Book Review: The Spring Classics, Cycling’s Greatest One Day Races

From time to time I get sent books to take a look at, I guess running a bike blog has some small perks. Usually they are pretty formal stuff, weight training, repairs, stuff like that. Once in a while however you get a real gem.

The Spring Classics, Cycling Greatest One Day Races is a fantastic coffee table book full of amazing pictures of time of yore. With todays heavy focus on a few big flashy races, and tours we sometimes forget that cycling has a long history of one day “classics.” Sure a lot of die hard cycling fans love the start of classic season, but your average biker has never heard of most of these races.

And races they were, this book is resplendent with amazing black and white photos of old time bike racers showing their all. Through snow, over cobbles, in the wind, rain, you name it these guys just kept pushing (and none of them had helmets either). This book is a treat for anyone who likes cycling, or old pictures of cycling, or both.

Seeing a couple guys from the 20’s pushing fixed gears through a blizzard, or seeing Eddie Merckx DESTROY people in the way only he could while his face looks like someone just punched him in it, gives you a real sense of the heroics of cycling.

It was a real joy watching some of the old school races (which look like a lot of alley cats I have ridden), and to see that even back then they understood that if you want to win you have to suffer. Seeing people covered in muck riding the Paris Roubaix, or even some of the colorful pictures from modern times, really makes you want to go ride your bike a couple hundred miles over cobble stones in a blizzard…really. This is a great gift for the cycling enthusiast in your home.

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Book Review: Come & Gone

In his latest book “Come & Gone” Joe Parkin (author of Dog In A Hat) tells the tale of a blue-collar bike racer in America.

This book picks up where his last left off, Parkin is back in America after failing to do much in Europe. He tries his hand at American racing but fails to really break through. He eventually moves to mountain bike racing, and well… I wont ruin the ending for you. Parkin has a unique diary like style. He tells events in a “this happened, then this, then this” style, that could easily become boring, but doesn’t.

Its almost like you are a rider inside his head, and he is going to share all sorts of intimate details with you about his racing. You feel his legs getting tired, and you feel his elation at the victories, and his frustration with each loss. And lose he does, a lot. It is kind of hard to read as over and over (and over) again he tries so hard to win races and over and over again he looses. In a way this book teaches you that only one person can win a race, and most of the time, that person isn’t you. But again if you love your sport, and you are trying your hardest you don’t always need massive success to be happy.

Come & Gone is an insightful and enjoyable window into the world of early 90’s American cycling. Plus the pictures of people in mullets in the middle of the book are priceless! This book was fairly enjoyable, and does offer a true perspective into what it is like for the non-super stars of cycling. Give it a try, you wont be sorry.

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Book Review: Bicycling For Women By Gale Bernhardt

Most of the people out on bikes in Boston are men, but this is changing rapidly. As more and more women start to realize just how awesome cycling is they are heading to the bike in droves. Biking is a great way to stay in shape, but it is so much more. You can ride to work, ride to the store, and because the activity relies more on “you and your bike” there is not much of an entry barrier, you really just need a bike, and a helmet to get started. Plus us guys are sick of cycling alone, ladies come on out!

But Women are different from men. From bike fit to nutrition to aging patterns, women ride differently. Most serious cycling books fail to address the specific concerns women have about cycling. In Bicycling for Women, cycling authority Gale Bernhardt discusses all things female for women who love to ride.

Bicycling for Women is up-to-date, smart, and clear. Gale addresses basic questions on bike fit, equipment, and training before moving on to more complex issues like cycling and pregnancy, injury prevention, nutrition and diet plans, and making cycling more comfortable. The book features five detailed training plans to help women meet their cycling goals, including 50-mile and century rides, improved hill climbing, and multi-day bike tours.

If you have been thinking about getting back on a bike, or maybe picking one up for the first time, and you also happen to be a female, this book could help you do just that. I gave the book to a friend of mine (who happens to be of the female persuasion) and asked her to take a look at it. She rides currently so I am not sure if it this book would encourage her to start, but she did think that the “diagrams and work outs are interesting, and helpful.” She joked about how she always sees guys in roadie kit and wants to just blast past them to show them they got “beat by a girl.”

I have pretty liberal/radical/progressive views on gender and gender relations, so I am not going to turn this review into a “us vs them” kind of debate, because honestly I don’t think it is. But there are things that women have to contend with when they get into cycling. For a long long time bikes were built by guys for guys. In the past trying to find a frame for a shorter (to me) female friend turned out to be a huge challenge. Bicycling for women, can help women overcome some of these barriers, and get to the good stuff, namely riding your bike! This book packs some serious knowledge (charts, graphs, diagrams, etc) so if you want to get into cycling in a comprehensive way this might be a good read. If you are a super newbie beginner you will still find useful information here, but you will most likely “grow into” this book over time.

According to the little blurb I was sent:

Gale Bernhardt has coached and instructed athletes since 1974, and was selected to be the USA Triathlon team coach at the 2004 Olympic Games. An elite-certified USA Cycling Level I Coach, she has also served as the Chairperson of the USA Triathlon National Coaching Committee for five years. Bernhardt has traveled the world as a USA Triathlon World Cup coach. Bernhardt is the best-selling author of Training Plans for Multisport Athletes, Triathlon Training Basics, and Workouts in a Binder(r): Swim Workouts for Triathletes.

So you can probably trust that she gives pretty good advice. I read through the first half of the book and was pretty impressed with the comprehensive approach to getting you on the bike, and getting you ready to ride. So ladies, if you are looking to get into cycling, and don’t want to have to rely on a bunch of dudes advice pick up this book and get going! If you are in favor of the men folk, you will find lots of good looking fellas out on the road, and if you don’t like the gents, you will still find a lifestyle full of fun people, and increasingly lots of ladies. I am a big propenent of getting as many people (of any gender/sex combination) out on a bike, if getting this fine book will help with that well what are you waiting for!

See you on the road ladies.

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