Ultra-Distance Cycling: An Expert Guide to Endurance Cycling

by Simon Jobson, Dominic Irvine

This expert guide to competitive ultra-distance cycling is all riders need to cycle a very long way, fast.

Ultra-distance events are among some of the greatest challenges a cyclist can face, with riders spending hundreds of miles in the saddle over a 24-hour period, battling the elements and overcoming both physical and mental hardships.

What was once elite is now commonplace, and today thousands of dedicated riders cycle up to and over 100 miles on ultra-distance rides every week. To add to this, the increasing profile of major events such as Race Across of America (RAAM), Race Across the Alps (RATA) and Ultracycling Dolomitica means that many more riders are being drawn to the challenge of 'non-stop' endurance cycling.

Ultra-Distance Cycling is the first mainstream book to offer practical, authoritative guidance to cyclists looking to step-up to long-distance endurance events, as well as expert advice to established competitors seeking a competitive advantage.

Written by a leading sports scientist and a record-breaking ultra-distance cyclist, this unique book is both science and experience based, offering practical and performance-enhancing insights on a wide range of areas. These include physical training and mental preparation, guidance on your support network, advice on PR and sponsorship, as well as all-important sections on equipment, nutrition and the major ultra-distance cycling events.

This definitive manual provides riders with everything they need to ride longer and faster, and to excel at ultra-distance cycling events.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Cycling

272 pages, Paperback

Published June 6, 2017

Reviews

[Richard Bye · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beauty of this book is that you learn a great deal more about every day cycling than the title suggests. It's not only about Ultra Distance Cycling but covers many of the things that you need when nipping out for your Sunday jaunt. Nutrition, Hydration, power vs HR training, bike fit, etc, so many chapters full of useful tit-bits to help the novice cyclist as much as the Ultra Distance nut-case!
A really great read that inspires you to find the time (one of the chapters) regardless of your schedule and leaves no stone unturned in understanding everything about man/woman and bike. Simon and Dominic have done a great job.

[Levas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Senokai pabaigiau ir primiršau. Tai iš esmės patarimai dalyvaujantiems ultrailgų atstumų varžybose, tapi vadinamose ultrose - kaip pasiruošti, kaip maitintis, ką turėti su savim, kaip strateguoti ir t.t. Yra labai gerų ir vertingų patarimų, kuriuos girdžiu pvz. atkartojant ir Lietuvos, ir ne tik Lietuvos dviratininkus, yra tokių nelabai naudingų skyrių, pvz kaip ieškoti sponsorių, nes nu kas ims knygą skaityt norėdamas tapti profesionaliu sportininku, ir ieškos patarimų knygoje.. Turbūt niekas, tas žmogus arba dabar mina 500tąjį kilometrą ir jam viskas yra aišku, arba tiesiog kai kurie dalykai nerūpi. Na bet jei vienas kitas dalykas pasiliko galvoje perskaičius, tai jau manau yra pliusas.

[Christopher Fougner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, but unclear who the audience is

Interesting to read about the different aspects of ultra distance, but it's written as a manual for someone that wants to get into ultra distance racing, but already has a coach and is planning on getting a bit support team. I can't think of many that this would apply to. Personally I would have preferred something targeted at an intermediate cyclist that wants to train for ultra endurance. The rest might have better made for a biography or similar

[Lars · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good approach to long distance cycling. The approach in this book is geared towards performance or competition cycling and has a good section on the mental aspects of preparing oneself for being in the saddle for a long time.

The best all-round book on long distance cycling is John Hughes and Dan Kehlenbach’s “Distance Cycling”, but this book doesn’t suffer in comparison - it just doesn’t cover as much ground for diving deep on the more competitive aspects of the sport.

[Evan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads quite well, but it feels like a lot of bro-science. It touches upon a lot of topics at a high level, but if you have read before on recent research regarding these topics, a lot of it is over simplified or simply not true.

[Marcus Goncalves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, full of useful tips for all types of sport cyclists, not just those who prefer long distance riding. The book is a bit outdated, though; not the author’s fault.

[Denis Lebedev]

A little too dry, however this is expected from a "guide" book.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

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