A review of "Reading the Race:Bike Handling from Inside the Peloton" by Jamie Smith with Chris Horne

Sorry for all the reviews of bicycle books this morning but I have been training hard and decided to take a day off the bike. So I am riding in my mind. The 3 books I reviewed this morning are a good mix for anyone wanting to get inside the heads of bike racers. And for those who ride it can't but help your overall riding.

Reading the Race:Bike Handling from Inside the Peloton by Jamie Smith with Chris Horner.



I have never and will never participate as a rider in a bike race (famous last words, I know, but at 66 I think my time has passed.). But I have gained so much from reading this book. The intricacies of bike racing make much more sense. The biggest pluses come from technical improvements in my own riding skills. I find myself imagining riding in a fast moving group. Am I smooth in my riding or would those around me want to just drop me in their dust. Smith and Horner cover a lot. There are even tips for time trailing which most just view as going as fast as one can for the distance.

Note, this book is not about training. It is about what happens in bike races and how to develop the skills to read what's happening around you as a rider. Tactics and strategies. are covered as well has common errors that riders, even the experience make.

From the Preface:
I would argue that in the scientific rush forward, much of the nuance of bike racing has been lost. The subtleties of pack riding, bike handling and butt kicking have been usurped by wattage, functional threshold power, and kilojoules.

Those are important, but you still need to know how to race.

The topic of bike racing tactics really deserves a full set of encyclopedias
to catalogue and explain every technique, method, rule, trick and strategy. Unfortunately, no one has the time to compile such collection of data because anyone who would have even a passing interest in doing so is too busy training for his or her next race."