I know he has way too much $$$ to spend

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Joe is a very nice guy and quite modest. What more do you need to know (and his finances are none or ours to worry about). He is most probably the best IM Age groupper on earth...(and dont let this start any sandbagging crap about him not racing pro).

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

Yeah, I've met him once @ Great Floridian in 2001. He really is a good guy. But my question is "why does he push his body the way he does"? Pro's do it for a pay-check, he does it because......

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what more do i need to know? guy does 5 ironmans in a year outperforming most people in the field...weeks apart...at 48 years old...what more do i need to know....ummm quite a bit.

Joe came and spoke at our year end banquet this year (North Carolina Triathlon Series). He is an amazing athlete and one of the nicest guys you will meet. From what I picked up during his talk and by speaking with him before hand is this: He doesn't train with a heart rate monitor or with a coach. He trains everyday, everyday. He is as close to old school as you can get these days. Surely the poster child for one of those "Don't try this at home" speeches.

I can't recall any feature articles on him but they have to be out there. Like I said, he is an amazing guy.

Jeremey

I've known Joe for about 15 years and like others have said, he is just a great, humble person. He helps out anyone who asks him for advice and just he joined the Janus Charity Challenge at Ironman Florida. By the way - He set a PR this weekend in Panama City Beach at his 34 Ironman. I bet him a beer this year at Lake Placid that he could not beat me - he did have to spot me 6 hours - I lost. Z

He predicted a 9:10 at the carbo meal on Thursday and delivered a stellar 9:09 on a windy day (thankfully the 84 degree with 96% humidity had passed!) for his thrid ironman in a month. That is a feat that not many 30 year old pros could mange so he's got some very impressive genetics. I saw him smoking out there on the bike and unlike a large number of competitors he was riding alone to get his 4:40.

A couple of years ago dallas trigeeks interviewed Joe B. Look under interviews. http://www.dallastrigeeks.org

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“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”
Vince Lombardi

When you ride as fast as Bonness does, who the heck would you draft off of? Larsen maybe?

I met him at Great Floridian in 2000. He had done IMH a week before and was pretty tired and I passed him with like a mile to go on the run. I felt kinda bad afterwards and apologized to him but he was really cool about it. The guy is a real class act. I know a lot of us pay way too much attention to the pros, Bonness is the kind of guy we ought to be emulating.

People often ask what it takes to be a very fast triathlete, and imho Joe obviously has one of the things that is often overlooked and seldom mentioned. Durability. Many people have the genetics and motivation to be fast, but just can't stay healthy and hold up to the training that is necessary. He seems to recover very fast, and given his times and consistency, he must put in many solid hours of training. .......my 2 cents

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"The more you sweat today, the less you bleed tomorrow"

Key point!

Let's face it to do well in Ironman distance racing you HAVE to be durable. Your body HAS to be able to recover from very hard work outs and races very well. Some have this ability, many don't. My sense is that its' about slowly building up base over years/decades and being blessed with good body structure, bio-mechanics and genetics.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I don't know the man, but he is not a sandbagger. He is just one hell of an agegrouper. He wouldn't make any money as a pro anyway, it's just another level. As for being the best agegrouper, I think I would have to give that to Jeff Cuddeback now. He crushed Joe and all the over 40 guys at Ironman this year,while setting a new 45-49 record.He can also race at all distances. It seems that Joe is primarily an Ironman specialist. I would love to race him in the middle some day at a half Ironman. The only other person I know woh has done what he has just done was Paula Newby-Frasier. She did 3 Ironmans, each 2 weeks apart, and won all of them. Hard to top that......

Monty

Cuddeback may be faster but is he married with a family and the president of a 300 employee road contracting firm that does 30 to 50 million a year and also the president of the Florida asphalt contracting association spending at least 50 hours a week at those jobs?
Truly an amazing individual.

Bob Sigerson

Great athlete and I'm sure he's a wonderful guy, but if he spends the time you say at work, and the time necessary to train for his races, then the "amazing" part is that he's still married and his kids are OK, because if you do the math, he's not spending much time with his family.

Agreed.

I to am either awed or amazed when I see these people who claim to be working 50 hours week, have a family who they, "spend a lot of time" with, AND manage IM races in the 9 hour range. The training to do this, IS on average 10 - 15 hours/week with many weeks more than that. The math does not work out OR, these people don't sleep!

Hat's off to Cuddeback, though. He's been on top of the game now since the very early years of the sport.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

He is truly an amazing athlete, but now it sounds like you are making excuses for him. I doubt that he needs any. We all have our crosses to bear. You don't hear me using my pacemaker, the extra 15 pounds of fat I'm carrying, and the fact I'm not getting much lateley, as excuses why I'm not going faster. You pitch up to the line and race, the clock doesn't lie at the end, no excuses......

Bonness is my hero, 4th in his age-group at Kona, Winner of the Great Floridian one week later, and then a 9:09 at IMF 24th overall and the 4th amateur two weeks later. Any way you look at it he is an amazing athlete. Also, check out his bike 650c front with a 700c rear, I think he told me his drop is about 27cm top of saddle to top of pads.

I ride with him and the rest of the Naples crew whenever I'm in town to visit my folks. Like the rest of the posts, I have to agree that he's a truly nice guy with a great sense of humor and friggin rocket engines for legs.

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No sidewindin bushwackin, hornswaglin, cracker croaker is gonna rouin me bishen cutter!

"check out his bike 650c front with a 700c rear"

He sure can move on it. What is the story on this bike? The only other 700/650 combo's that I've seen have been on those time trial bikes from the mid 80's.

A Funny Bike (650c/700c) is the weapon of choice for Mr. Bonness and because no one is still making them, he went to Elite to have them build one up for him. Elite does an amazing job of making not only custom frames but specialty custom frames as well. Joe told me he is stable, comfortable, and can climb on his Elite like no other bike he has ever had before. Personally, I ride a stock frame from Elite and I could not be any happier. I too have ridden a lot of frames and the Elite just feels better and rides faster than all the others I have owned. additionally, the service from Elite is unbelievable, I took my bike in to the Inside Out boys at the IMF expo for a pre-race tune up, and when I went to pick it up, they said "All service charges are compliments of Elite, Have a good race" I think that is just fantastic, customer service when it is not even thought of. Thanks David, you rock.

Trust

<then the "amazing" part is that he's still married and his kids are OK, because if you do the math, he's not spending much time with his family. >

I guess "amazing" then, since I can vouch that the family is "OK". He has been married to his high school sweetheart for 28 years. His 25 year old daughter graduated from Marquette U with honors and is doing very well in her career. He still has taken the time to take care of his wife, who has been seriously ill and is now unable to walk.

Yes he sleeps, no he doesn't train 10-15 hours a week, it's closer to 20-25. No his family doesn't feel neglected. Yes, they are very supportive. The math adds up, it's just a matter of optimizing your time.

Sue B (the wife)

PS He does the cooking too!

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I think it was Inside Tri (in their annual IM race preview guide 2002) that had a 3-4 page article on him. If you're still interested, I will dig it up and fax it to you. You can email me off-line @ justin.baum@jayadvertising.com.

Joe B is the studliest stud who ever studded, and I say that not because of the incredible Ironman performances, but because of Sue B's post. Don't know the guy, but clearly he is worthy of much admiration.

Joe is on the cover of the Florida Sports Magazine this month. A well deserved trophy I think.

www.floridasports.com

Trust