The Ultimate Ride: Get Fit, Get Fast, and Start Winning with the World's Top Cycling Coach [Hardcover]

Chris Carmichael (Author), Jim Rutberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 19, 2003

All the cycling world would love to know Lance Armstrong's training techniques and share in his incredible drive and personal will to win. Now, they-and any fan, reader, casual or dedicated cyclist-can learn all the invaluable training tips, state-of-the-art techniques, indispensable nutritional advice, and revelatory goal-setting and mental exercises that Lance and his personal coach have perfected during their four victories in the Tour de France. With photographs and illustrations throughout, Carmichael explains a step-by-step program to get you fit, fast, and on the road to becoming a champion in your own right. This is the must-have fitness/cycling book of the year.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Carmichael, Olympic coach and trainer, is probably best known for training cyclist Lance Armstrong, winner of four consecutive Tour de France championships. Here, Carmichael offers a sound approach for serious cyclists wanting to improve their abilities, compete more successfully and train without incurring injuries. The well-organized book begins with Carmichael talking about his background and then explaining the Carmichael Training System (CTS), a pyramid where people first set goals and then work through various stages of training. The chapter on diet will be useful to marathoners as well as cyclists; but the chapter "Tools of Training" on specific bike workouts such as HighSpeedSprints and FoundationMiles will be of interest only to serious cyclists. Illustrations are of Armstrong and other athletes coached by Carmichael, and the writing is clear and persuasive without being excessively inspirational. For example, the author states, "Before you can chase your dreams, you must know exactly what they are and where you are in relation to them. You must also have the courage to make your own rules and not allow yourself to be governed by perceived or imposed limitations." This is a first-rate guide for cyclists who compete or race and should also appeal to professionals who work with athletes such as coaches or physical therapists.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Carmichael, who has coached Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, has written a book that will enable cyclists-- both novice and expert--to work in tandem with their machines to get the most out of their bikes and themselves. In his program, he stresses the importance of mental preparation, conditioning and training, and nutrition; his language, while simple and direct, does not dumb down. Where it is necessary, the narrative is illustrated with photographs; the chapter entitled "Reinforcing Your Training Program," for example, contains a number of photos showing how to use measuring devices to ensure that a bicycle is ideally fit to its rider. This is an excellent guide to obtaining peak performance in cycling competition, but the wealth of training tips and intelligent discussion of nutrition will be almost as valuable to noncompetitive cyclists and even to other athletes serious about conditioning. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1St Edition edition (June 19, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399150714
• ISBN-13: 978-0399150715
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #423,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chris Carmichael is an endurance coach and adviser to Olympic athletes and teams around the world. He is Lance Armstrong's personal coach, as well as coach to athletes of all levels. During 1997 and 1998, Chris dedicated his time and talents to shaping Lance Armstrong's return from cancer to professional racing. In 1999, he founded Carmichael Training Systems (CTS) to bring quality coaching to elite athletes and active people alike.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Simplistic and Purposefully Incomplete, June 8, 2004

By 

Ookie Cookie (Charlotte, VT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Ride: Get Fit, Get Fast, and Start Winning with the World's Top Cycling Coach (Hardcover)

I would assume that most people who buy this book do so because they're looking to self-train themselves and need some guidance on how to do so. That, at least, is the reason I looked into it. Unfortunately, the Ultimate Ride is inadequate for such a purpose.
Carmichael emphasizes that periodization is the best way to organize your training year. However, he gives you no advice on how to actually do this. He tells you its important, but doesn't get into the hows and whys of it. He gives examples of training months (4 total), but offers no insights on planning subsequent months, or on linking months together coherently. He tells you that you should gradually increase "workout stimulus" in a stairstep fashion, but doesn't describe how to actually do it.
This is the biggest problem with Carmichael's book- he tends to tell you that things are important, but doesn't bother describing how to put them into practice. As a cyclist you already KNOW that these things- training principles, cycling techniques, skills, etc.- are important- that's why you bought the book to begin with! What you need to know is HOW to improve them. This is where Carmichael fails.
I suspect this failure is intentional. The reviewer below who likened the book to an infomercial was spot-on. Carmichael is trying to sell his training program, CTS. The reason this book is so spotty is that he wants you to go out and join his program to get the answers and the training that this book leaves you hungry for. This is pretty shoddy business, if you ask me.
I give it two stars because there is a smattering of helpful information, such as nutritional concerns and some good workouts. But much of the book consists of stuff you already know, or is filled with "Ra-ra-you-can-do-it-you're-the-champion-110-percent!!!" pop sports psychology that you could get from any junior high gym class. Extremely disappointing, can't even recommend it for absolute novices.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An improvement / innovative ideas / needs index and pictures, July 20, 2003

By 

J. D. Moffatt "jdweb" (Victoria, BC Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Ride: Get Fit, Get Fast, and Start Winning with the World's Top Cycling Coach (Hardcover)

In a review of Chris Carmichael's previous book, "Lance Armstrong Performance Program: Seven Weeks to the Perfect Ride", I (as JDWEB) said that it was excellent, but didn't go far enough for serious athletes. I think that problem has been largely corrected in this book, and I am happy with this purchase. What I really like in this new book is that he presents some novel ideas on the subject of training, and explains them in sufficent detail. He also goes into more detail on key subjects such as nutrition (talking about about amounts of protein per kg of body weight, for example, not just in terms of dietary percentages).

I have studied LOTS of books on training, and I do quite well as an athlete given my age (39) and limited number of hours of training available. I've been periodizing my workouts with macrocycles and microcycles right back to the Lemond days, for example. This new book is the first one I've seen in awhile with FRESH ideas on what intensity to train at, and how to find that level for yourself. CC (aka "The Kid") tells us how he had to train LA in a less stressful way, and why it works. For example, you improve your power fastest if you train just under your Anaerobic Threshold, rather than at it or just over. That was a surprise to me. CC also bases his training intensities not on Max Heart Rate, which everyone else has written about ad naseum, but instead on your heart rate during a 3 mile time trial. This is especially relevant to me, as my muscular development for running is ahead of my development for cycling, so my intensity for cycling is lower than for running (the muscles are a bottle neck). This is cool stuff that makes sense, and very relevant to triathletes, too, as you can see.

The book was mostly disappointing in that it didn't have an index, so you couldn't look for "rest" and find all the references in the text, for example. That's a hinderance. The book also needs explanatory pictures of some bike handling techniques, as I said in my review of his other book. But overall, this book is very valuable in demonstrating a new approach to training, and worth every penny.

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Get Friel Instead, May 31, 2005

By 

Raoul Duke "R. Duke" (San Antonio, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Ride (Paperback)

Don't get me wrong--this book has some very useful information, including descriptions of useful workouts, dietary recommendations, and general training/riding tips. The problem is that it is too general to be of any real help to competitive cyclists. Much of what Carmichael says can be summed up as follows: "Here is some general information about training, but if you really want to get strong, hire me as your coach." For example, Carmichael discusses the general concepts of periodization for training but offers little in the way of how to construct your own schedule. Another thing that turns me off is the flagrant plugging for his sponsors, such as Powerbar, that appear throughout the book.

If you are looking for a good book to help you become a stronger cyclist, don't waste your money on this book. Instead, buy Joe Friel's book "The Cyclists Training Bible," which offers much more information on how to self coach and create your own tailored training schedule.