11/21/24
October 11, 2011
Antelope Takes Out Cyclist: During a weekend competition at Albert Falls Dam in South Africa, cyclist Evan van der Spuy was knocked off his bike when a red hartebeest sprung from the brush and head-butted him. Red hartebeests, a type of antelope, are among the swiftest animals in Africa and can attain speeds of 65 mph. "Think I might need a new helmet, that's just a guess," Van der Spuy said.
Deer-1 Humanity-127,430,213,798,421,097,402,173,402,134
The NFL would have fined the deer and forced him to sit out for helmet-helmet contact.
In all seriousness, glad to see bike and biker (and apparently hartebeest, too) are ok.
posted by Bonkers at 04:42 PM on October 11, 2011
Had to hurt like hell though.
posted by Folkways at 05:47 PM on October 11, 2011
The Patriots could use that deer on defense.
posted by Joey Michaels at 06:52 PM on October 11, 2011
I'm amazed he wasn't seriously hurt. He was making not-good-at-all noises.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:22 PM on October 11, 2011
There's beast mode and then there's beest mode.
That hartebeest is like the Craig Janney version of Bushwhacker the rodeo champion bull.
Some one needs to let Ron Jaworski know that when you say "shit" in South Africa, I think there's an umlaut over the "a".
posted by beaverboard at 10:08 PM on October 11, 2011
That hartebeest is like the Craig Janney version of Bushwhacker the rodeo champion bull.
Brendan Shanahan stole its wife?
posted by MeatSaber at 10:35 PM on October 11, 2011
given that antelope are amazingly alert and agile creatures I would have to guess the beast meant to take him out. Must be rutting season.
Glad everyone is okay.
posted by dviking at 01:12 AM on October 12, 2011
Oh he was totally taken out there. Maybe the cyclist was Australian and the hartebeest was trying to make the point (in the aftermath of the World Cup quarter final) that not all South Africans are weak in the tackle.
posted by JJ at 10:54 AM on October 12, 2011
I've had encounters with oryx in New Mexico (they were imported for a hunting preserve, escaped, and bred), and if the Red Hartebeest is anything like them, this cyclist is very lucky to be breathing. These critters have no respect for anything in their way.
posted by Howard_T at 04:53 PM on October 12, 2011
More like the antelope ran into him. But that WAS awesome to watch! Glad he's okay (ditto for the biker).