Many of you were at the annual Trilanders dinner last month. For those of you that weren’t, Jon Anderson and Martin VanDenack shared the concern of many of you that I was having a pattern of fairly serious bicycle accidents. There was the “Iceman Crash of 2000” that caused an A/C joint separation. Then there was the “Saugatuck 100 Miler Crash of 2002” that caused a flake fracture of my left hip and a large hematoma that had to be surgically removed. Then there was the infamous “Ironman Crash of 2003” and I won’t bore you with the details of that one again.

So it touched me that they cared enough and took the time to fabricate a protective suit so I would be safe when I rode my bike. I’m sure many of you thought it was a joke, but I took it seriously. The attached pictures are of me on my bike. Yes, I’m on the trainer in front of the Florida mobe, but I wear it on all my rides. I get a few stares, but I’d rather be safe than look good.

I have a suggestion or two on the design. First of all, you can see by the picture from the side that my stomach is well protected, but the hip and the head could use some padding too. Secondly, you can see by the picture from the front that the family jewels are adequately protected but, while putting all my weight on the seat, the bubbles started popping left and right. It was a great sensation (hence the smile on my face), but weakened the protection capabilities fairly quickly.

And thirdly, unlike our tri suits, the fabric doesn’t breathe well. It would be fine for the people on that weight loss show to use it to sweat off a few pounds quickly on weigh in day. But, as many of you know, I have a problem with dehydration during long hot races. Wearing the suit in a race may not be my best choice.

I still don’t remember the bike accident at Ironman Wisconsin 2003, but the attached pictures may shed some light on what might have happened. The picture from the side shows me looking at the camera. You all know that there are cameras all over the course during Ironman races taking pictures of all of the pros and some of the age groupers. It’s possible that one of the cameras came by while I was on McCoy Road. I probably looked at the camera and posed for a picture. By the time my eyes went back to the road, there were the potholes and the rest is history. Timing is everything.

Speaking of timing, I rode the Suncoast trail the other day from Anderson Snow Park to the South. About a mile before I got to Highway 52, I met a group of riders that Jean and I rode with last year a couple of times. I went on to the highway, turned around, and caught them just as they were getting to County Line Road, about a mile and a half from where I started (obviously they were riding very slow). They stopped at Anderson Snow Park for a bathroom break and we chatted for a couple of minutes (no, not in the bathroom…outside). It was the first time they had ridden that section since last year and it was the first time for me too. Timing.

On my next ride, I parked at the same spot and took the trail North. It’s hillier and crosses Spring Hill Drive, a very busy road. I waited for the lights to change and crossed in the crosswalk like we always should. I got a mile or so down the trail and a Snowy Egret flew across the trail a few feet in front of me. When he crossed the trail, he dropped a load of what was probably the last four meals he had eaten. If I had been 3 seconds faster, I would have been wearing it. Timing.

I’ll be flying back to Hastings on Thanksgiving Day (do you think they’ll serve turkey and dressing on the plane?) for a meeting Monday morning at 7AM and our normal hospital board meeting Tuesday at 11:30AM. I’ll fly back down here on Wednesday the 30th.

Ta ta ’til next time

Just (Hot And Sweaty From The Pictures) Jack