issue is that I have worn out the binding from so much use and now need to buy a new copy.
Book Review: This book is not for everyone...Thank God
Summary: 5 Stars
If your idea of a good season is to just ride, or be pack fill until the hills then don't waste your money. On the otherhand, if you can set goals, want results and need to raise your performance year over year then get this book. You have to read, understand and follow the content of this book closely. If you can, then you will be able to set up a year 'round training program which will provide the results you have been looking for. This book is technical. You will have to focus as with any effective performance program. No, you really don't need the expensive testing stuff. You can get the same test information with a cheap wind trainer or the recommended time trial tests. A bike, a good heart rate monitor, this book and a true desire to get faster (in this order)is all you need.Book Review: This book should come with a calculator!
Summary: 2 Stars
This book takes the wonderful sport of cycling and turns it into a science project. If you anylize every aspect of your training, then this book is for you. As stated in a previous review, the Testing chapter is totally ridiculous. Does the author really think the average Joe-cyclist has access to a Compu-Trainer? If I could afford a Compu-Trainer, I would probably be able to afford a personal cycling intructor as well, in which case I would not need this book. I feel a little bit misled by the title. "Training Bible" led me to believe it would teach me everything about training on a bicycle. This book only teaches periodization. I ride and race year-round, so periodization is not my cup-o-tea. I was hoping for more information about technique; hills and sprinting etc., and more about cross training. This book is all charts and graphs, it literally gave me a headache! The book says it is meant for people who have one season of racing under thier belt. I'd say it's meant more for people who want to take cycling to the semi-pro level and beyond.Book Review: Problem Establishing Baseline
Summary: 3 Stars
I am confident that this book can help you put together a training program that will improve your cycling, BUT it seems that Friel's methodology is built on results of an assessment that the typical cyclist cannot very easily (or affordably) get. Friel sets out in Chapter 5 a series of tests (assessment) that must be done before developing a training program. This makes sense, but the critical tests must be done on a CompuTrainer, an SRM PowerMeter or in a lab. Ask yourself if you have access to any of these or if you are prepared to spend the money to get the necessary testing done ina lab. If not, find another way to develop a training program.