Bicycling Magazine's Cycling for Health and Fitness: Use Your Machine to Get Strong, Lose Weight, and Feel Great

There is a wide variety of solid information in this book for the person who wants to use his or her bicycle to get into better physical condition and lose weight. It is for the person who is not trying to become Lance Armstrong, but wants to get more out of his or her riding. It is a small book, but if you buy only one book on better fitness through cycling, make it this one.

This book is easy to read, easy to carry and is full of sound no-nonsense advice. Both beginners and "experts" will benefit of the insights provided. It proves wrong widely spread misconceptions and myths and gives great tips to improve the quality of the ride and the overall fitness level. Probably I wouldn't have needed knee surgery If only I had come accross a book like this many years ago. Given that cycling is the only sport I can practice almost pain-free, this book has helped me to improve my technique and the way the bike fits me. Excellent book. It has no content you could do without. If you are an occassional rider and liked to get a little more consistent, get it. If you are an experienced rider you may learn a thing or two and discover common misconceptions passed onto you by fellow "experienced" riders.

Good for beginners. I like the short,easy-to-read format and broad range of topics. Other topics, such as how to buy and fit a bike, make up the first half the book and are repeated from other Bicycling magazine's books. The health and first aid chapters cover essentials and there is useful calorie tracker table. I would have liked to see more about training to progress in speed and distance for intermediate riders and differences in training for road bikers, mountain bikers and those interested in touring.