book review - “The complete guide to climbing (by bike)
BOOK REVIEW: “THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CLIMBING (BY BIKE) Written by John Summerson
“A Guide to cycling climbing and the most difficult climbs in the United States”
224 pages, published by Extreme Press
John Summerson, a research associate and exercise physiologist at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, took over a decade to travel the USA to ride the steepest, longest, and biggest climbs he could find. To get this information he used a WAS enabled GPS device to make sure the information contained in his book is not only accurate, but repeatable.
I am the first to admit that I am not much of a climber. You would think that with me being only 154 pounds at 5′10″ I would be a super climber, but the truth is that I seem to bonk at the first sign of an uphill. Even with this limitation I am always willing to try any challenge, and riding an epic mountain is no exception. And with “The Complete Guide To Climbing” I will have many years of challenges in my home state of California.
The first 33 pages contain information on what defines a hill climb, cycling techniques, and how to train for hill climbing. He discusses how he decided which climbs to include and why. The pages that cover the “memorable climbing performances” are for my the most interesting since I am a cycling history nut.
From here John Summerson breaks down the climbs by area (Northeast, Southeast, West), and then by state. California has by far the most climbs of any state (good for me since I live in So Cal). In total he includes 100 climbs, and gives details covering total elevation climbed, length, average grade and rating. One of the best part of this book is how John Summerson rates the climbs, which gives you a quick and easy way to compare the difficulty of climbs around the world.
This book is a must for any cyclist. It contains so much great information on the epic climbs that we can find in our own backyard, there is almost no need to ever go to France to ride. I highly recommend this book.
So if you are wondering where you can find my on any given Sunday morning? I will be attempting the climbs that can be found in California, and if you pass some guy wearing a bicycle.net kit, slow down, say hi, pretend to be out of breath, and then go along your way.
To purchase this book; Go to Amazon
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