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

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I'm determined to grow old gracefully in lycra, and Phil Cavell has been helping me to do it successfully for years ― Gary Kemp 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 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.

Every time you go above this level, you’re having to use enzymes to break down the excess lactate. Dr Baker's coach’s eye view: ‘If you feel good on an endurance ride, go longer, not harder. Going harder is risky. Going longer is safe. It’s the same with intervals — if you feel good, do an extra rep or two, but don’t increase the power.’ Nigel is a friend, a client, and I'm a patient of his. So our relationship is quite multilayered. And he's in the book because one, he is a superb cardiologist and second, he's a superb cyclist. And thirdly, he comes out with the best pithy one-liners I've ever heard. The one you're alluding to, I think, is that we trade cardiovascular and cognitive protection for the occasional orthopaedic incident, which is just beautiful. The heart of the matter is that if you cycle hard or moderately, you're almost certainly going to be cognitively protected and have cardiovascular protection. But you are occasionally going to fall off and hurt something. That's the proposition. Alejandro Valverde, aged 41 and thriving in the pro peloton (Image: Getty)RENOWNED CYCLING BIOMECHANICS PIONEER, PHIL CAVELL, EXPLORES THE GROWING TREND OF MIDDLE-AGED AND OLDER CYCLISTS SEEKING TO ACHIEVE HIGH-LEVEL PERFORMANCE.

I am blown away by the level of detail Phil Cavell brings to his work.' – Elinor Barker MBE, multiple world champion and Olympic gold medallistAccessibility - the cover and marketing makes it appear tailored to midlife cyclist MAMILs like me who are just trying to live their best life. But the text itself was tailored to the tiny minority who are actually trying to win races. Both coach Fox and Dr Baker agree that the majority of riding should be steady-state to increase our oxidative capacity — as much as 80-90 per cent of our training load. We have to learn to be efficient before we can learn to be fast. But even as midlife cyclists we can gain a huge amount of benefit from the correct dose of intense interval training. 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 is my attempt to square the holy triumvate of age, speed and good-health, using the very latest clinical and academic research.

An amazing accomplishment... a simple-to-understand precis of your midlife as a cyclist you won't want to put it down.' Phil Liggett, TV cycling commentatorA must-read... this brilliant book shows you that getting older doesn't mean getting slower! ― Alan Murchison, The Cycling chef and masters cycling champion As you’d expect, the committed cyclist will find lots of info here on the bike itself and biomechanics. For example, do yourselves a favour and don’t be worrying about the technicalities of the “upstroke”. I have had the pleasure of knowing Phil for a bit over a decade. We collaborated on hundreds of custom bikes for Cyclefit clients, and during that time he shared volumes of experience with me. When he told me he was writing a book, I was eager to read it. Dr Baker thinks that most amateur riders function at only 60 per cent of their theoretical aerobic (oxidative) capacity due to training incorrectly — mostly from riding too much at too high a level. You need to be a fast tortoise before you can become even a slow hare.