Customer Reviews

Bicycling Magazine's Century Training Program: 100 Days to 100 Miles

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I must confess that I rode a single speed bike with a banana seat growing up. I rode throughout the seasons in the hot, muggy, windy and cold Iowa weather. I rode to school, friends, baseball, etc. I lived on my bike, but then somehow when I "grew up" and went off to college, joined the Navy, got married and had children I lost that old friend of biking. Here I am a 41-year old, single father to five great kids, having suffered through pain and divorce. Then during Spring Break my older brother reintroduced me to my long-lost friend, the bike. I didn't want to just be a sometimes rider, no I wanted a goal to reach toward. What better way than to ride the much coveted "Century", a 100-mile ride that's biking's version of the runners marathon. I picked the date for my attempt, September 17, 2006 in the town of Bellingham, WA. Now, how to train for this? A quick search on Amazon and like destiny I found Marla Streb's book and it included everything I thought I'd need.

I devoured the book, reading how she, the world famous mountain biking champion wanted to introduce her older brother Dave to the joys of biking. Dave, was like a kindred spirit of mine, since he had the same pressures of family, children, work and how could he find time to ride 100 miles, let alone train for it?

The book is written for the novice in mind, but expert riders can glean alot from Marla's experience and expertise. Written in a story mode, the reader is taken from the early "idea" germinating between Marla and Dave, so much so that the reader will feel like they're being mentored in the same way.

Marla includes a suggested 100-day training plan that can be adjusted accordingly, although it will fit most people. Second, each week you see both Dave and Marla's progress with their rides each day of the week, which make them great for newbies and experts alike.

The book is written with each chapter covering one week each of the 100-day plan. You can extend the time if you want a little extra time, but I wouldn't recommend doing a crash-course training of less than 100 days before your first Century ride. The book covers the following:

Chapter 1: Day 1 through 7 - "The Talk"
Chapter 2: Day 8 through 14 - "The Ideal Training Plan"
Chapter 3: Day 15 through 21 - "How to Setup a Training Plan"
Chapter 4: Day 22 through 28 - "Motivation--Getting Out the Door
Chapter 5: Day 29 through 35 - "No Time to Ride"
Chapter 6: Day 36 through 42 - "Road Rules"
Chapter 7: Day 43 through 49: "The Equipment"
Chapter 8: Day 50 through 56 - "Dynamics of Group Rides"
Chapter 9: Day 57 through 63 - "Self-Assessment and Adjustments"
Chapter 10: Day 64 through 70 - "Strengthening Your Base"
Chapter 11: Day 71 through 77 - "Pain Hurts in a Good Way"
Chapter 12: Day 78 through 84 - "Fine Points"
Chapter 13: Day 85 through 90-"Preride, Nutrition & the Taper"
Chapter 14: Day 91 through 99 - "Important Details"
Chapter 15: After Your Century Ride

As you can see, the book covers alot of ground, yet does it in an easy-to-read and detailed manner, while never being "dry, technical reading". We have the advantage of having Marla Streb, a highly accomplished racer to mentor each of us, as she does with her brother Dave in the book.

If you're planning to ride long-distance rides, unless you're a seasoned pro, I highly recommend that you get this book and pour over it, dog-ear it, make notes in it, like I've done and you'll feel extra prepared mentally and physically to tackle the 1/2, full or double-century rides.

Most of this book is taken up with little personal stories and anecdotes and narration that I simply found boring and useless. Only two pages were really useful: those that contained the suggested beginner training program. But that is easy enough to find online, so overall, I consider this purchase to be a waste of money.

If you want to learn more about Marla and her brother, this book is for you. If you want to learn more about training for a long bike ride, you will be disappointed.

this book is just filled with personal stuff. its more like a diary. it has very little useful info. i cant believe bicycling magazine allowed this to get published. dont waste your time with this book and get something else with actual cycling info

I used this book to train for my first century last fall. Both the book, and the century itself, were outstanding. The stories she tells turns this training plan into something much more, a real book. If you just want a dry spreadsheet full of numbers and graphs to help you train, look elsewhere. If you want that information, plus tons of helpful advice and stories from someone who has the same problems as you do (Marla's brother), then get this book. I'll be using the training plan again this summer, and will no doubt re-read the book just because I like the narrative. Enjoy it and good luck on your own century!

Some of the information in this book is valuable. The training regimes, diet and so forth have helped me, as a novice distance rider, gain a better understanding of what's required to get my performance to where I want it. However, the author is self-centered, narcissistic, and arrogant. Her brother and her boyfriend are made out to be incompetent simpletons practically not worthy of being in her presence. Her boyfriend is apparently good for nothing more than making her meals and sailing the boat up and down the coast, paralleling her rides. I read the first three chapters and was so embarrassed for Mark and Dave that I stopped reading except for the exerpts regarding diet and training regime. Unfortunately, I purchased three of her books at once and I'm almost scared to begin reading either of the other two.

I read the book and found lots of good information. It reads like a story book which I read every night at bed time and will make you wish there was a part 2. By showing her weekly riding log and her brothers weekly log. I was able to see by her brothers log that it really don't take much to ride a century. Her log shows how she over trained and what she did to get back on the bike. The book is full of tips and pointers and how to use your heart rate monitor. Good book.

Great Book. Every cyclist should have on their shelf. Marla is funny and to the point. She'll help the newbie get that first century under the saddle and is a great review for the old hats! I've given this book to several of my friends and everyone has found it helpful!!

You don't need a book to teach you how to ride a century. I rode a century from Paso Robles to Hearst Castle, to Morro Bay, and back to Paso Robles. Started in the cold of the morning, and rode up 6 degree inclines for 7 miles in 105 degree heat. You know what I did to train? I rode my bike to work approx. 12 miles each way between 3 and 4 days a week for 2-3 months. Not sure how long, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is you keep hydrated and you keep yourself fed.

Cycling jersey with 3 back pockets, and put powerbars with protein in your pockets. Have a water bottle or two on your bike. If you have one bottle, big deal. Fill it up at a convenience store with water or a mix of water/gatorade. I have one bottle cage on my bike.

Keep yourself from getting thirsty. Nibble before you get hungry. As long as you keep yourself fed and watered, you won't get cramps in your legs. 8 hours later, you're home and you've ridden 100 miles. You don't need to build up to it. You're on a bike, for God's sake. This isn't the equivalent of running a marathon.