3Hr Newnan Ride with Josh Shields

I finally got to ride with Josh Shields who, you'll recall, recently took 2nd AG at St. Anthony's, only missing 1st by 10 seconds. He already blogged our ride.

Thanks to Josh for having me down to do some riding. We've been meaning to get together to ride for quite some time. Emailing back and forth, blogging each other, comparing CompuTrainer files (Josh always wins, BTW). We'd met in person a couple times but never really spent any time talking.

Newnan isn't as far away as it looks on the map. About 45 mins from the Smyrna house. Not much different than Tucker when there's a little traffic. We met at a middle school at 11:30 and rode around. Much of the ride was familiar... part of the Silk Sheets/Beyond Six Flags route.

I won't repeat most of what Josh has already written. But suffice it to say that I didn't think he was an idiot because he forgot his bag. Dana can recall a certain cross-town trip to Stone Mountain where I forgot bike shoes... a much worse offense. In fact, I like the idea of wearing a soccer shirt on a bike because it lets the air in and is closer to riding without a shirt which I enjoy. Early warning for when you see me riding a soccer jersey... you have Josh to thank.

Speaking of heat... it was 85 degrees according to the car... I'll give it about 82 degrees. Definitely warmer than it's been lately. And I wore a long sleeve cotton shirt under my jersey for some anti-Danielle heat training. Oooh, burn... you heard that!

And we saw Doug's castle... hi Doug! (Wait, I'm horrible with names... was it Doug? On the lake?)

Both of us had a lot of fatigue in our legs as the ride started. And after talking a lot of race strategy and training strategy it was smart of us to make the right decision and stick with the 3 hr ride instead of the 3:30 we had planned. We is smart!

I enjoyed talking to Josh. He's full of energy about his career and understands how he helps people. He's a chiropractor. But he's really a holistic health doctor. Diet, exercise, mental strength... it's all part of the big picture of getting healthy. And that's what he and his wife provide with their business.

We talked a lot about the notion of bringing a message to a wider audience. How does he take his chiropractic business and how do I take my online business to more people? Josh had some great ideas and ways of thinking about doing that. I appreciated his willingness to share his strategy with me.

We talked about blogging. And family... Josh has a toddling son and a wife who is kind enough to let him get away with three hour bike rides on a Friday.

Josh is interesting to me because he and I are so physically similar. We're both 6'2 1'2". We have almost identical VO2Maxes (his a little higher on the bike). We weigh about the same (him about seven or eight pounds more). But Josh has more natural musculature and strength. He benches 225 without training. I trained like crazy and got to 205 and I think I did 215 once. Neither of us ever did any formal swimming as children but Josh destroys me in the pool. So we quasi-concluded that his upper body strength leads to his swim performance. I've been investing a bit in weights... now I'm more motivated to do so. So, very interesting to compare notes with somebody so nearly identical to my build.

And then there was the spandex police incident. Josh does a great job describing it:

It was about a mile into the run when a cop car came speeding around the track and stopped to ask us if we could please leave the school grounds. Then I think it hit both of us. Two guys wearing spandex running around with elementary school kids. Probably not a good idea. I was actually kind of glad the police were there so quickly, I know if my kid was at school and two grown men wearing spandex were out side running around with them I would be a little pissed off.

Lol. Yep, that was a first. And I agree with Josh... upon later reflection it was quite the vindication for the Department of Homeland Security!

Thanks for showing me around Josh. I enjoyed it and look forward to riding again. Oh, and slow down wouldya?!?

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  phone camera pics josh