Bicycle Road Racing

My first year of riding was 1985. I used the book beginning in 1986. By 1989 I was racing Cat 1-2 Pro races fully sponsored by Team Spago in Los Angeles, CA. Call me 'old school' but I'd still recommend it for any entry level rider that dreams of racing with the best.

The best part of this book are racing tactics. It's the best I've seem so far. This is a great book. Sure it's out-dated, but, why mind? This book has a LOT of good advices for any racing cyclist. It covers a lot of aspects in cycling, although none of them in great depth. It has gave me at least a dozen of very valuable tips that really helped me in real life, including tips for sprinting, climbing, playing with the others mind, how to manage a cross-wind, a breakway.The only part that I found not good was the training season. That was the old way of training, with a fixed season and fixed number of hours for all types of riders. Everyone is different and therefore need a different training method. I do not advice to follow 100% his training plan, specially if you're a begginer. Hire a coach to help you or do it at your own risk. Eddie has a "iron hand" on his way of coaching and says: my way or no way. I don't believe this, but hey!, he was grown in the eastern-old-world. This may stop you, take care. Some other chapters are outdated, like bike positioning, equipment choices and the now almost defuncted team-time-trial, but his TTT techinics are great if you are in a breakway. He has a very sensate way of writing and thinking. This book is MUCH better than those of Greg Lemond, Bernard Hinault and alikes. You'll learn many good techincs for droping your companions. He tells a lot of how a team should work to get their job done. A great book for a racing cyclist.

This is one of the best books for getting from ground zero to elite cyclist. Granted, a few chapters are out of date (and the author knows it). I have recently spoken to the author (Eddie B.) and a new book may be in the works. A new privately published training manual will be available in a few months!

This book is the book to read if you intend to begin bicycle racing. It is also a good read for people who want to appreciate the sport, but don't want to race. The book tells you everything you need to know about fitting a bike to training for a particular race. Only drawback is some outdated chapters on diet and equipment

Everything you need to know about racing bicycles on the road from a former racer and current coach. He exaplains how to choose a bicycle that's the right size for you, then properly adjust the seat and handlebar height (yes, very important). He gives training tips for specific types of races - criteriums, road races and time trials, and suggests actual event strategy and tactics. Often imitated, never improved upon. This is the bible of bicycle racing.