OFF THE WIRE
CBS St Louis
O'Fallon Man Beats The Heat With Motorcycle Ride
ST. PETERS (KMOX) – Commuters were stunned Thursday evening to glance out the window and see a man zip past them on a motorcycle, wearing nothing but tennis shoes, a helmet and a green “mankini.”
“As I’m looking around at the other cars, they’re all cheering him on!” motorist Steve Wilson reported. “And he’s just loving it.”
The daredevil, Jacob Southard of O’Fallon, MO, says he started his journey eastbound on I-70 around T.R. Hughes.
Southard’s journey continued on I-70 westbound to Highway K. He took Highway K to Highway 40, where he rode east to Sonic in Chesterfield. All in all, his “nude” ride lasted about 70 miles.
“I was wearing the lime green Borat mankini,” Southard said. “But from the side view it looked completely nude. I did have the uh… private parts covered.”
Jacob Southard
Though he received reports from friends that the police where on the look for a “nude motorcycle driver riding a blue bike with blue helmet,” Southard made it through his entire journey without getting stopped.
“I drove by five cops yesterday and every single one of them had their heads down or were doing something else,” Southard said.
Wilson said Southard, like everybody else, got stuck in a traffic jam and that’s when he really became a spectacle. Drivers scrambled to find their camera phones, waved hi and gave repeated thumbs up.
“Nobody was upset with it. Actually, there were quite a few people who, let’s say, were quite excited by it,” Wilson observed.
Southard said he has never done this before.
“It was a dare,” Southard laughed. “Plus, it was hot, you know. I’m white – I need to get a sun tan! I have never seen so many cameras in my life. It felt like I was a movie star.”
The St. Louis region has been under an excessive heat warning for days. The warning, which extends through Sunday at 7 p.m., has called for heat index values between 105 and 115 degrees.
Photo by Steve Wilson
