After Trinity Trails robbery attempt, paraplegic bicyclist returns to Ironman preparation
From his near-flat position close to the ground, Trent Fielder’s first effort to halt the robbery attempt that was underway used a bit of humor.
Fielder, who is 48 and paraplegic, was on a bicycle on the Trinity Trails System in Fort Worth. About four hours after he began a ride to train for an Ironman, his assailant approached.
The attempted robbery occurred about 2 p.m. on March 31 and on what was Fielder’s first time on the trail. He lives in Joshua.
Throughout their encounter, the man standing before Fielder kept one of his hands inside the pocket of a hooded sweatshirt, intimating that he had a gun. Fielder said that he could tell that there likely was no firearm because the pocket held no weight.
“What do you have?” the man asked. He repeated the question.
The assailant could have taken several items. A cellphone in a pack that Fielder stealthily shifted to his back. His driver’s license that he showed the man or a credit card that he did not. A water bottle.
Fielder suggested that the man may be interested in a container of nutrition gel with an unpleasant flavor.
“I said, ‘You can have it. It tastes like [expletive].’”
Fielder had parked in the 4800 block of Edwards Ranch Road and was near Bellaire Drive South when the robbery attempt occurred.
Doctors diagnosed Fielder in 2011 with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks parts of the nervous system and destroys nerves that allow the brain to communicate with muscles.
The assailant grew frustrated when it appeared that he was not going to be able to leave with anything of value and turned his attention to the most lucrative piece of Fielder’s property.
“The bike,” the man said. “The bike. I’ll take the bike.”
Fielder had no intention of handing over the $13,000 parabicycle. He assessed that if the assailant came close, he could restrain him. Maybe knock him unconscious.
He told the man he has difficulty moving his legs and could not get off the bike without assistance.
“You have to help me,” the cyclist explained to his assailant.
The man did not want to guide Fielder off, and his anger intensified.
He kicked the bicycle, damaging the assembly of its derailleur, an electronic shifting system. After a second kick, Fielder smirked.
“The third kick was me. He kicked me,“ Fielder said. He was struck in his hand.
The assailant left with nothing.
Fielder used his arms to turn the bike around and struggled to get back to the parking lot. He called the police and later filed a report.
Employees at a shop, Bike Mart, replaced the part for $550 and did not charge Fielder for the labor.
The suspect appeared to be between 17 and 25 years old, with dark hair, Fielder said. He wore a black hooded sweatshirt, dark blue jeans with a brown leather belt and new white shoes.
Fort Worth police have not announced an arrest. In a report to the city council in 2017 after a woman was sexually assaulted on the Trinity Trails, police said that crime along the trails is relatively rare. They encouraged its users to stay aware of their surroundings.
The woman who was attacked in 2017, Jesca Arnold, started a nonprofit organization called Safe and Happy Trails that aims to put emergency posts within about a quarter mile of each other on every trail and park in the area to protect vulnerable people.
Fielder has not let the robbery attempt deter him from his training.
“The only way that fear can defeat you is if you run from it, and I don’t want to run from it. I want to be here,” he said. “... One thing that one person did shouldn’t change the beauty of the Trinity and all the other people who were so instrumental in helping me after it happened. Out of a bad situation, I got to experience a part of Fort Worth community that maybe I didn’t have a chance to before.”
The Ironman in which Fielder will participate is on Sunday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Fielder described the crime in a post on a Facebook group of regional bicyclists, and a retired law enforcement officer rode a bicycle with him about three weeks ago when Fielder returned to the trails.
“There’s just nothing better than being able to be out in nature and have people smile at you as you’re going and talk to you,” Fielder said. “It’s encouraging. It lifts your spirits.”
