A good training guide, like a good saddle, wears well throughout the season. Last March when I decided to ride the Rocky Mountain 1200 k randonnée in July, I picked up Matheny's book. I make my living as a cycling coach - why read someone else's program? Because I needed both inspiration and new ideas.

The book is organized into four parts:

1. Foundation Information
2. Off-Season Training
3. Spring Training
4. Supercharged Training

Since it was already March, I read quickly through the Foundation Information covering topics such as: principles of training, periodization, building the base, intensity training, and overtraining and recovery. As a coach, there wasn't a lot of new information here; however, I admired the clear, simple way that Matheny explains the concepts. The book is personal and anecdotal; Fred uses lots of examples from his racing career to illustrate points, especially how not to train!

I skimmed Off-Season Training to see what I should have done. Fred discusses dreams and goal setting, how to ride in the winter, resistance training and cross-training. He talks about body weight and weight loss. I tried his simple test: stand nude in front of the mirror and jump up and down a little. Does anything jiggle that shouldn't? I didn't need skin calipers and a body fat measurement to tell me I needed to lose weight!

At the end of the section, Fred gives three 18-week off-season programs:

• Fitness: for new riders or those riding for general fitness
• Fast recreation: for century riders and those preparing for multi-day tours and club time trials.
• Competition: For racers and non-racers who want to improve speed.

Although the training volume is low by ultra standards, the programs are easy to understand, so a rider can modify them to suit his or her needs. For example, the fast recreational program could easily be expanded to train for a double century instead of a century.

Spring Training starts by reviewing the training principles and how they apply to the spring season. Fred then talks about how to build endurance, how to add mileage and offers tips for long rides. He describes how to increase muscular endurance, raise lactate threshold, and improve climbing.

Each of the chapters is short - the climbing chapter is four pages, including both a discussion of technique and workouts. The brevity is good - since I needed to improve my climbing for the RM1200, I could easily refer to the chapter every couple of weeks and pick up new tips: on sustained climbs, slide back in the saddle and pedal for a while, and then slide forward and pedal, just to vary the muscle position. When climbing hard, exhale forcefully and inhale passively - this prevents panting.

One of the strengths of the book is the emphasis on technique. Many endurance riders, unless they have a racing background, have good endurance from lots of riding, but are weak on technique. As a result, the riders are wasting power. The technique tips are simple, and if we follow them, we'll improve significantly.

At the end of part 3, Fred includes eight-week training plans for the three types of riders: fitness riders, fast recreational riders, and competitive cyclists. Each day's type of activity is keyed to individual chapters for specific workouts and related information.

The training suggestions are realistic: for fast recreational riders the volume is 6.5 to 9.5 hours / week. For racers he suggests 7 to 9 hours a week. Each week has variety, which is the key both to improvement and to keeping riders motivated.

I didn't follow one of his programs, but did incorporate specific intensity and climbing workouts into my training. After eight weeks I was climbing better than I had for several years.

Supercharged Training is about doing something extra for a special event. Fred writes for a wide audience: the special event could be a hilly tour, or a PR in your local century, or winning the state road race. The workouts in this section are hard and Fred cautions that haphazardly trying different workouts will probably stall your progress. Rather, he gives guidelines with each type of workout to help the reader decide if it's right for him or her.

For example, Max Testa's climbing test: when climbing hard, do you shift to a lower gear and spin, because your legs are dying? In that case, you need strength. If you spin a lower gear, does your breathing go out of control? Then you need to work on your cardiovascular conditioning. I used the test to figure out that I needed to work on cardio!

Most chapters in this section are on intensity and the reader can decide which system of gauging intensity and which type of workout is best for him or her. Fred discusses the pros and cons of training by power with a wattmeter, training by heart rate and lactate threshold, and training by perceived exertion.

I used Fred's suggestion to ride off-road to build power and develop a smoother stroke. Grinding up gravel roads in the canyons around Boulder provided a new challenge - much more fun than staring at a heart rate monitor and doing intervals.

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Matheny has been writing about the sport for 25 years and draws on his many conversations with racers. For distance riders, getting enough road miles in the winter is tough. He suggests using Jonathan Vaughters' technique: ride for an hour ending at the gym, weight train for an hour including 5-6 sets of squats or heavy leg presses and then ride for another hour to get home. Do these workouts three days a week, do a couple of recovery rides during the week, and then get out for a 4-6 hour ride on the weekend.

The key lesson I learned was early in the book: "Pro cyclists rarely overtrain. They ride enormous mileage . . . but pros have plenty of time for rest and recuperation. . . The average recreational cyclist has a lower miles-to-rest ratio than a pro!" (p. 22) Since I didn't start Paris-Brest-Paris last year because of cumulative stress and overtraining, all season I monitored my miles-to-rest ratio. As a result, I arrived in Kamloops, BC, excited about the RM1200 - and was still excited about cycling when I pedaled back into Kamloops after 79 hours.

The Complete Book of Road Bike Training lives up to its title. Matheny provides a solid structure for training throughout the year. Most readers will benefit by following his simple, practical training suggestions throughout the year.

Order the Book

• "The Complete Book of Road Bike Training" reviewed by Hughes
• "The Complete Book of Long Distance Cycling" reviewed by Ritz
• "Cycling Past 50" reviewed by Bauman
• "Cyclists Food Guide" reviewed by Grainger
• "The Lance Armstrong Performance Program" reviewed by Hughes
• "Optimal Muscle Recovery" reviewed by Bauman
• "Strength Training for Endurance" DVD reviewed by Kehlenbach
• "Women's Guide to Cycling" reviewed by Pawlowski