PEASANTMAN TO BAN BIKE JOUSTING DURING RACE
Event organizers cite public safety as a primary concern
Penn Yan, New York (Combined News Services) ~ Organizers of the Peasantman Steel Distance Triathlons festivities this August have announced a ban on 'bike jousting' for race day only, citing public safety as a primary concern.
"Although bike jousting is a common way for spectators to pass time during triathlons, and even though it is a common tactic in trying to affect the outcome of a race, we have decided that it poses too much of a health risk to our athletes and spectators alike," Peasantman founder Joe McMahon said in a press release. "The safety of the public is of utmost importance to us."
News of the ban comes in the wake of last month's incident at nearby Hammondsport, where the Duke of the Southern Tier was felled by an elderly woman toting a towel-wrapped broomstick as he passed by on his tricycle, causing him to fall and soil his pantaloons. The incident prompted a sharp rebuke by the King of the Finger Lakes, who suggested a temporary ban on bike jousting, flaming arrows, ducking stools and trebuchet use on race day. There is still no word on whether organizers will ban these other practices.
A medieval engraving depicting bike jousting, a common practice during triathlons in the 15th century, even though bicycles and triathlons had not been invented yet.