NEWS

Pokin Around: Rider for all seasons, even bone-chilling cold

Steve Pokin
SPOKIN@NEWS-LEADER.COM

Jim Phillips sold his soft-top Jeep Wrangler two years ago. A frugal man, he asked himself why he was paying insurance for a vehicle that never moved.

He hasn't owned a car since. He rides a bicycle.

Phillips, 44, is a rider for all seasons. He rides in sleet. When the wind chill plummets. Last week, he pedaled to work — 16 miles roundtrip — on a morning cold enough to take your fingertips.

It took him two hours to power through the snow. It normally takes 30 minutes. It helps that he modifies his tires with screws to get better bite.

He does all this to train. He is an endurance athlete who rides for days on end in 300-mile bike races; he competes in 100-mile trail runs.

He is soft-spoken and doesn't mind being alone. He has long hair and a medieval beard. He is 5 foot 9 and 170 pounds. His face is weathered and is as interesting as the life he has led. He looks like a mountain man.

From 1992 to 1996 he was a Marine. He served in Somalia. After the military, he lived in Southern California near the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park, where he was in rock-climbing heaven.

His parents returned to Springfield to retire and he followed. He worked part-time at Ozark Mountain Cliff Hangers in Nixa. Next, he worked part-time as a sky-diving instructor; he was the guy you were strapped to in a tandem parachute. His blog was JimOnYourBack.blogspot.com.

Phillips has run or biked to work every day for four years. His home is near Sequiota Park. He works as a legal assistant at Lowther Johnson on the 20th floor of Hammons Tower.

The practicality of riding a bike to work is that, for starters, unless your co-workers don't mind the heavy mist of Axe Body Spray you need a place to shower once you dismount.

No problem. A fitness center with showers and lockers is in the Hammons Tower basement. Every week he stocks his locker with fresh clothing.

"All I need is a pair of khakis and some dark shirts," he says.

At work, he never needs a car. He spends hours alone at a desk. He either orders lunch and has it delivered or walks to a downtown restaurant.

He has been in three accidents on his bike. All occurred when he first started riding in Springfield in about 2007. In the most serious mishap he was T-boned. He lost a tooth and his nose was broken.

Phillips blames himself for all three. He should have worn brighter clothing, he says. He should have been crossing major streets only at traffic lights.

And he no longer "filters." That's when a cyclist comes up on several vehicles stopped at a light and passes on the right to get to the front.

He did that once and believes he antagonized a driver so much that the motorist then drove close enough while passing to knock the mirror from Phillips' bike with the mirror of his vehicle.

"I was probably taking chances that I should not have been taking," Phillips says. "When you follow the rules of the road and you wear visible clothing I think it is much safer."

Although he trains hard, his diet is not that of an elite athlete.

"I get here in the morning and have a cup of coffee and a pack of chocolate donuts," he says.

He'll often put in an extra 20 or 30 miles during his ride to work. In April, he will compete in a 340-mile ride across Iowa.

He also rides to work because he's frugal and dislikes paying car insurance, although his 15-year-old stepson was saddened to see the Wrangler go.

Phillips has been married 13 years. He met his wife Sara while rock climbing. She neither runs nor bikes.

But she does drive a Honda Pilot.

She has seen her husband drive, she says. It's a good thing he sold the Jeep.

"He is a much better cycler than he is a driver," she says.

These are the views of Steve Pokin, the News-Leader's columnist. Pokin has been at the paper three years and over the course of his career has covered just about everything — from courts and cops to features and fitness. He can be reached at 836-1253, spokin@gannett.com, on Twitter @stevepokinNL or by mail at 651 N. Boonville, Springfield, MO 65806.