The Cyclist's Training Bible, 5th Ed.: The World's Most Comprehensive Training Guide

by Joe Friel

Overview

Train to win with Joe Friel, the world’s most trusted endurance coach, and the definitive cycling training guide for serious cyclists seeking peak performance.

In the all-new edition of The Cyclist’s Training Bible, Joe Friel applies the latest cycling science, data-driven training, and race preparation strategies to help you develop a personalized plan for success. Whether you’re training for road races, criteriums, time trials, gravel races, or simply looking to improve your climbing, sprinting, endurance, or recovery, this comprehensive cycling book has you covered.

Inside, you'll find powerful tools and techniques, including:

• Power Meter Training: Use cutting-edge metrics to optimize every ride
• TSS-Based Workouts: Apply the Training Stress Score to monitor load and performance
• Custom Cycling Plans: Tailor your program to match your strengths and eliminate limiters
• Cycling Field Tests: Boost your training precision with FTP, FTHR, FAC, and Sprint Power assessments
• Peak Performance Tapering: Learn how to reduce fatigue while maintaining race-day readiness
• Annual Training Plans: Structure your daily, weekly, and monthly goals for consistent progress
• Cyclist Strength Training: Improve power output and explosiveness with sport-specific strength work
• Targeted Cycling Workouts: Build your aerobic endurance, muscular force, anaerobic capacity, and sprint energy

Whether you’re a competitive cyclist, gravel racer, or time trial specialist, The Cyclist’s Training Bible is the best cycling training resource available—fully updated to reflect the most advanced principles in modern endurance sport.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781937715823
Publisher:	VeloPress
Publication date:	04/11/2018
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

With a masters degree in exercise science, Joe Friel was a marathoner and running coach throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. After his first triathlon in 1983 and falling in love with the sport he began coaching multisport athletes becoming one of the first triathlon coaches in the country. The following year he opened a triathlon store in Ft. Collins, Colorado—probably the first in the world. Throughout the 1980s his race management company organized several triathlons in Colorado. He left retail and race management in 1987 to focus on coaching. The athletes he coached for over 30 years ranged from novice to high-performance amateur to professional to Olympian. In 1997, he was a founding member of the USA Triathlon Coaches Association. He served as co-chair in 1999-2000. In 2000, he attended the Sydney Olympics to assist with team preparation. The following year he was the coach of team USA for the World Triathlon Championships. Throughout the 2000s he was a frequent speaker at USAT coach seminars. He wrote 17 books on training, the most notable being The Triathlete’s Training Bible, which is now in its 5th edition and translated into 15 languages. It remains the best-selling book in the world on triathlon training. In 1999, he co-founded TrainingPeaks, online training software for endurance athletes. As an athlete he competed in hundreds of events including national and world championships, was an All-American Age Group Triathlete several times and a USAT-regional multisport champion. He stopped competing after a bike crash in 2014 restricted range of shoulder movement. He continues to present at triathlon camps and clinics for triathletes and coaches around the world. Joe currently lives and trains in the mountains of northern Arizona and is working on his 18th book—this one for coaches.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Acknowledgments

PART I: MIND AND BODY

Chapter 1 Mental Performance: Motivation | Dreams, Goals, and Missions | Mental Toughness | Patience | Commitment and Tenacity | Consistency and Routines | Your High-Performance Team

Chapter 2 Physical Performance: The Right Stuff | Training Beliefs | Four Steps to Training with a Purpose

PART II: TRAINING FUNDAMENTALS

Chapter 3 Basic Training Concepts: Training Principles | Duration, Intensity, and Frequency | Volume and Intensity | Dose and Density | Training Load | Supercompensation | Fitness, Fatigue, and Form

Chapter 4 Training Intensity: Training with Effort, Heart Rate, and Power | Intensity Reference Points | Intensity Distribution | Functional Threshold | Setting Training Zones | Training Stress Score

PART III: PURPOSEFUL TRAINING

Chapter 5 Getting Started: Training Tools | Seasonal Goals | Assessment

Chapter 6 Preparing to Race: What Is Fitness? | Abilities | Ability Limiters

PART IV: PLANNING YOUR SEASON

Chapter 7 Planning Overview: Periodization | Planning | The Annual Training Plan

Chapter 8 Planning a Week: Schedule Weekly Workouts | Weekly and Daily Training | Missed Workouts

Chapter 9 Planning Alternatives: Linear Periodization Alternatives | Nonlinear Periodization Alternatives | A Simple Plan

PART V: STRESS AND RECOVERY

Chapter 10 Training Stress: Risk and Reward| Avoiding Overtraining | Managing Overreaching

Chapter 11 Fatigue, Recovery, and Adaptation: Measuring Fatigue | Recovery and Adaptation | Strategic Recovery

PART VI: THE COMPETITIVE EDGE

Chapter 12 Muscular Force Training: The Nervous System and Force | Weight Lifting | Functional Force Training | TSS and Weight Lifting

Chapter 13 Tapering to Race: Fitness | Form | The Components of Tapering | Peak and Race Period Routines

Chapter 14 The Training Diary: Diary or Log? | Planning with a Diary | What to Record | Training Analysis | Race Analysis

Epilogue

Appendix A: Annual Training Plan Template

Appendix B: Workouts

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

"Packed with worksheets, charts, visuals and a dense index and references for further reading, The Cyclist’s Training Bible is an arsenal of encyclopedic information for ambitious riders."

DailyPeloton.com

"The Cyclist’s Training Bible has become a cyclist's best chance at achieving their goals. This is the ultimate manual for growth as a cyclist."

BicycleSmile.com

"One of the most trusted coaches in triathlon."

LAVA magazine

To say that Joe Friel knows a thing or two about how to ride a bicycle and stay fast would be a severe understatement.

Road Bike Action

"The Cyclist’s Training Bible will have you systematically training just as world-class cyclists do. If you scrupulously follow its guidelines, I'm confident your racing performance will dramatically improve."

Tudor Bompa

"Nothing else comes close to The Cyclist’s Training Bible's comprehensive approach to planning out a season, creating a training schedule and incorporating diet and resistance training to an overall plan."

BikeRumor.com

"Joe Friel is one of the world’s foremost experts on endurance sports."

Outside Magazine

"I find Friel's book a treasure of information for cyclists of all levels."

Andy Hampsten

"Joe Friel is arguably the most experienced personal cycling coach in the U.S., and his book The Cyclist's Training Bible has become, well... the Bible of the sport."

Bicycling magazine

"Joe Friel is arguably the most experienced personal cycling coach in the U.S., and his book The Cyclist's Training Bible has become, well... the Bible of the sport." — Bicycling magazine

"Joe Friel is one of the world’s foremost experts on endurance sports." — Outside magazine

"The Cyclist’s Training Bible will have you systematically training just as world-class cyclists do. If you scrupulously follow its guidelines, I'm confident your racing performance will dramatically improve." — Tudor Bompa, PhD

"To say that Joe Friel knows a thing or two about how to ride a bicycle and stay fast would be a severe understatement. " — Road Bike Action

"I find Friel's book a treasure of information for cyclists of all levels." — Andy Hampsten, 1988 Giro d'Italia winner, 1992 Tour de France stage winner at Alpe d'Huez

"One of the most trusted coaches in triathlon." — LAVA magazine

"Nothing else comes close to The Cyclist’s Training Bible's comprehensive approach to planning out a season, creating a training schedule and incorporating diet and resistance training to an overall plan." — BikeRumor.com

"Packed with worksheets, charts, visuals and a dense index and references for further reading, The Cyclist’s Training Bible is an arsenal of encyclopedic information for ambitious riders." — DailyPeloton.com

"The Cyclist’s Training Bible has become a cyclist's best chance at achieving their goals. This is the ultimate manual for growth as a cyclist." — BicycleSmile.com

From the Publisher