The Time-Crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast, and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week

The Time-Crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast, and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week Review

I grabbed TTCC because I signed up for a metric century and was not in any shape to do it. When I started the program, I could do about 20 miles over roughly 1 hour of riding before I was done. I followed the program pretty closely, but sometimes missed the 1 or 2 midweek rides and was still able to complete my metric century in 3hrs and 15mins after 9 weeks.

What I really appreciated is that the book explains the method behind the madness. I changed my pedaling style to a higher cadence and was able to keep my lactic acid buildup to a minimum. I have focused on the using my heartrate as a gauge for effort and that made a huge difference.

My only point of disappointment was that I started gaining weight (especially around weeks 3-5) as I added muscle mass. It was discouraging, but I did see a change to my physique as my legs got bigger and my stomach got smaller. At week 9, my weight is down 5lbs from the start, but my body has changed and my clothes fit much looser, especially around the waist. This book won't make you drop pounds quickly, but it will make you quicker on the bike.

I was very impressed that Chris & Jim have been very responsive to questions i asked via Twitter ([...]) about the program. It is very unusual for an author to answer individual questions like that.

I have a friend who is training for a true century and I've already bought him a copy. I would recommend you pick up a copy, too.

The Time-Crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast, and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week Feature

• ISBN13: 9781934030479
• Condition: New
• Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

The Time-Crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast, and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week Overview

As cycling's popularity grows with men and women in their thirties, forties, fifties, and beyond, the traditional ideas about training for endurance sports need a new approach to reflect the daily challenges faced by parents and working professionals. In The Time-Crunched Cyclist, Chris Carmichael presents that new approach to cycling training. Using elements from the same program he designed for Tour de France winner Armstrong, this guide shows how to build competitive cycling fitness on a realistic schedule -- a schedule that fits into the busy lives of today's active middle-agers. Complete with training plans, case studies, nutritional guidelines, and success stories, "The Time-Crunched Cyclist" shows cyclists how to push the pace in the local group ride, have fun, and perform well in local races, or tackle a challenging 100-mile fundraiser ride without committing to a high-volume training program.

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 20, 2010 17:51:05

Rough Ride: Behind the Wheel With a Pro Cyclist

Rough Ride: Behind the Wheel With a Pro Cyclist Review

This book is written by an idealistic Irish national champion who thought to make a career of himself as a professional cyclist. What he found out is that system as it exists uses up its riders like disposable cameras. He had ambitions of glory or at least success, only to find that his talent is common in the pro ranks. What he describes is what it takes to exist as a professional cyclist - the wear and tear on the body and the pounding on the psyche. Hired as a domestique, his job is to support the big guns, the stars. Yet he is compensated on his own personal racing results, which are earned only when he is released from his supporting duties. For lesser riders like him, doping is the logical and even professional way of being able to perform. His transgressions are minor - caffeine suppositories, and trial use of speed, which he discards as just too *visible*. Eventually he drops out of cycling as he transitions into another line of work, sports reporting. His message is that it is the system that is broken - open knowledge of which events are not dope-controlled, the compensation system that expects riders to sacrifice their own results to those of the team, yet get paid on the basis of their criterium results. Most of all it is the code of silence that keeps all the riders mum and reinforces the idea that there is no alternative.
He speaks from the point of view of the average rider. While he is tight with the Irish greats of his day (Tour de France winner Stephen Roche and TdF points winner Sean Kelly), he can't and doesn't speak of them beyond his personal experiences from sharing hotel rooms, training rides and personal relationships. If you are looking for a tell-all book about the greats of the Tour de France, you will not find it here. This is his story, no one else's. It's not a comprehensive book about sports doping or even doping in the professional peleton. What made his story notorious in its time was the fact that he dared to speak of it at all. His transgressions were minor but his story ostracized him from his cycling generation for years.

He updated the booking in 2005, when he ventured back into that world, albeit as a journalist rather than a rider. Things had changed yet stayed the same. His point of view is tainted now, in that he sees doping everywhere, just in a more sophisticated form than in his day.

This book is interesting not so much for the details but for the pressures on the riders to perform and to do anything/everything that the others must do. You and I have long commutes and sedentary lives that are required by our jobs; they have different job constraints that are just as binding, only theirs will kill them sooner. What a life! Thanks, Paul, for letting us see this life from your point of view.

Rough Ride: Behind the Wheel With a Pro Cyclist Feature

• ISBN13: 9780224080170
• Condition: New
• Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Rough Ride: Behind the Wheel With a Pro Cyclist Overview

Paul Kimmage's boyhood dreams were of cycling glory—wearing the yellow jersey, cycling the Tour de France, and becoming a national hero. He knew it wouldn't come easy, but he was prepared to put in the work—he spent his teenage years cycling an average of 400 miles per week. The dedication began to pay off. As an amateur, he represented his country and finished sixth in the World Championships. In 1986 he turned professional, and reality hit. He soon discovered it was not about glory and courage, nor about training or dedication. It was about grueling defeats, complete and utter exhaustion, and drugs—not drugs that would ensure victory, but drugs that would allow you to finish the race. Paul Kimmage left the sport to write this powerful and frank account that breaks the code of silence surrounding the issue of drugs in sport. An eye-opening exposé and a heartbreaking lament, this is a book that anyone interested in any sport should read. This updated edition includes the story of Kimmage's 2006 return to the Tour as well as a moving section on the life and death of an old teammate.

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 07, 2010 03:26:05