Background:
Cycling Highlights:
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1984 1992- East Coast Offroad Racing. (Mens Expert, XC and Trials)
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1990 1994 - (Tandem) Time Trial Champ.
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1994 PAC Tour Southern Transcontinental Stage Race 3rd overall
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1996 PAC Tour Elite Transcontinental 17 days
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1998 (Tandem) Brevet Series (qualifiers for Paris Brest Paris 1999)
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1999 Paris Brest Paris (10th Mixed American Tandem)
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2000 Calvin's Challenge New 12 hr record (Tandem Record 228 miles / 12 hrs.)
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2000 - RAAM - Nutritional / Massage for Women's RAAM winner Cassie Lowe
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2002 - D20 Tandem TT Champ., - Overall winner Atlantic Tandem Time Trial Series.
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2002 - PAC Tour Southern Transcontinental in 25 days (Tandem).
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2003 - PAC Tour "Brevet Week" 200,300,400,600k Brevets in a week
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2003 - Paris Brest Paris 2nd place Mixed American Tandem.
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2004 - D20 Tandem TT Champ Paralympic Cycling Development Camp at Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center (Tandem).
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2005 - Rock Hill, S.C. Omnium 3rd overall. D20 Tandem TT Champ D20 State Champs Kilo Bronze
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2007 - Elite PAC Tour 17 days RAAM Qualifier
Other Qualifications:
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Featured Speaker at the first East Coast Coach's Conference "Special Considerations for Coaching Ultra Athletes"
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Licensed Maryland Massage therapist (Swedish, Sports, Deep Tissue)
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Certified Infant Massage Instructor (CIMI)
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Standard Poodle Owner
Coaching Philosophy:
The Bicycle has a deep and rich culture. By embracing handed down knowledge, tradition and learned
experience you reach your cycling goals.
My approach is as an Ultra Endurance athlete who is also a tandem specialist and race nutrition / logistics
expert. Also, success in multiple fast transcontinental rides, Paris Brest Paris, tandem, road, track and
off-road racing enables me to guide you and coach with confidence.
During the past ten years I have coached and provided direct support to winning racers and top finishers
at: Furnace Creek 508, Firecracker 500, Race Across America, Record Rides, Fireweed Trans-Alaska, State
Cyclocross Champs, Triathlon, Biathlon, Crash-B rowing, Ultra trail runners and category USCF warriors!
Preparation for high level aspirations is often more difficult than the race or goal itself. On race
day you will have done the hard training and testing so you are ready to achieve your best. I have worked
with power / watts for more than five years and performance analysis for many types of athletes.
Your lifestyle and goals are very important to me. I believe coach and athlete must have mutual trust
and confidence to communicate often and freely in support of reaching and CRUSHING your goals!
Client Testimonials:
Just a short note to make you aware of how extremely fortunate I was to have had Josh Simonds as my coach and
support team for my recently completed Southern Transcontinental PAC Tour. I really struggled to find a
coach that had the personal experience of being a true Ultra cyclist let alone a PAC Tour Elite rider.
Josh's approach to my training exceeded my expectations and was spot on in preparing me for the ride.
He motivated me to not only a strong transcontinental ride but also enabled me to set personal records
in the century and metric century along the way. Josh always made himself available for advice and was
flexible in accommodating my constantly changing personal schedule.
His dedication did not stop with an exceptional training plan and strategy. Josh was able to pass on
his first hand knowledge of core training, ride nutrition, equipment and clothing selection as well as
ride related medical issues which ultimately paid huge dividends during the PAC Tour.
I can only tell others that if you plan to go the distance you really need Josh Simonds by your side. Thanks
to Josh, I not only completed but really enjoyed my "ride of a lifetime".
Paul Wilcox
My name is Christopher Peterson. In my youth, I was a hard core eat, sleep, race Cat II. After many years
of too much beer, too much bad food, and real jobs, school, etcetera, I decided I needed to get fit again
and do some pedaling in anger. I had been riding on and off for 20 years or so since quitting racing, but
I had no program, little discipline and no confidence. About 2 1/2 years ago, I met Josh Simonds through
a mutual friend. Josh and I got to talking about my desire to become competitive again. It was at this
point that he mentioned that he coaches for Peaks, and that he might be able to get me back on track.
Josh has not only gotten me back on track, but I am quite pleased with my progress. I'm starting my third
season as a competitive Master's/Cat. II, and things are happening this year, I can feel it. The number
crunching that he does is obviously key, but his moral support is probably just as important in
the big picture.
Christopher Peterson
Yo coach! That core routine rocks. I can't move at the moment. That combined with shoveling snow
yesterday rocked my world. We got another 6 inches of snow yesterday, so I'll be on the trainer today.
And Thursday. And Saturday. Actually, from what the locals tell me, until April. Ugh.
Mike Zanconoto
Josh Simonds and Peaks Training were instrumental in our team exceeding our expectations by completing the
2008 4 Person Team Race Across America in 7 days & 16 hours. Josh tailored a plan for each racer to increase
their cycling power and endurance at different rates. In the end, each of us ended up with the same level
of fitness. During the 7 days, we felt fit and never too tired. Josh’s guidance was significant in our
team’s achievement.
The strongest endorsement that I can give Josh is that I have hired him again for the upcoming Race Across
America in 2009.
2008 RAAM Team
Stuart Levy