In the Northern Hemisphere cycling events are, for the most part, reaching the end of the year and it will be a while before, as the poet Swinbourne wrote, βwinterβs rains and ruins are over.β So while we need deal with βsnows and sinsβ until then, it is also an auspicious time to do some planning. Hope springs eternal and a new book by noted endurance sport coach Joe Friel is a valuable guide for anyone looking to improve in the coming season.
Joe Friel is a USA Triathlon and USA Cycling certified elite-level coach and a founder of TrainingPeaks, the first web-based system to allow coaches to direct athletes efficiently and is used to track, analyze and plan training programs. Friel has been a prolific author in his field and we have reviewed some of his many books at PEZCyclingNews, including βFast After 50β, a book directed towards older athletes, and βRide Insideβ, on the rapidly-expanding world of indoor cycling.
Friel, who is 82 years old and still riding in Boulder, Colorado, has not had the last word as βHigh-Performance CyclistβThe Complete Training Manualβ now comes to readers as an engaging distillation of his experiences from years of coaching. It has application to everyone from the elite racer to someone wanting to just finish a Gran Fondo without falling apart. In fact, his opening remarks define βhigh performanceβ as not what we think of as something meant for those who compete βat the highest levels in cycling sportsβgrand tours, monuments, Olympics, world championships and such.β Instead, he is speaking of the level of performance that will help an individual achieve their goals. βItβs your achievements that you and I are concerned about, not how the latest winner of Franceβs maillot jaune goes about training. If you set a high race goalβhigh for youβand perform at a level that achieves it, then you are a high-performance athlete in my book.β
He also makes it clear at the outset that all of the training he will take the reader through is unique and personalized. It is not about beating other competitors but strictly about reaching an event goal but rather performance reflects what you can accomplish relative to yourself. And a key thing to keep in mind as one goes through the book is a quote shown in boldface type: βBeing a high-performance cyclist is challenging but it really isnβt complicated. Itβs mostly about having a dream an pursuing it persistently and patiently.β
The book is divided into nine chapters, following a logical progression from βGetting Startedβ to βRace Dayβ and everything the athlete needs to do in between. The layout of the book is first-rate, with sections being very clear and digestible, with a section of βKey Takeawaysβ that are helpful for review. Throughout the book are stories about athletes Friel has coached (including his son Dirk) and how he helped them to use their training for achieving their goals.
The simple layout and large print of the pages does not imply that there is no depth to the book as it is impressively comprehensive given its 270-odd pages. Every conceivable aspect of trainingβthe importance of consistency in workouts, the need for sleep and proper diet, the way your lifestyle impacts race success, building a training plan, the mindset to bring everything togetherβis all covered. Chapter 8 is particularly good as there Friel has drawn on his decades of experience to go over the questions that commonly come up, the very questions that you or I would ask when starting to focus on training to improve.
At the end of the nine chapters, Friel presents an Epilogue. He writes: βI tried to narrow your focus to what must be done in training to race fasterβ¦.As I conclude this book, I want to comment on just a few topics that I also see as contributing to high performance. They probably arenβt what you would expect.β And then he goes on to reduce what is in the previous chapters to a few key ideas. These include simplicity, as in focusing on the heart of your training plan as he describes it in a single paragraph; consistency, as in keeping training consistent but not obsessive; balance, as in training by going easy most of the time and hard only occasionally; maintaining your EFβthat is, βEnjoyment Factorβ by sometimes dialing it back and just riding for fun; on being a good role model. Lastly, the goal of excellence presents a never-ending task as success means raising the bar higher. He concludes with: βSeason after season the high-performance riders is always striving for excellence. I think that the true essence of high performance is not about who you beat, how fast you raced, or how fit you were, but rather how much you enjoyed the journey.β
Friel is a big proponent of Zone 2 training (going slow to go fast, in a nutshell). Living in Boulder where there is a whole lot of uphill, he actually uses an e-bike as a technique to keep within his training target of heart rate and power. This is not a reason for buying an e-bike that too many octogenarians are using!
βHigh-Performance Cyclistβ is, as its subtitle promises, the complete training manual and a very good addition to the coaching library. It is thoughtfully and reflectively written, recognizing that we are all imperfect but can be made better athletes with knowledge, focus and application and, yes, even pleasure.
βHigh-Performance Cyclist: The Complete Training Manualβ
by Joe Friel
272 pp., with illustrations and charts, softbound
Bloomsbury Sport, London, 2025(with North American release September 30, 2025)
ISBN 978-1-399-41850-8
Suggested Price: US$28/C$37/22 GBP
# βHigh-Performance Cyclist: The Complete Training Manualβ by Joe Friel is available from AMAZON.COM. #
The post PEZ Bookshelf: High-Performance Cyclist appeared first on PezCycling News.
