Within the Northern Hemisphere biking occasions are, for essentially the most half, reaching the top of the 12 months and it is going to be some time earlier than, because the poet Swinbourne wrote, “winter’s rains and ruins are over.” So whereas we’d like take care of “snows and sins” till then, it is usually an auspicious time to do some planning. Hope springs everlasting and a brand new ebook by famous endurance sport coach Joe Friel is a invaluable information for anybody trying to enhance within the coming season.
Joe Friel is a USA Triathlon and USA Biking licensed elite-level coach and a founding father of TrainingPeaks, the primary web-based system to permit coaches to direct athletes effectively and is used to trace, analyze and plan coaching applications. Friel has been a prolific creator in his subject and we have now reviewed a few of his many books at PEZCyclingNews, together with “Quick After 50”, a ebook directed in direction of older athletes, and “Trip Inside”, on the rapidly-expanding world of indoor biking.
Friel, who’s 82 years outdated and nonetheless driving in Boulder, Colorado, has not had the final phrase as “Excessive-Efficiency Bicycle owner—The Full Coaching Handbook” now involves readers as an enticing distillation of his experiences from years of teaching. It has software to everybody from the elite racer to somebody wanting to only end a Gran Fondo with out falling aside. In truth, his opening remarks outline “excessive efficiency” as not what we consider as one thing meant for individuals who compete “on the highest ranges in biking sports activities—grand excursions, monuments, Olympics, world championships and such.” As a substitute, he’s talking of the extent of efficiency that can assist a person obtain their objectives. “It’s your achievements that you simply and I are involved about, not how the newest winner of France’s maillot jaune goes about coaching. In the event you set a excessive race purpose—excessive for you—and carry out at a stage that achieves it, then you’re a high-performance athlete in my ebook.”
He additionally makes it clear on the outset that all the coaching he’ll take the reader by way of is exclusive and customized. It’s not about beating different opponents however strictly about reaching an occasion purpose however relatively efficiency displays what you possibly can accomplish relative to your self. And a key factor to remember as one goes by way of the ebook is a quote proven in boldface sort: “Being a high-performance bicycle owner is difficult nevertheless it actually isn’t sophisticated. It’s largely about having a dream an pursuing it persistently and patiently.”
The ebook is split into 9 chapters, following a logical development from “Getting Began” to “Race Day” and every thing the athlete must do in between. The format of the ebook is first-rate, with sections being very clear and digestible, with a bit of “Key Takeaways” which are useful for assessment. All through the ebook are tales about athletes Friel has coached (together with his son Dirk) and the way he helped them to make use of their coaching for reaching their objectives.
The easy format and enormous print of the pages doesn’t indicate that there isn’t a depth to the ebook as it’s impressively complete given its 270-odd pages. Each conceivable side of coaching—the significance of consistency in exercises, the necessity for sleep and correct food regimen, the best way your life-style impacts race success, constructing a coaching plan, the mindset to carry every thing collectively—is all lined. Chapter 8 is especially good as there Friel has drawn on his many years of expertise to go over the questions that generally come up, the very questions that you simply or I’d ask when beginning to give attention to coaching to enhance.
On the finish of the 9 chapters, Friel presents an Epilogue. He writes: “I attempted to slim your focus to what should be finished in coaching to race quicker….As I conclude this ebook, I wish to touch upon just some subjects that I additionally see as contributing to excessive efficiency. They in all probability aren’t what you’d count on.” After which he goes on to cut back what’s within the earlier chapters to some key concepts. These embody simplicity, as in specializing in the guts of your coaching plan as he describes it in a single paragraph; consistency, as in conserving coaching constant however not obsessive; steadiness, as in coaching by going straightforward more often than not and exhausting solely often; sustaining your EF—that’s, “Enjoyment Issue” by generally dialing it again and simply driving for enjoyable; on being an excellent position mannequin. Lastly, the purpose of excellence presents a unending activity as success means elevating the bar larger. He concludes with: “Season after season the high-performance riders is all the time striving for excellence. I feel that the true essence of excessive efficiency is just not about who you beat, how briskly you raced, or how suit you have been, however relatively how a lot you loved the journey.”
Friel is a giant proponent of Zone 2 coaching (going gradual to go quick, in a nutshell). Residing in Boulder the place there’s a complete lot of uphill, he really makes use of an e-bike as a method to maintain inside his coaching goal of coronary heart price and energy. This isn’t a cause for purchasing an e-bike that too many octogenarians are utilizing!
“Excessive-Efficiency Bicycle owner” is, as its subtitle guarantees, the whole coaching handbook and an excellent addition to the teaching library. It’s thoughtfully and reflectively written, recognizing that we’re all imperfect however will be made higher athletes with data, focus and software and, sure, even pleasure.
“Excessive-Efficiency Bicycle owner: The Full Coaching Handbook”
by Joe Friel
272 pp., with illustrations and charts, softbound
Bloomsbury Sport, London, 2025(with North American launch September 30, 2025)
ISBN 978-1-399-41850-8
Instructed Value: US$28/C$37/22 GBP
# “Excessive-Efficiency Bicycle owner: The Full Coaching Handbook” by Joe Friel is obtainable from AMAZON.COM. #
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