"Ultimate Ride" vs. "Cyclists Training Bible"

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by rollers
Has anyone here read both the "Ultimate Ride" and the "Cyclists Training Bible"?

Yes, I've read them both. Amazon stock "The Ultimate Ride" by Carmichael.

The Ultimate Ride: First off I think it's a very good book. It's a bit shorter than Friel's CTB but is still packed with information. It's not as 'cookbook' as Friel's book for putting together your own training programme. In fact it offers a lot of advice on different workouts, a little on exercise physiology and the effects of workouts, and then advice on training hours and planning. It doesn't offer a step-by-step method of constructing your own training plan, though it does include some examples for 5- and 6-day per week training plans.

It's a really good book, with lots of excellent advice, but I would say it's primary purpose is to sell into his coaching at www.trainright.com (it includes a 1 month free trial of coaching with the book). I think this is maybe a good idea as no book can design the ideal programme for everyone. The coaching option is quite cheap and for anyone in the first 2-3 years of training it's probably very worthwhile to get you on the right track.

If you've read the Lance Armstrong training plan book, I can say it's much much better than that with a lot more solid information. I would say it's a good complement to CTB, and the two together are probably the best training books IMHO. You can pull together advice from each and make a really good training plan if you wanted.

Hope this makes sense.

PS: See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0399150714/qid=1065262899/sr=8-4/ref=sr_8_4/102-9531685-3843339?v=glance&s=books&n=507846