After being hit by a car while riding his bike in May 2019, Jon Ornée was laying on the ground, thankfully OK, but questioning everything he was pursuing in his life.
Ornée had a difficult decision to make, right there on the pavement. Should he cancel all of the difficult adventures he had planned or carry on with even more passion?
“I imagined what it would be like to choose the safe path and hang it up. I imagined for a minute what that safe life would be like ... and I thought ... not interested,” Ornée says with a laugh. “So then it became kind of like just ‘game on.’ I want to get back out there as soon as I can and make good on these goals I set.”
After the crash, Ornée had surgery on his right arm, which required nine weeks of recovery. But he didn’t give up.
“I’ll be honest, the crash almost derailed me,” Ornée says on
his website. “Instead it added fuel to my fire to pursue my version of a meaningful life.”
The adventures
I recently sat down with Ornée to talk about his experiences.
Since the accident and recovery, the 39-year-old Holland resident has achieved many of his physically demanding, yet fun and often team-oriented goals.
Ornée said his favorite question to ask himself regularly is, “I wonder what would happen if … fill in the blank?” That prompt has sent him all over Michigan in the pursuit of records.
“One of my mantras in life is ‘pursue your curiosity,’” he says. “That’s what all these things are. I think we could swim across Lake Michigan. I think we could do it in under 24 hours. But you don’t know until you do.”
So on Aug. 11, 2020, Ornée partnered with five friends to attempt the first-ever continuous relay across the middle of Lake Michigan and the fastest-ever mid-lake crossing. He called it Epic Swim 2020.
They completed the 54.5-mile journey in 20 hours and 50 minutes, and raised money for a Traverse City-based nonprofit committed to protecting and preserving the Great Lakes.
Last October, he attempted to set a world record for “Fastest 100 Miles By Bicycle (While Drafting)” at the Michigan International Speedway. To his knowledge, this hadn’t been done or certified by anyone before.
With his dad in the lead vehicle, Ornée rode his bike behind him at an average speed of 42.6 mph. He is currently applying for a Guinness World Record to create a new category.
In the running arena, he organized a Sub2: Marathon Relay on Oct. 27, 2019. Forty-five local runners ran 200-meter legs at a time, with Ornée running 26 of the 210 legs. They finished the marathon relay in 1:49.32, which caught the attention of Runner’s World and Men’s Health magazines.
And those are just the highlights of his adventures since the accident.
New career pursuits
Besides creating “spectacles,” as he lovingly calls them, Ornée also is a talented professional.
He started a band in high school called AG Silver and eventually toured the country with them. Last year, Ornée launched another band, Lady & Gentleman, with his wife, Necia, fulfilling a longtime dream.
For the past 11 years, he has designed wine labels for companies based primarily in California.
Recently, he has transitioned more into health coaching and selling real estate.
“I see myself as a lifestyle designer,” Ornée says. “I love helping people figure out ‘what kind of life do you want?’ and ‘how do we help you achieve that?’”
Listen as Ornée tells the rest of his story on
The Gonsior Show podcast.
Related:
6 friends prepare for 60-mile ‘Epic Swim' across Lake Michigan
How 6 friends made ‘Epic Swim’ across Lake Michigan
8 cyclists, 1 Epic Ride, 1 new world record set in Michigan
Father and son team up to create new cycling world record
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.