Miguel Indurain is Spain's greatest cyclist of all time and one of the best Tour racers in history. He is the only bike rider to have won five successive Tours de France, as well as holding the title for the youngest ever race leader in the Tour of Spain. This is his story. As the all-conquering hero of the 90s, Indurain steadfastly refused to be overwhelmed by fame; remaining humble, shy and true to his country roots. Along with his superhuman calmness, iron will-power and superb bike handling skills, he was often described as a machine. Yet 1996 saw Indurain, the Tour's greatest ever champion, spectacularly plummet, bringing his career and supremacy to an abrupt end. In Indurain, Alasdair Fotheringham gets to the heart of this enigmatic character, reliving his historic accomplishments in vibrant colour, and exploring how this shaped the direction taken by generations of Spanish racers - raising Spanish sport to a whole new level.

This is an urban and commuting cyclist's handbook, both inspirational and practical, showing us how to live safer, more enjoyable and healthier lives, both physically and mentally, while reducing our impact on the planet. Author of numerous bestselling bike books, Chris Sidwells, begins with a brief introduction which shows how cycling is already forming a crucial part of future urban transport, good for the environment as well as our health. Current urban transport models, heavily dependent as they are on cars, are unsustainable both in terms of our health and the environment. Cycling offers the perfect mass transport, health and wellbeing solution. As well as being an easy way to improve the fitness of the whole family, with some simple know-how, which Chris shares in this book, it can be perfectly safe even in busy cities. Increasingly, local authorities are seeing the essential role that cycling has to play in transport infrastructure; Chris looks at the many different schemes, both financial and infrastructural, to encourage people onto bikes. Commuting by bike also offers a financial benefit to individuals and societies. Chris shows how to get the right bike for you for commuting and urban cycling, whether that's an electric-assisted bike or pedal-powered only, and how to adjust it properly for your unique build. He looks at cycling clothing and accessories, including helmets, masks, locks and safety equipment. Chris explains how to keep cycling safely despite inclement weather and the different ways to transport what you need to and from work. A chapter on bike care and maintenance shows how to carry out basic repair jobs like adjusting gears, mending punctures and adjusting brakes. Chris explains cycling skills to give you confidence when cycling, including bike control, braking and how to make the most of your gears. He shows when and how to use the extra power provided by an electric bike and offers encouragement to new and returning cyclists. An extended chapter covers road safety, perhaps the biggest barrier to people commuting by bike. Chris shows how to co-exist safely with other road users and the potential hazards that every cyclist should be aware of. He explains the rules that every cyclist must follow and gives step-by-step guidance on how to carry out manoeuvres on the road. Chris shows how to choose the best route to and from work. He gives details of the various schemes to encourage commuting by bike, including insurance and where to find information. Cycling is regarded by many as the best way to regain and maintain fitness. As well as improving both physical and mental wellbeing, cycling can boost our immune system. Cycling also gives self-sufficiency and enhances self esteem.

Revised reprint 2019 Scotland Mountain Biking - The Wild Trails features 24 of the best and more adventurous mountain bike rides in Scotland. The routes range from 6.5 to 290 kilometres in length, and are suitable for all levels of mountain bikers. Split into three sections, Southern & Central Scotland, North-West Scotland & Highlands, and North-East Scotland & Cairngorms, this book includes challenging mountain passes, magical woodland singletrack, Munro peaks and idyllic spins past ancient lochs. The routes include a classic Torridon Circuit, Glen Sligachan on Skye, man-made and natural trails around the Minch Moor at Innerleithen, Munro Mount Keen, the end-to-end Corrieyairack Pass, and a big-mountain loop around Ben Alder. A Bonus Section includes the Fort William to Montrose Coast to Coast route. The book is written by Scottish mountain bike guide Phil McKane and includes stunning photography by Andy McCandlish. It features Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 maps; easy-to-follow directions; details of distance, times and difficulty; and refreshment stops and local knowledge. Reprinted in 2019 with updated mapping and revisions.

From steep inclines to slick terrains, Cycling Anatomy, Second Edition, will ensure you are prepared for every challenge that comes your way. Using the same methods that elite cyclists use, you can employ this well-rounded collection of 89 strength and conditioning exercises to maximize cycling power, speed, and endurance to improve your cycling performance. Each exercise includes clear step-by-step descriptions and full-color anatomical illustrations that highlight the primary muscle being used. You’ll find dozens of variations that use a wide range of training equipment so you can modify exercises to target specific areas, and minimize common cycling injuries. The Cycling Focus section of each exercise includes illustrations of the active muscles involved in cornering, climbing, descending, and sprinting to show you how the exercises are fundamentally linked to delivering maximum power to the pedals. Using tried-and-true strength training principles for all parts of the body, Cycling Anatomy will help you develop a training plan based on your individual needs and goals. Whether you’re training for an upcoming century ride or just want to top that killer hill with strength to spare, Cycling Anatomy will help you reach top performance, avoid injury, and ensure you get the most out of every ride. CE exam available! For certified professionals, a companion continuing education exam can be completed after reading this book. Cycling Anatomy, Second Edition Online CE Exam, may be purchased separately or as part of the Cycling Anatomy, Second Edition With CE Exam, package that includes both the book and the exam.

** WINNER OF THE CYCLING BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE 2019 TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS** So how do you win a bike race? Riding as fast as you could for as long as you could was the main tactic in the early days of road racing when Grand Tours could be won by hours. Now a minute's delay thanks to a puncture could ruin a rider's chances over a three-week race and the sport is described as nothing less than chess on wheels. The intricacies and complexities of cycling are what makes it so appealing: an eye for opportunity and a quick mind are just as crucial to success as a 'big engine' or good form. How do you cope with crosswinds, cobbles, elbows-out sprints, weaving your way through a teeming peloton? Why are steady nerves one of the best weapons in a rider's arsenal and breakaway artists to be revered? Where do you see the finest showcase of tactical brilliance? Peter Cossins takes us on to the team buses to hear pro cyclists and directeurs sportifs explain their tactics: when it went right, when they got it wrong - from sprinting to summits, from breakaways to bluffing. Hectic, thrilling, but sometimes impenetrable - watching a bike race can baffle as much as entertain. Full Gas is the essential guide to make sense of all things peloton.

The hills and valleys of western Massachusetts are a prime destination for cyclists of all persuasions who seek tranquil, rural areas and challenging, enjoyable rides on roads free of traffic and congestion. The 30 rides collected here follow scenic country roads with a variety of terrain that also feature geographic, historical, and cultural interest. The rides range in length from short jaunts to challenging multi-day tours. Each tour description includes directions to the start as well as distance, terrain, road or trail surface, approximate riding time, and the recommended type of bike to use. Along with mile-by-mile directions, author Andi Fusco provides fascinating commentary on the history and culture of the region. Also included are listings for bike rentals, repair shops, and lodgings for overnight tours.

Helmet use can substantially reduce the risks associated with bicycle injuries, as these protective devices can prevent an array of serious facial injuries. A meta-analysis was carried out looking to summarise studies into the helmet use of adolescents and young adults, where the authors found a U-trend between age and helmet use, with the proportion of individuals regularly wearing a helmet declining first and then rising with reference to the progression of age. The increasing trend in young adults has been well-documented in the literature, but few studies have looked into helmet use among adolescents. In this book, produced in collaboration with the Bicycle Safety and Awareness Club in Ontario, Canada, the authors present survey studies conducted in independent schools in North America, looking into bicycle and helmet use of adolescents.

Bernard Hinault is one of the greatest cyclists of all time. He is a five-time winner of the Tour de France and the only man to have won each of the Grand Tours on more than one occasion. Hinault is the last 'old-school' champion: a larger-than-life character from a working-class background, capable of winning on all terrains, in major Tours and one-day Classics. Nicknamed the 'Badger' for his combative style, he led a cyclists' strike in his first Tour and instigated a legendary punch-up with demonstrators in 1982 while in the middle of a race. His battles with teammates Laurent Fignon and Greg LeMond in the 1986 Tour resulted in one of the greatest races of all time. Three decades on from his retirement, Hinault remains the last French winner of the Tour de France. Here, William Fotheringham shows that while France may one day find a new champion, there will never be another Bernard Hinault.

SHORTLISTED FOR CYCLING BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 'Paris-Roubaix is the best race in the world and knocks spots off the Tour de France.' Sir Bradley Wiggins. Paris-Roubaix. The Hell of the North. The ultimate monument in cycling's Classics. More than 150 miles across dusty or muddy roads, much of it puncture-inducing and bone-breaking cobblestones. Even professional riders blanche at the very mention of it. Tour de France winners (with the notable exception of Wiggins in 2014) make their excuses from it. So why on earth would an amateur even dare to attempt it? In To Hell on a Bike, Iain MacGregor does just that and as he prepares for the ride of his life, he explores the history and culture of this extraordinary race. With insights from legends of the sport, trainers, mechanics and fellow writers, as well as those who have maintained the traditions of Paris-Roubaix since its inception over a century ago, it is the ultimate story of the ultimate cycling challenge.

Keep your bike on the road for the long haul Whether you're training, competing, or simply riding for fun, a properly tuned bike is essential to performance, efficiency, and safety. That's where" Essential Bicycle Maintenance & Repair" comes in.

Author Daimeon Shanks takes a straightforward "you can do it" approach to maintaining and repairing your bike so it's ready to go when you are.

"Essential Bicycle Maintenance & Repair" provides simple step-by-step instructions, accompanied by up-close photos, illustrations, and advice, for more than 100 repairs. You'll learn these skills and more:

- Adjust derailleurs and troubleshoot shifting problems.

- True your wheels and tweak your hubs for a silky-smooth ride.

- Install caliper, cantilever, or V-brakes.

- Repair a broken chain on the roadside.

- Fix flats in no time flat.

- Maintain pedals and cleats for efficiency and comfort.

- Install or adjust a headset.

- Install handlebars, including aero bars and flat bars.

- Adjust your saddle for a perfect fit.

- Determine if a triple crankset is right for you.

So spend more time in the saddle and less time and money in costly repair shops. "Essential Bicycle Maintenance & Repai"r is the one guide no cyclist should be without

Maybe you'd like to cycle to work, but think: "I can't - I'm unfit, I donit want to get sweaty, I live too far away." This book might just change your mind. It is packed with great tips on: * buying the right bike and equipment * riding safely in traffic * finding the best route to ride to work * integrating cycling with other forms of transport * basic bicycle mechanics * finding bike buddies Cycling to work: a beginner's guide gives you all the information you need to get to work on your bike. Get fit, save money, and be green!

In the Tour de France of 1998, for the first time ever, political forces intervened to lay bare the comprehensive doping practices of popular athletes, which had been covered up by the sports officials as well as by journalists who might have exposed them. As these dramatic raids made it clear that doping practices pervaded professional cycling and as such put an end to the myth that doping can simply be attributed to the moral defects of corrupt individuals, suspicions grew that cycling was probably not the only major sport in which doping was for many athletes a way of life. This great Tour de France scandal of 1998 made possible a genuine campaign against doping led by governments and sports officials. In 1999 this resulted in the creation of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) by which the way was paved for a partnership between an independent international body and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This arrangement has produced some notable successes in the drug testing of elite athletes over the past several years wherefore many observers may well believe that there is today an effective global anti-doping consensus and that doping is gradually being eliminated from major Olympic sports. The essays appearing for the first time in this volume, however, show that athletes who dope and those that pursue them are trapped in a fateful conflict that is far more complicated than the familiar story line suggests. The detect-and-punish strategy currently being refined by WADA does not address some of the major dimensions of the doping phenomenon: the rights and requirements of the athlete-worker, the gradual legalisation of soft doping techniques, nationalistic resistance to doping control, the perils of corporate sponsorship, the expanding black market for doping drugs, the publics tacit acceptance of doped athletes, and the cherished illusion that the Olympic motto citius, altius, fortius is compatible with the requirements of a drug-free sport in the 21'th century. Doping and Public Policy argues that the current strategy of condemnation and surveillance is not enough, and that it is time to rethink anti-doping policy in the global context where it belongs.

Skateboarders are an increasingly common feature of the urban environment - recent estimates total 40 million world-wide. We are all aware of their often extraordinary talent and manoeuvres on the city streets. This book is the first detailed study of the urban phenomenon of skateboarding. It looks at skateboarding history from the surf-beaches of California in the 1950s, through the purpose-built skateparks of the 1970s, to the street-skating of the present day and shows how skateboarders experience and understand the city through their sport. Dismissive of authority and convention, skateboarders suggest that the city is not just a place for working and shopping but a true pleasure-ground, a place where the human body, emotions and energy can be expressed to the full.
The huge skateboarding subculture that revolves around graphically-designed clothes and boards, music, slang and moves provides a rich resource for exploring issues of gender, race, class, sexuality and the family. As the author demonstrates, street-style skateboarding, especially characteristic of recent decades, conducts a performative critique of architecture, the city and capitalism. Anyone interested in the history and sociology of sport, urban geography or architecture will find this book riveting.

'I have success, money, women. I've been lionised by the public and the media. The world is at my feet. I've spread my wings and here I am, soaring above everything and everyone. But in reality, the descent has already begun.' Thomas Dekker was set to become one of pro cycling's superstars. But before long, he found himself sucked in by the lure of hedonistic highs and troubled by the intense pressure to perform. In The Descent, Dekker tells his story of hotel room blood bags, shady rendezvous with drug dealers and late-night partying at the Tour de France. This is Dekker's journey from youthful idealism to a sordid path of excess and doping that lays bare cycling's darkest secrets like never before.

When Emma O'Reilly joined the US Postal cycling team in 1996, she could have had no idea how she would become a central figure in the biggest doping scandal in sporting history. Yet when Lance Armstrong, starting his comeback from cancer, signed for US Postal, it was Emma, the only woman on the team, who became his personal soigneur. This is the definitive inside story of that time, and of the enormous repercussions that resonate to this day for Emma, Lance and the whole sport. Emma had the strength to break cycling's omerta by speaking out against the culture of doping. She thought she would be one of many whistleblowers, doing what she believed was right. Isolated and shunned by the sport she loved, however, her reputation was systematically destroyed. And yet she had the courage to bounce back, and remarkably, to forgive those who made her existence a living hell. This is the ultimate memoir of truth and its many consequences.

In 1987, Irish cycling legend Stephen Roche had an extraordinary year - the year to end all years. June 1987: Winner of the Giro d'Italia July 1987: Secured the yellow jersey at the Tour De France September 1987: Victory at the World Cycling Championships in Austria By winning the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and world championships in the same season, Stephen Roche defied all odds to win cycling's 'triple crown'.Born to Ride, his first full autobiography, takes this extraordinary year as the starting point to explore the rest of his life. He doesn't hold back as he examines the many ups and downs of his time on and off the bike, scrutinising victories, defeats, rivals, serious injury, doping allegations and agonising family breakdown. Beneath the charm and rare natural talent, Roche finally reveals himself as a smiling assassin - a master strategist who lives to attack. 'One of the most riveting sporting biographies I've read' Herald

Boy Racer steps behind the scenes of the Tour de France. It unmasks the exotic, contradictory, hysterical and brutal world of professional cycling from the compellingly candid viewpoint of someone right in the thick of it. Written off as 'fat' and 'useless' in his youth, Mark Cavendish is now one of cycling's brightest stars and one of Britain's greatest ever cyclists. Some have called him cocky, but to anyone who doesn't like his style, Mark will simply shrug his shoulders and reply, 'I know I'm good. There's no point lying about it.' Peers say that they have never seen anyone with Cavendish's hunger for success and while this fearlessness - both in the saddle and on the record - has at times led to controversy, it has also earned him the respect of ever more fans. In Boy Racer we follow him through the mayhem of the Tour de France in a page-turning journey of pure exhilaration.

Chris Boardman is the 2017 winner of the Cross Sports Cycling Book of the Year for his autobiography Triumphs and Turbulence. 'The true inspiration was that Olympic gold won by Chris Boardman in Barcelona... I was so in awe of Chris Boardman' Sir Bradley Wiggins You may know him as the much-loved co-presenter of ITV's Tour de France coverage or enjoyed his BBC Olympic coverage, but beyond the easy charm Chris Boardman is one of our greatest, most inspiring cyclists. Boardman's lone achievements in the 80s and 90s - Olympic track gold, the world hour record, repeatedly claiming the yellow jersey in the Tour de France - were the spark that started the modern era for British cycling. His endeavours both on and off the bike have made him the founding father of current golden generation - without him there would simply be no Hoy, Wiggins or Cavendish. It is a story full of intrigue: from Olympic success, to the famous duels with Graeme Obree and the insanity of the Tour de France. Chris became a legend for his combination of physical ability and technical preparation, almost single-handedly taking British cycling from wool shirts and cloth caps into the era of marginal gains. Indeed, after his career on the bike ended, a new chapter began as the backroom genius behind GB cycling. As head of the R&D team known as The Secret Squirrel Club, Chris has been responsible for the technical innovations that made the difference in 2012 and developed Boardman Bikes, which has become the country's bestselling premium bike range.