Rider hit by elephant @ trailseeker

[johannrissik]

I’m not sure of all the details, but it seems rather strange that people were cycling in an enclosure with what I assume are wild elephants.

['Dale]

Africa is not for sissies

[Stevief]

These pesky elephants are ruining our sport something must be done.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Stevief

[Mamil]

We humans are funny annals - no doubt. Always doing peculiar things like complaining about the beers not being cold enough while sitting in a metal cylinder 10 000 meters above the earth travelling at 850km per hour or racing bicycles past elephants or composing Beethoven's Ninth while stone deaf or standing in a queue for 3 hours at home affairs to get a vital piece of paper stamped ... What a piece of work is man.

 

Hope the rider is not badly hurt - the elephant probably feels quite bad about it. They're quite emotional animals I think. He's probably telling his mates that he was watching the funny little hominids riding their bikes and got a helluva fright and accidentally smashed one.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Mamil

[Kranswurm]

I’m not sure of all the details, but it seems rather strange that people were cycling in an enclosure with what I assume are wild elephants.

I presume that this was Mabalingwe.....I did a race there some time ago and cant remember if they had ellies.

There are a number of events that do ride through Nature Reserves where there are big animals

Tour de Tuli,Mokolodi Scorpion spring to mind

[Tabula Rasa]

Did the elephant at least stop his Strava?

[Kranswurm]

.

[PygaSchmyga]

Good luck and heal up soon to the rider that was hit by elephant 6 km from finish. Hope you are ok and not to serious injuries.

 

Speedy recovery

Well sorry, FFS - so the winter was a bit harsh, and yes, the weight piled on a bit, but I just bumped into the oke! No need for fat-shaming posts like this.  I have feelings too

[stringbean]

Will be a interesting insurance claim

[Gen]

Now that is a first and what a story to tell

 

Heal up soon rider..

[MphatiPyga]

Did Berg n Bush a few years ago and a guy ahead of us got taken out by a rhino, elephant is next level though. To top that you would have to have a whale take you off the floating bridge at the Sani finish

[LongDonkey]

Wow. Hope rider recovers. Intersting war wound story though. It was nice riding around Mabalingwe but having a helicopter trailing riders around wild animals in a reserve is silly. Saw a heard of Wildebeest spooked as well running next to us. Thankfully we were on the fence line and the beasties just ran past us in the bush. No where to go if 10 wildebeest run straight at you.

[WrightJnr]

Wow. Hope rider recovers. Intersting war wound story though. It was nice riding around Mabalingwe but having a helicopter trailing riders around wild animals in a reserve is silly. Saw a heard of Wildebeest spooked as well running next to us. Thankfully we were on the fence line and the beasties just ran past us in the bush. No where to go if 10 wildebeest run straight at you.

AFAIK the helicopter was only there to extract a heart-attack victim.

[Paulst12]

Some people would sooner have the person die than have a helicopter extraction.
Yes, Mabalingwe has elephants. I think there are 20 or so. I guess when a couple thousand people are riding around a game reserve its a very really possibility that you many encounter the wildlife?
 

Edited September 16, 2018 by Paulst12

[Skubarra]

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If only there was a Youtube video of the Mabalingwe incident.. The guy would have been an instant internet celebrity!

[Squier]

That's unfortunately a real possibility when riding in a big 5 nature reserve. Hope the guy is ok. Would love to hear his story.