This week Lee Rodgers casts his eye over the opening classics of the season and looks into just what makes these great old races so special. Lee also runs into a special old rider who has been up and maybe too close to the 'Campionissimo' Fausto Coppi himself. Life on the cobbles!

The aging process is something none of us can avoid, but with the help of Joe Friel and his book 'Faster After 50' we might be able to fight off the degeneration or at least understand the process. There is good news; Friel advises on strength training to stop age-related loss of muscle mass, overtraining and the importance of rest and recovery.

This week Lee Rodgers turns his attention to something that we all have: Ego. In most people it is held under control, but there are those who's ego has taken over their life, we can all think of someone. Ego, a necessity, good or bad... discuss.

Lee Rodgers takes us into his desert dreams as 'The World’s Oldest Neo-Pro on his Arabian Adventure'. With the top riders of the WorldTour currently racing in the Tour of Qatar, Lee recalls his own adventures, rubbing shoulders with the stars, in the Arab races (Qatar & Oman) back in 2012.

It is said that Tour de France cyclists consume quantities of food during the event second only to sumo wrestlers in training. But while sumos are famous for their vats of greasy soup, an innovative new book suggests that pro cyclists are in reality a pretty sophisticated bunch when it comes to noshing.

I’ve been sat here mulling over potential topics for this week’s Lowdown with my bike in the back yard looking at me like a jilted lover. She’s practically bleating at me like an orphaned lamb. Those hang dog eyes. She must have been a Labrador in a previous life.

Our Toolbox training expert, John Howard, has turned his hand to a bit of book reviewing and takes a look at one of the greatest and fastest men who ever raced. Major Taylor was a champion on the track, but as an African-American he was up against the prejudice of the time. Andrew Ritchie’s updated biography is work of art and a historic record.

Today Lee Rodgers looks at a problem close to his heart, or more so his lungs. The pollution levels in the Far East, where he lives, are at an all time high. So, Lee takes us through Chinese transport history and how a bicycle centric country has changed to the most smoggy in the World.

With the vast flood of books reaching the Pez library, it was a pleasant surprise to receive Peter Joffre Nye's latest book. It is, to date, the only biography of an extraordinarily interesting individual who made his mark in the boom time when cycling gave way to the mad fashion of motoring, his feet firmly in both worlds.