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The Midlife Cyclist

The Road Map for the +40 Rider Who Wants to Train Hard, Ride Fast and Stay Healthy

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The Midlife Cyclist

By: Phil Cavell
Narrated by: Phil Cavell
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Bloomsbury presents The Midlife Cyclist written and read by Phil Cavell.

'I am blown away by the level of detail Phil Cavell brings to his work.' – Elinor Barker MBE, multiple world champion and Olympic gold medallist

'The Midlife Cyclist is a triumph' – Cycling Plus

'An amazing accomplishment... a simple-to-understand précis of your midlife as a cyclist – you won't want to put it down.' – Phil Liggett, TV cycling commentator

'Phil is eminently qualified to write The Midlife Cyclist. Well, he is certainly old enough.' – Fabian Cancellara, Tour de France rider and two-time Olympic champion

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Renowned cycling biomechanics pioneer, Phil Cavell, explores the growing trend of middle-aged and older cyclists seeking to achieve high-level performance.

Using contributions from leading coaches, ex-professionals and pro-team doctors, he produces the ultimate manifesto for mature riders who want to stay healthy, avoid injury – and maximise their achievement levels.

Time's arrow traditionally plots an incremental path into declining strength and speed for all of us. But we are different to every other generation of cyclists in human history. An ever-growing number of us are determined to scale the highest peaks of elite physical fitness into middle-age and beyond. Can the emerging medical and scientific research help us achieve the holy triumvirate of speed and health with age?

The Midlife Cyclist offers a gold standard road-map for the mature cyclist who aims to train, perform and even race at the highest possible level.©2022 Phil Cavell (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Aging & Longevity Cycling Exercise & Fitness Fitness, Diet & Nutrition Personal Development Physical Exercise
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Critic reviews

A must-read... this brilliant book shows you that getting older doesn't mean getting slower! (Alan Murchison, The Cycling chef and masters cycling champion)
Phil is eminently qualified to write The Midlife Cyclist. Well, he is certainly old enough. (Fabian Cancellara, Tour de France rider and two-time Olympic champion)
A road-map for the mature cyclist
Phil's book can help you be as good today as you always said you were (Carlton Kirby, Eurosport commentator)
I am blown away by the level of detail Phil Cavell brings to his work (Elinor Barker MBE, multiple world champion and Olympic gold medallist)
An amazing accomplishment... a simple-to-understand précis of your midlife as a cyclist – you won't want to put it down. (Phil Liggett, TV cycling commentator)
I’m determined to grow old gracefully in lycra, and Phil Cavell has been helping me to do it successfully for years. (Gary Kemp)
The Midlife Cyclist is entertaining, insightful, well-researched and vital reading for all youngsters over forty who have a love affair with the bike. (Norman Foster)
A must for the older athlete, it's motivated me to train harder again. (Sir Rocco Forte)
The Midlife Cyclist is a triumph
Are you middle-aged? Are you slower than you used to be, more tired? Read this book. It will help you.
All stars
Most relevant
Absolutely brilliant audiobook, packed with insightful information gained over a long and varied career. I’ve changed the way I think about my training completely. I’m 55 and hope to continue riding the rest of my life.

A Must Read For Anyone over 40!

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Very enjoyable and hugely informative, every mamil should read and digest, a lot of information but entertaining throughout.

Intelligent cycling

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Wonderful and insightful advice. Helpful and definitely worth your time reading/listening. Very much recommend

There is a bit of a but that comes with that. Thankfully it doesn’t take much away from the virtues of the book. I am frustrated by the bad use of ‘evolution’ as a background for the explanations given. I don’t think the author has a good understanding of evolution nor historic demographics - or certainly that is what is demonstrated in his writing.

In particular, he keeps mentioning the short life expectancy of humans before 1900s as an explanatory force behind some of the quirks of aging; and how it would be ‘profoundly rare’ for someone to live past their 30s. This is ignorant to the fact that ancient life expectancy was heavily influenced by high infant mortality rates. A person’s life expectancy if they survived past adolescence really wasn’t anything like the author seems to think.

This is annoying but mostly unimportant. When I look past this minor issue, it’s clear this is a well researched and helpful book

Excellent, but…

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Lots of great information here, I have made some changes to my training already! Some laugh out loud moments too when I relate personally to something. Well recommended!

Really interesting and helpful!

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I absolutely loved this book. It will be great to listen to again and implement strategies Phil advocated.

Just need a bike fit now!!

Great

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