PEZ Bookshelf: Full Gas Forever

While books about training for cycling are hardly rare, we are seeing a new trend.  This is the recognition that older riders are making up a greater proportion of the cycling community.  For the first time in history, there is a cohort of amateur athletes in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond dedicated to getting the most out of their time on two wheels. In Hawaii this year an 80 year old became the oldest woman to complete a full Ironman event.  Not on a pro team or a sponsored racer? Most of us aren’t but clearly people with savings have to be buying those $20,000 superbikes, right? “Full Gas Forever” is a new book of advice for those wanting not only to keep riding but to actually get better.

We all know what happens as we age: the weight goes up while the V02 max declines, along with maximum heart rate and power.  We also know that this decline can be slowed.  This clearly-written guide shows how the midlife cyclist can actually become faster and go further.

The book is unusual in that it has two authors who essentially are sharing the writing based on their quite different experiences in cycling.  Ed Clancy is a retired racer who is from the same group as Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins.  He found his success on the track rather than the road.  One of the world’s best pursuit riders, he won Olympic gold in team pursuit events at three Games.  As well, he won six Rainbow Jerseys at various World Championships.

Lexie Williamson, on the other hand, is not just a keen amateur rider in her 50s.  She is also a flexibility expert and yoga instructor.  She admits to the addiction of cycling: “But we like to suffer, don’t we.  So I went back for more and here we are years late….The rides have got longer, grittier and hillier; the Col du Galibier has been conquered.  Teide has been ticked off.  The kit box is overflowing and the Specialized shoes were so damn expensive I even lied to myself about how much they cost.”

After introductory remarks on training–building the base, getting stronger, core focus, time management, etc.–there is a brief section about getting a bike.  “Choosing a bike should be about enabling you to ride, climb or manoeuvre in the most effective way possible.”  Then the authors, coming their two different perspectives have divided up the chapters in recognition of their expertise.

Ms. Williamson leads off with specific sections on strength training and developing core strength.  She also covers, in further chapters, flexibility, nutrition, sleep, recovery and hormonal changes.  Ed Clancy’s contribution is very much cycling-specific.  He writes of reducing resistance on the bike through positioning; mental preparation; cycling technique; training basics; and training specifics, such as how to set up a workout plan.  There is useful advice about riding off-road, and using indoor training effectively. The final chapters bring the reader into his views on racing as well as sportive rides.  There is a lot of detail here in less than 200 pages!

There is perhaps nothing in this book considered groundbreaking.  However, it is clearly up-to-date in terms of sports science and cycling technology.  Mature riders have more going for them than many would consider. “Cycling is one of the most suitable and achievable sports for middle-aged men and women, with age having only a minimal effect at performing on high levels.”

“Full Gas Forever” is not about maintaining fitness but actually improving performance.  Ed Clancy believes that training as a cyclist can be overcomplicated: “It is just about increasing stamina and power.”  The book presents the authors’ ideas with admirable clarity.  Entertaining to read, it is an ideal guide for those of us who believe, as in the Geraint Thomas quote on the cover, “Age is no reason to slow down.”

Ed Clancy’s closing words offer encouragement: “Potential is not something that diminishes with age.  Willpower does not disappear as the wrinkles and first grey hairs appear, and dreams are not the sole property of youth.  Being part of a speeding chain gang, going on a daring escape, reaching a mountain-top climb or just finishing the century ride can be as thrilling at 48 as it was at 18.  Go on, get out there….You know you can do it.”

“Full Gas Forever: A 40+ Cyclist’s Guide to Riding Faster and Further”

by Ed Clancy and Lexie Williamson

Bloomsbury Sport, London, October 2025

192 pp., illus., softbound

ISBN 978-1-399-42020-4

Recommended Price: US$26/C$35/GBP 20

*** Available from AMAZON.COM. ***

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