Random Thoughts & Tues. Night Book Club

No ride tonight. I really wanted to, but don't want to do too much this week with the Wild 101 on Sat. Gonna do an easy road ride tomorrow or easy spin on trainer if it rains.

A few posts ago I mentioned how I think 99% of all Mountain Bike Mags SUCK. Hucking, dirt jumping, down hill crap-ola, bikes that look like motorcycles, yuppie bikes or beginner tips. That's all there really is. I like Velo News but it's 95% roadie, too expensive to subscribe too and none of my shops EVER have the current issues.

I would love an XC Mountain Bike Mag that focuses on racing skills, performance riding, fitness and nutrition and race recaps. But "there ain't none" as the saying goes. But there ARE great blogs out there full of tips, info and interesting reading from folks like Jeff Kerkove, Solo Goat, Nick Martin, and Jason Sager. Not to mention informative sites like www.mountainbikeracer.com, the MTBR forums, and ride424.com. This is the new media for me. No need to get a mag that's 90% ads, 8% Bull Shit, and 2% anything worth while. There are some other great sites by more "regular guy racers" (no offense to them) like FatMarc, Ashwin Earl, and some wannabe endurance racer doofus who named his site the Soiled Chamois.

Some mags to check out that are NOT cycling mags but are pretty darn informative:

Muscle & Fitness Hers. Hot chicks working out... and more!!:



Yeah, I know it's for chicks, but It's much more informative and realistic than the men's version. The weight trainning is more like something we XC peeps would do, and the nutrition articles are pretty good too. Can be a little heavy on the "protein & tanning" but still good. Plus most of the models are pretty hot and built great. EYE CANDY BONUS!

Triathlete. 3 Sports, I only do one of them and it's still better than Bicycling magazine!



Again, not a true cycling mag, but much of the fitness info, training and nutrition tips are spot on for heavy endurance events like solo 12 & 24s.

Books that I find to be SUPER helpful:

Eat Right. Work out. Or get fat. Seriously. This one is great



Great for learning how to fuel your day and workouts through the year so as to not get tubby in the winter or under fuel during your race season. Recipes are pretty good. This book is WAY better than his latest. The new one is ok but most of recipes contain items tha are too expensive and too hard to find. Or are too time consuming to make.

Playing Hard doesn't work so well in lycra but Eating Smart rocks!...



This book is also full of real food ideas and tips. I've read this one about 10 times. Very good. Some good recipes too.

I also HIGHLY recomend the E-Caps/Hammer Fueling Handbook. Available for download in PDF form here. Or through www.e-caps.com. This one change my whole race nutrition for the better. Can't say enough about them. And NO I'm NOT sponsored by them.... yet! HA!

People seem divided on this book. I dig it and find it pretty easy to figure out.



I think it's great for on the bike training and season/off season planning. Still learning and adapting as best I can given the training hours I have and the style of racing I do. But I dig it.

Man, I must be bored. Pre Hump-day-tastic.