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Mountain bike racers face many obstacles, which in South Africa seem to include wild animals. To be sure, Evan van der Spuy is fortunate not to have been seriously injured, or worse, when a red hartebeest sprung from the brush and butted him off his bike during a weekend competition at Albert Falls Dam. The amazing incident was captured on video by another rider who was wearing a helmet cam.
"Haha, think I might need a new helmet, that's just a guess," Van der Spuy said in a post on the Team Jeep South Africa Facebook page, noting that his helmet was mangled during the brief assault.
While Van der Spuy himself was clearly shaken in the moment, he shook the brute-force blow off rather quickly. Red hartebeests, a type of antelope, are among the swiftest animals in Africa and can attain speeds of 65 mph. Van der Spuy, who may have startled the beast or represented a perceived threat, can attest that the creatures are also masters of ambush.
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Sean Miller of Selma has just learned the difference between a motorcycle and a car.
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(10-11-2011, 06:43 AM)illcommandante Wrote: Sean Miller of Selma has just learned the difference between a motorcycle and a car.
So sad...it was his birthday to make it even more poignant.
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When reading the article yesterday they made it sound like everybody is supposed to know who the Millers are. Are they a prominent family out in the Illinois Valley?
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(10-11-2011, 02:02 PM)BeerMe Wrote: When reading the article yesterday they made it sound like everybody is supposed to know who the Millers are. Are they a prominent family out in the Illinois Valley?
I got the same impression.
Didn't it say his father met the same fate?
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(10-11-2011, 02:24 PM)Crone Wrote: (10-11-2011, 02:02 PM)BeerMe Wrote: When reading the article yesterday they made it sound like everybody is supposed to know who the Millers are. Are they a prominent family out in the Illinois Valley?
I got the same impression.
Didn't it say his father met the same fate?
Well don't we all?
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I'd be willing to bet there are more people that die on their birthday while riding a motorcycle than die being hit by a Red Hartebeest on a bicycle. 
That guy on the bike was lucky to keep his head! 
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(10-11-2011, 05:58 PM)Valuesize Wrote: I'd be willing to bet there are more people that die on their birthday while riding a motorcycle than die being hit by a Red Hartebeest on a bicycle. That guy on the bike was lucky to keep his head!
True dat!
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Those rider down memorials, are mostly for pancreatic cancer victims. But, there are enough reports copied from the neurosurgeon's notes, that you'd think they'd start to get a hint.
