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Effective Cycling
by John Forester
Product Group: Book
Publisher: MIT Press (1984-01-01)
ISBN: 0262060884
EAN: 9780262060882
Hardcover: 424 pages
Edition: 5th
SKU: USOC4137x
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: No dust jacket. Ex Library copy with stamps reading "US Olympic Committee Sports Medicine Library." & "Discarded from USOC Library". Bound strong. Text clean with no marks.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
The core of John Forester's concept of Effective Cycling is that bicyclists fare best when they act, and are treated in return, as drivers of vehicles, with the same rights and responsibilities that motorists have.
In this new edition of his classic introductory work, Forester reasserts this idea in terms of practice and education as well as theory while also addressing--among much else--the two major forces that have shaped bicycling since the early 1980s: the proliferation of high-quality equipment and the seriously insufficient progress on the social, political, and psychological fronts.
The book is filled with details, strategies, and tips that will be useful both to occasional cyclists and to those who enjoy cycling as a way of life--all drawn from the author's many years of experience as a cyclist, a Cycling Transportation Engineer, and the founder of the Effective Cycling Program.
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Customer Reviews
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Read it and learn
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-08-12
Cancel your subscription to _Bicycling_ magazine. Read this instead. Ride and learn. Learn to ride with confidence. Sure, the equipment advice is hopelessly obsolte. Who cares? Five speed freewheels, drill holes in your hubs for oil ports? Forget about it. Doesn't talk about LED headlights or blinking taillights? You already know about those.
He invented the priciples that are described here, coined the term vehicular cycling, and pretty much wrote the bible for on-road cyclists. Take it out of your library if you are skeptical, but this really should be on the bookshelf on every cyclist.
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Skip the politics, but learn how to ride in traffic safely and maintain your bike
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-08-07
This is an excellent book, which used to be the basis for the League of American Wheelmen (now the League of American Bicyclist's) safe cycling class (at the time known as Effective cycling. Learn all the critical skills for riding safely in traffic, including such things as emergency stops and emergency turns (i.e. when a car "hooks" you by making a right turn in front of you).
This book has been around for a long time, restructured and revised in this 6th edition, it's a much better read -- I just wish John could give up on his political ranting (correct as much of it is) and spend some time on riding safely in the world of bike lanes, etc. rather than wishing they didn't exist -- sadly, given legislative ignorance such things are here to stay and every cyclist should know how to use them safely!
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informative and opinionated
Rating  (3)
Date: 2008-06-27
Effective Cycling contains a lot of very valuable information. Unfortunately, half of the book is mostly repetitive axe-grinding and random opinions. I would have given the book a higher rating if these necessary half were not thoroughly interwoven with the unnecessary half.
It bothers me that Forester complains about others using unsubstantiated, anecdotal evidence, because he uses plenty himself. For one example, his brief discussion of recumbent bicycles is so absurd that it should have been left out. His double-standards regarding fact vs. opinion and logic vs. emotion greatly undermine his arguments.
That said, a reader with a critical eye and a tolerance for hot air can separate the wheat from the chaff.
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Great book, a little to much focus on politics
Rating (4)
Date: 2008-06-19
This book was recommended by the cycling club I recently joined. Being fairly new to cycling as an adult, I found this book contains a great deal of practical information and tips for cycling skills suitable for beginners and more experienced cyclists. An example is the books instruction for riding on the road in traffic. The book has very good tips for how to deal with all kinds of traffic situations and stresses how much safer it is for a cyclist to ride on the road where motorists expect them to be rather than on sidewalks or multi-use paths that run along streets. It's not a book intended to be read cover to cover but used more as a reference book. The only negative thing I can say about the book is the authors focus on politics as it pertains to bicycle laws. This information is important for all cyclist to understand so it should be mentioned in the book but I felt that too much of the book dealt with the topic. All in all I'd definitely recommend this book to any one interested in improving their cycling skills
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Ageless advice that will save your life
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-12-08
If you ride a bike, you must read this book!
Yes, it's in some ways old, but much of the info, and advice from this outspoken cycling advocate is timeless and life saving.
The number of subjects covered and the detail is amazing.
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