9 Books That Have Helped Me Become A Better Cyclist, Cook and Coach
I’m constantly on a quest to become a better cyclist, cook and coach. My inspiration for personal development has largely been inspired by the books I have in the house. These are more than just any old books though, they are the pathway to living a healthy, productive, and active lifestyle.
You’ll find me scrolling through these books at the end of each week to help me with the upcoming week of meal prep, organizing my kitchen staples, getting my nutrition ready for a race or gaining scientific knowledge that I can share as a mountain bike coach.
The 9 books I’m sharing in this post have been the recipe for me to become a better cook, cyclist and coach. I hope by sharing this list of books you’ll pick up and read at least 1 of them. After that my hope is you start a collection of books that will lead you down your own transformative journey on and off the bike.
Enjoy the reads!
Eating Purely.
The first real “real” cookbook I ever laid my hands on was Eating Purely. By reading this book, author Elizabeth Stein, founder of Purely Elizabeth, helped re-shape my pantry, introduced me to new ingredients, taught me the importance of eating whole, real foods and brought all these concepts of eating purely to life through delicious and healthy homemade recipes.
After reading this book, I started to try new foods and experiment with new ingredients I’ve never heard of before. I kept an open mind to incorporating these new foods into my diet and documented how they made me feel. I had more energy, felt more clear, and was able to impress Haley with new home-cooked meals. (always a plus)
To this day I use this as a resource to learn about eating purely, time-saving cooking tips, benefits of certain ingredients, resources for buying foods and making whole, clean foods and meals that I can share with family and friends.
This cookbook has nothing to deal with cycling, but I believe to become a better cyclist, cook and coach you must have a solid foundation that preaches holistic living - and that’s exactly what this book provides.
Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow.
Another personal favorite of mine, Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow. is a cookbook for hangry athletes by Olympian runner Shalane Flanagan and chef Elyse Kopeck.
As a busy athlete and cyclist, I don’t always have the time to prepare gourmet meals and snacks. Instead, I need something simple that can be made quickly while providing the nutrients to perform on and off the bike. That’s where this book comes in handy.
It starts by offering time-saving tools, tips and more for the busy athlete. It’s then followed by simple, easy to create recipes for breakfast, dinner, power snacks, dessert and more. (See creations from the book below)
During the Peak Cycling season, this is one I keep coming back to for inspiration to make some of my favorite recipes, including my Peachy Molasses Quinoa Bowl, No-Fuss Chia Seed Pudding, Midnight Chocolate Recovery Mug Cake, and Sweet Potato Banana Energy Dip.
One piece of advice to share after reading this: Make sure to have this book on your shelf when your tummy starts growling. You’re going to need it!
Recipe creations from Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow.
The Feed Zone Cookbook
Skratch Labs has become one of my favorite companies (located in Boulder, CO) and lines of sports nutrition products for athletes. There M.O. is using real food, starting from scratch, to make sports nutrition and hydration products you actually want to use.
They also have produced a number of popular cookbooks, including the Feed Zone Cookbook. This book is a no-fuss guide to preparing good food that will change the way you eat. Similar to their own products, the recipes included in the book are the perfect balance of science and practice from Dr. Allen Lim and Chef Biju Thomas. They use refreshingly simple ingredients that measure up to the demands of training and racing.
Inside you’ll find recipes for their infamous rice cakes, pancakes, and lemon basil orzo salad - all of which I have tried and tested out myself. (see creations below) Now it’s your turn to pick up a copy and prepare some of these wholesome recipes and better for your performance.
Recipe creations from the Feed Zone Cookbook
Salt.Fat.Acid.Heat
If you’re looking for a simple, fun and engaging way to improve and impress with your cooking skills, this is the book for you.
I picked up a copy of Salt. Fat. Acid. Heat. after watching the Netflix T.V. series and wanting to take my cooking skills to the next level. In this book, author Samin Nosrat explains the hows and whys of good cooking by mastering the use of four simple elements:
Salt, which enhances flavor
Fat, which delivers flavor and generates texture
Acid, which balances flavor
Heat, which ultimately determines the texture of food
This book features a ton of cool illustrations that act as a compass in your kitchen, including a global spice wheel, kitchen essentials, avocado salad matrix, PH level scale, how to make (and fix) mayonnaise and much more.
After the book takes you through how to master the four elements of good cooking, you’ll have access to a log of recipes that incorporates the skills you learned and puts them into practice in the kitchen.
One of my favorite recipes from this book is a Midnight Chocolate Cake, made with olive oil (a type of fat) to give the cake a very, dare I say it, moist texture. I’ve made it several times to celebrate big occasions including an engagement and my grandparent’s 60th wedding anniversary and it’s SO delicious.
Chocolate Midnight Cake Recipe from Salt. Fat. Acid Heat. Made specially for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary.
Superlife
Superlife provides an entirely new way of thinking about health and wellbeing by identifying what the author calls the 5 life forces: Quality Nutrition, Hydration, Detoxification, Oxygenation, and Alkalization.
Reading this book helped shape my nutrition and food philosophy into what it is today. And that’s: Eat a wide variety of whole, fresh, clean foods - with a focus mostly on fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, grains, sprouts and healthy fats.
This book goes beyond just nutrition though, the other life forces mentioned in the book are all interrelated. One force depends on another to help you get healthy, fit and free of illness.
The book also includes a “How-to-eat” user’s guide with a shopping list, advice on “what to throw away,” a guide to creating a healthy, balanced diet plan, and advice on how to use supplements effectively.
If you’re looking for a good read on all things related to health, nutrition, maintaining the human body and maximizing your body’s true potential, give this book a try
The Culinary Cyclist
The Culinary Cyclist rings true just about all things I believe in when it comes to good food and cycling. I mean, just read a few of these lines directly from the book…
“On a bicycle, there is freedom in propelling yourself forward. You are rewarded for your output, even on the shortest ride. Food is the same. There is joy in a dinner made home from scratch - as much or more than one served at a fancy restaurant. Both on the bicycle and in the kitchen, hard labor pays off.”
“The bicycle and food are two of the simplest things we have at our disposal.”
“The rules for living well, if you call them that, are simple and a pleasure to follow. Eat local and mostly plants. Ride your bike even on rainy days. Say yes to dinner invitations. Always bring your signature dessert. Invite people on picnics. Bike in the sunshine. Follow a morning ride with a strong French Press”
“A bike ride can take you around the block or the country. A meal can do the same. Put the two together? Now that’s a formula for living well.”
How awesome is that?! ^^^^ This simple, quaint book is the perfect addition to any kitchen where bicycling and healthy, delicious food are priorities.
The Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition
The Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition, written by one of the country's most respected sports nutritionists Anita Bean, is a practical handbook for anyone wanting a sports performance advantage. It provides the latest research and information to help athletes succeed with their nutrition.
I used this book to help plan and guide my nutrition intake for the Breck Epic: A 6 day Mtb Stage race in Breckenridge. Inside it offers how to calculate your optimal calorie, carbohydrate and protein requirements along with sample meal plans and recipes depending on your caloric needs.
The best part about this book is that I’ve gained practical sports nutrition knowledge that I can share with others. From the young athletes I mountain bike coach to other cyclists and the rest of the Biked Goods community, I can confidently use the information provided in the book to be a better, well-rounded coach for everyone I serve.
The complete guide help me prep my nutrition plan for the Breck Epic 6 Day MTB Stage race
Finding Ultra
This book tells the inspiring story of Rich Roll, an endurance athlete that went from nearly 50 pounds overweight and unable to climb a set of stairs without stopping to plunging into a new routine that prioritized a plant-based lifestyle and daily endurance training.
His endurance journey started at the line of the elite Ultraman competition, which pits the world’s fittest humans in a 320-mile ordeal of swimming, biking, and running. And following that test, Rich conquered an even greater one: the EPIC5—five Ironman-distance triathlons, each on a different Hawaiian island, all completed in less than a week.
Today Rich is one of the world’s most recognized full-time wellness and plant-based living advocates. He hosts his own podcasts, offers a plant-based meal-planning product and a ton of other resources to help transform your life and unleash your best self on his website.
I was fortunate enough to listen to him speak at a work conference a few years ago - and that’s where I was able to pick up a copy of his book. It's a very impressive story for anyone that is looking for inspiration to help push their minds and bodies to the limit.
Peak Performance
Peak Performance was recommended to me by my friend, coach, and mentor, Bruce at the National Center For Youth Development while I was in the early stages of my endurance cycling “career.”
The main message I learned in this book is that stress + rest = growth. A simple model that anyone can use to consistently improve and develop themselves over time.
This book combines inspiring stories of top performers across a range of capabilities - from athletic, to intellectual, to artistic - with the latest scientific insights into the cognitive and neurochemical factors that drive performance in all domains.
After reading, I learned how to optimally alternate between periods of intense work and rest as a cyclist; develop and harness the power of a self-transcending purpose; and prime my body and mind for enhanced productivity.
I’ll leave this book review with a quote that pretty much sums up the entirety of the message behind Peak Performance.
“Those who can’t figure out the right balance between stress and rest either get hurt or burn out (too much stress, not enough rest) or become complacent and plateau (Not enough stress, too much rest). Those who can figure out the right balance, however, become life-long champions.”
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