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Josh Whitmore

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C O A C H B I O	Name	Josh Whitmore
	What Carmichael Training Systems says about this coach:
	Date of Birth	7/20/1976
	Hometown	Brevard, NC
	Current Residence	Sylva, NC
	Favorite Ride/Run/Hike/Swim/etc.	A 60mile combo dirt/paved road loop that goes through the heart of Smokey Mountain National Park including a 12 mile dirt climb on Heintooga Motor rd to over 6000ft, a real wilderness experience.
	Education/Degree(s)	MS in Recreation Management from the University of Montana, BA in Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education from Brevard College.
	Certifications (USAC, USAT, Power Training, NISSN, CSCS, etc.)	- USA Cycling Level 2 coach - Wilderness First Responder - American Mountain Guides Association: Single Pitch Instructor - Professional Climbing Guides Association: Climbing Wall Instructor Certifying Course Provider - American Canoe Association: Level 5 Whitewater Instructor for Canoe and Kayak - American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education: Avalanche Level II Course Graduate
	CTS Coaching Level	Expert
	Sports You Coach	Cycling: Road, Mountain, Cyclocross
	Packages You Coach	Select, Premium, Ultimate
	Major Coaching Accomplishments: I’ve coached athletes to collegiate national championships, top 5 finishes in National Race Calendar (NRC) professional races, and have helped athletes make the jump into their first professional contracts. Just as exciting for me though, I’ve coached masters athletes to state championships, new riders finishing their first century ride, and young racers competing in their first senior race coming out of the junior ranks.
	Experience that cemented your passion for Endurance Sports: The bicycle was my ticket to freedom as a teenager. I rode it everywhere, 9 miles each way to school, to swim practice, to friends houses, etc. Beating the bus home was a race everyday. I even rode from my house to the first mountain bike race I entered at 14 years old. I won the race and have been hooked ever since.
	Areas of special interest or specialization as a coach: I’m fascinated with making improvements in riding technique. In cyclocross and mountain bike races especially, overall performance is a combination of fitness and technical riding proficiency. If you don’t maximize both, you’re not going as fast as you could be. In road events, things like positioning in the pack and moving around in the group are also a riding technique that can help conserve energy to be used when you need it most. Making improvements in fitness is a fairly straightforward scientific process. Helping someone make improvements in riding technique is more of an art.
	How would you describe your personality or style as a coach? Other people would describe my personality as mostly laid back, an all around nice guy, and having a consistent positive attitude. As a coach, my preferred style is to be a resource to athletes that have a high level of motivation and drive to improve. The process of reaching your goals is something that we are both engaged in. Rather than just tell you what to do, I prefer to create a synergistic relationship with athletes where my role is to provide you with the tools necessary to succeed. It’s up to you to make it happen, but I can help keep you on the right path.
	What can an athlete expect from you as their coach? A high attention to detail, a lot of behind the scenes analyzing of data, constantly tinkering and searching for ways to improve, a high level of professionalism and dedication to quality.
	Distinguished Athletes that you have coached: The cheesy but true answer is that I believe ALL the athletes that I have coached are distinguished. Come on, you know you’ve pictured yourself winning the world championships at the city limit sprint sign!
	Sport(s) you most enjoy participating in: Right now it’s cyclocross, organizing the perfect leadout train at the end of road races, and long solo mountain bike adventure rides. I also enjoy rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering, backcountry skiing, and whitewater kayaking.
	Greatest Athletic Accomplishments I was the highest place American at the 1994 Junior Mountain Bike World Championship, the year Miguel Martinez won and Cadel Evans was 2nd. After that, I spent several years as a professional cross country mountain bike racer during the heyday of MTB when the Europeans really infiltrated the sport. Since retiring from full time racing, I’ve had several respectable finishes in Masters age events in National and World Championships in mountain, road, and cyclocross disciplines. Oh, and the most noteworthy of all, I’ve ‘won’ our local Tuesday night world championships on numerous occasions.
	What do you like most about competing? Look up “Flow State” originally coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It’s what I did my graduate research on and what keeps me coming back to competition.
	Sport you would like to get involved with in the future: I’d like to do more Nordic skiing, maybe even tackle one of the classic European Birkebeiners. I’m also saving getting into fly-fishing until I slow down a little more.
	What is your favorite competition you have ever done? Wow, it’s tough to pick just one out of the last 22 years of racing. In the last couple years, one that stands out is the UCI elite race at Cross Vegas. Giant crowds, costumes, Vegas ethics, and the biggest ever after party.
	Best Athletic Experience Living in my van for one summer in Durango, CO as a junior and riding daily with mountain bike legends; John Tomac, Ned Overend, Julie Furtado, and Travis Brown when they were the best in the world. Like a dry sponge, I soaked up so much juicy wisdom that summer. I still practice a lot of the tips I learned.
	What is your worst athletic experience and what did you learn from it? Doesn’t everyone block these from memory? Maybe it was wrapping my knee around a tree in a ski mountaineering accident. It took about 1.5 years of rehab to be able to race bicycles again. I learned that I really needed cycling in my life to give me mental balance. It didn’t matter if I was winning races, just riding my bike was benefit enough to keep doing it.
	How do you motivate yourself prior to competition? I mostly get motivated through diligent preparation and getting organized for the event. The more organized I am, the more ready I feel, which breeds motivation in me. I also like to use positive visualization techniques if I feel nervous.
	What do you like to do when not training or coaching? Besides racing professionally for a brief period, my career has centered around Outdoor Education. I worked for several years as an instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and Outward Bound. In that capacity, I guided rock climbing, backpacking, mountaineering, and river expeditions in North and South America. Currently, in addition to coaching, I am also the Director of Outdoor Programs at Western Carolina University. As a part of Student Affairs, I manage and train about 20 student staff who guide outdoor trips, provide skills clinics, outdoor equipment rental, and an indoor climbing wall for the campus community. I also manage a Category 1 USA Cycling Domestic Elite Team that competes in most of the National Race Calendar road events.
	What is your favorite book? The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
	What is your favorite food? Natural Peanut Butter, the kind you have to stir before eating.
	What is your go-to recovery meal? Rice Pudding. It contains a combo of complex/simple carbohydrates and protein in the appropriate ratio for recovery.
	If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go? Probably the Himalayas on a mountaineering expedition.
	Something about you people would not guess: I don’t drink alcohol, never have. I don’t have anything against it or anyone that does drink, I just never liked it.
	Can you ride a mean wheelie? Of course, and I can ride a unicycle!