Fast after Fifty, a book review

I am over fifty and I am trying to get faster on my bike and working to improve my fitness in general.  Thus, Joe Friel's book "Fast after Fifty" sounded real intriguing to me.  So I put it on my read list and finally had a chance to read it recently.  These are my thoughts on the book.

First, this book is not sport specific and will not give you pre-made workouts ready for you to go out and ride.  It deals more with the general topic of how to stay fast or get faster for any endurance sport when you are older than fifty.  Why fifty, why nor 45 or 55?  The first section of the book goes into the physiology of aging and its impact on sports performance. Using data from many studies he shows that the endurance performance of the population at large drops off significantly as age increases, especially after 50.  Then he brings up some other studies that show this decrease in performance can be greatly reduced by maintaining training volume and intensity even as you get older.  This means that a great deal of the drop off in performance in the general population is due to a reduction in training, with intensity being the best indicator of how much performance will drop off.  This counters the long slow distance (LSD) training methodology for maintaining and or improving fitness.  Training using LSD rides only will not maintain your fitness levels.  You need to have intensity in order to hold on to your fitness levels.  As you age it does become more difficult to maintain high levels of intensity, so the rest periods built in to the training schedule become more important.

Section two of the book goes into the kind of training required to maintain endurance performance for the aging athlete.  The information is more general and not real detailed for cycling.  One would want to have a book like the "Cyclist's Training Bible" at hand to develop specific training workouts and schedules, or perhaps just get the book "Cycling Past Fifty" which covers the same information about aging, but in a more cycling specific way.  The book does cover aspects of training and measurement of training results in great detail and includes sports specific testing examples and examples of training schedules in the appendix.  I just feel that the "Cycling Past Fifty" book is a better fit for cyclists and does a good job covering the information you need to know.  I am reading that book now and will post a review of it shortly.  "Fast after Fifty" is an excellent book for some doing cross training or preparing for triathlons.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to your comments on the topic of training books and training in general.  What have you used to guide your training and how has it worked for you.  Also, what are you using to track your training?  Do you use an app like Strava, or Training Peaks.  Or, are you using pen and paper for a more traditional logbook.  What works for you?

Long Distance Cycling book review

My daughter and me on the STP

A year ago, a normal cycling distance for me was less than 20 miles.  Now my average ride is 50 miles and some go over 100 miles.  This change started when I decided to ride the Seattle to Portland (STP) with my daughter.  Now I had never ridden 100 miles in a day before, much less 100 miles two days in a row!  I knew I needed to train so that I could enjoy the ride, so the first step I took was to go to my local bike shop, Oakdale Bike Shop, and connect with their group rides.  These rides helped out a great deal with my fitness by pushing me faster and farther than I had been riding in the past.  However, at a typical distance of 30 mile the rides were still shorter than what I needed to give me the confidence I wanted to take to Seattle.

Some of my fellow group riders had done long distance rides and were able to give me some input.  But a lot of the advice amounted to "just get out and ride and you will be fine!"  My problem was then and is now that I don't have the time to go 200-300 miles a week every week and I also hoped that it wouldn't take that kind of riding just to be able to enjoy the STP!

So I went online and found several sites that gave tips on prepping for century rides or even for the STP itself.  Most of these sites fell into the category of the "quick list of things" you can do.  You know, like "10 tips from an STP veteran", which gave some helpful tips to prepare and ride the STP but didn't answer many of my questions on how to train, what to eat, and most importantly, how to make sure I would still be able to sit on my bike saddle on day two of the ride! I needed more in depth coverage of what it takes to train for and ride a century ride.


I found this kind of help in the book "The Complete Book of Long-Distance Cycling" by Edmund Burke and Ed Pavelka.  In the book they cover topics in more detail than on any web site. It starts with discussions of how to build a training plan targeted to the type of ride you plan to do.  A good discussion of training intensity and heart rate zones leads to an understanding that you are better off with rides of varying intensities to build your base endurance, climbing power and sprinting ability.  It is important that not every ride should be ridden at full intensity.  Your endurance is better built by riding in heart rate zones 1 and 2.  The authors go on to discuss over-training and how it can set you back in your preparations.  A cursory review of gear is included that is helpful in getting to know what is out there and what it is called so you can at least converse with other cyclists about their favorite gear.

They go on from there to talk about different types of long distance rides and give specific suggestions on training plans, gear, clothing, food and mental preparations.  I found this section useful to read as it helped me prepare for the rides with greater confidence and not feel that I had to take everything with me!

The remainder of the book covers details about various topics. These include a section on Danger Zones, which are the things that can end your ride.  Also covered are saddle sores, general body issues and dealing with the elements.  Following the suggestions included in these sections allowed me to complete the 200 miles of the STP with no saddle soreness and feeling well enough to ride the bike from the finish line over to my daughter's house. My Selle SMP Lite 209 saddle certainly helped out with that accomplishment!

I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to take on a long distance event.  Following the information in the book will make your ride much more enjoyable.

Two other books that you might consider on the topic of cycling training are:"Cycling Past 50 (Ageless Athlete)" by Joe Friel and "Fast after Fifty" also by Joe Friel.