Bike for Life: How to Ride to 100

I rode my 40 pound bike about 3000 miles last year, including the PTNY Erie Canal ride. The Erie Canal ride is 400 miles over 8 days, so 50 miles a day on average. This is not the kind of riding that Wallack and Katovsky spend much time discussing! Nothing wrong, of course, with the ultra-endurance etc. extreme sorts of competitive events they focus on. I suppose a lot of people need to push themselves toward some grand goal if they're to get up off the couch at all.

This is a fun enough book. There are very nice interviews with a wide range of serious cyclists. The book does cover many aspects of cycling. But it does focus mostly on serious competition.

Probably the scariest chapter was on osteoporosis. A local friend of mine who is a serious competitive cyclist just broke his hip. I must say, this chapter has got me out running more frequently.

I like staying in decent shape by getting out to ride regularly. I like getting out on my bike to explore the countryside. I suspect there are a lot of people who could get a lot out of cycling but who are put off by the serious competitive approach that is so common in bicycling literature, including this book. There is good information here but it does sadden me that the richest potential of the title wasn't really tapped. ( )