Preface

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The Black Widow, Fort Desoto Park, FL
2008

Cycling Performance Simplified is a non-technical study of the process of achieving peak performance in cycling.

Calling it non-technical does not mean the information provided in this book comes out of nowhere. What you find here can be supported by significant outpouring of detailed technical data from numerous scientific studies.

However, in this book you will not be blinded by science. A simple clear strategy for achieving high levels of athletic performance is presented in a way that encourages further study into the underlying proofs.

To facilitate that process, the included bibliography is sparse and focuses on the main concepts in the field.

Each reference points to a work which provides a full bibliography of its own, is a primary source itself, or is a gateway to primary sources.

In this way the text here is free to jump immediately to essential concepts without diverting attention away from the broader truths.

This book includes a new generation of cycling exercises which follow an approach that was impossible only a few years ago—before power meters brought a simple objective repeatable reference to our bicycling workouts, allowing us to judge performance based on truth rather than comparisons of long standing myths.

Outlined is a solid proven strategy for achieving excellence in cycling. It is described as a narrative about one woman's odyssey in her pursuit of a significant athletic achievement. That narrative is woven into a series of how-to steps which trace the process she used to succeed in that goal.

Intrinsic to the strategy that allowed her success was the use of a power meter while focusing on the simple concept embodied in the formula t @ P/W which means: the amount of time at a given power that can be held considering the rider's weight.

This concept is at the center of the process outlined in this book, so the online version includes a Power to Weight Calculator which also calculates Race Categories based on P/W as well, along with watts to speed.

At the time of this writing, on-bicycle power meters allowing this approach are just now becoming available to a larger audience while the formula t @ P/W is still unique to this book.

Due to the fact wide availability of on-bicycle power meters is a recent occurrence, very little has been written about their usage which incorporates findings and innovations prompted by hands-on power meter experience while pursuing a long term goal.

The devices themselves are poised to toss the cycling world on its head, so Cycling Performance Simplified also takes the opportunity to discuss where this technology will take us in the future as the tools mature to become even more useful.

Things are about to change. Many training myths will be dropped immediately, while more strongly held traditions of apocryphal belief will eventually be pushed off the pace by the overwhelming evidence against.

Some will be ready for the change, some will not. This book is for those who are ready.

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