Ben Day (Fly V Australia, NRC points leader) is either unaffected by grossness or doesn’t care about his health or something I don’t understand. You should read this Velonews article about his tapeworm experience. Let me tell you. If I pull a 3-4 foot worm out of my butt, I call 911. I don’t casually go out on a training ride and act as nothing has happened. And I don’t wait until I spend a night with a fever and chills on the toilet before calling my “team doctor” asking him what to do. I’m at the emergency room with the thing in a zip lock bag.

It kind of reminds me of watching Lance on Letterman or Leno talking about his testicular cancer discovery from way back. I don’t remember it exactly, but it was something like he said that when he woke, one of his testicles was the size of a grapefruit. And he waited a while and eventually called his neighbor, who was a doctor, to ask about it. Letterman, or whoever, said something like, “wow, if I wake up in the morning with a testicle the size of a grapefruit, I call an ambulance.” Then he asked Lance what he was thinking. And Lance’s answer was that no one likes going to the doctor.

I don’t get it. Especially in Ben Day’s case. I’ve had some pretty weird medical stuff happen to me over the years. In a lot of different countries. And I avoid hospitals and doctors for as long as possible when these medical problems occur. But, this is pretty cut and dry. 4 foot worm out of butt. Go to the hospital. Or better yet, the Center for Disease Control. Don’t wait until tomorrow. Now. And don’t train first.

P.S. You can check out Ben’s personal perspective in comments below. Glad he feels “human” again. Hopefully he’s going full speed by next week in Joe Martin. It is hard to believe he could be riding as fast as he has been this year. It could be ugly for the rest of us the remainder of the season.

P.P.S. You can sign up for the tapeworm/hookworm therapy here. Pretty creepy.