Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

The Bicycling Big Book of Cycling for Women: Everything You Need to Know for Whatever, Whenever, and Wherever You Ride

Rate this book
It's a Women are built differently than men. That means that women's bodies react differently to training, nutrition, and sometimes even riding itself. Yet most bicycling books are written without addressing any of these differences. This comprehensive cycling book addresses how to gear up and prepare for any goal-whether you want to ride for pleasure, complete your first 100 miles, or line up at a race.

Top professional cyclist Selene Yeager has teamed up with the editors of Bicycling magazine to create The Bicycling Big Book of Cycling for Women, an easy-to-follow instructional manual geared specifically toward women and their unique needs. It breaks down the sport of cycling into easily digestible sections, beginning with the history of women's cycling and progressing into equipment, lifestyle, technique, training, fitness goals, nutrition, maintenance, and more. The book also includes a women-specific section regarding hormones and exercise performance, cycling while menstruating, cycling while pregnant, how menopause affects your training, and how specific parts of the female body are uniquely affected by cycling. The Bicycling Big Book of Cycling for Women is an indispensible, lifelong guide for every female cyclist.

320 pages, Paperback

First published September 8, 2015

46 people are currently reading
81 people want to read

About the author

Selene Yeager

54 books36 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
37 (42%)
4 stars
35 (40%)
3 stars
13 (14%)
2 stars
2 (2%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
17 reviews
Read
January 23, 2016
Very helpful and practical. Quick read and easy to skip to the parts you're more interested in. I just don't recommend reading it while you're riding.
Profile Image for Meg.
679 reviews
February 22, 2022
Well, I'm glad I had the library buy this instead of buying it myself.

The overall tone was weird--rah, rah, you go, girl stuff that made me cringe combined with the assumption that everyone reading it is going to be an intense road cyclist/racer. Either I need my hand held or I'm a speed racer--which is it?

Everything about commuting, casual riding, and the women's stuff chapters were short and crammed to the beginning and end. I finally decided to skim/skip the stuff I didn't need, but I still came away annoyed. Not much detail to speak of about, say, women's-specific saddles beyond that they exist and there are a few different kinds. But heavy on the clip-in shoes and how amazing they are when really, not everyone needs them at all.

If you want to be a racer or ride with a pack, buy this book. Otherwise, there are general cycling books that are much better, and you can always check this out or find the women's-specific info online.
Profile Image for Nic.
333 reviews6 followers
May 4, 2021
This is a good one for new riders, especially geared towards women cyclists. If you're new to the sport, this one is worth a read. If it's time to purchase a new bike, Yeager covers several of the different styles of bikes and their purposes. So many choices! Yeager includes bike diagrams, with labeled parts, for confidence in the bike shop, knowing the lingo and what it refers to. There's great advice, specifically, for fitting a woman's body to a bike, as well as the different nutritional needs of women bikers. There's quite a bit of name drop for Stacy Sims, exercise physiologist, nutrition scientist, and fellow cyclist...who has devoted about 20 years to studying these issues 259. Sims has created a line of tested nutrition products for women. Yeager also writes well and this reads easily.
57 reviews
March 4, 2020
There’s a lot of helpful information in this book. I decided I wanted my own copy to mark up and keep handy with suggested exercises and workout plans so waiting for that to arrive.
Profile Image for Heather.
76 reviews
June 20, 2020
Great information

This book contains solid information about what type of bike to buy, how to maintain it, and women-specific cycling issues.
9 reviews
March 25, 2017
Sensible and practical advice

I loved her concept of using breathing patterns to distinguish training zones. It has already helped me improve. Also, she gives great practical advice about "female issues" which really helped me.
3 reviews2 followers
September 27, 2015
Big Book of Cycling for Women

This book was very informative. I really like the way it was organized and was for all riders including beginners.
Profile Image for Aga Dadura.
22 reviews
December 20, 2015
Great guide

Learned a lot! Makes me want to jump on my bike every time I read it. Will definitely keep coming back to reinforce the new knowledge.
Profile Image for Lisa.
418 reviews
August 10, 2016
I read specific sections of the book relating to only to issues women face (like menopause, etc) I skipped over more general knowledge info. the chapter on menopause was brief but helpful.
Profile Image for Roxanne Staveness.
110 reviews6 followers
August 21, 2016
Going to buy it. Need it longer than can check out. Lots of information I can use.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.