Too bad the skydiver wasn't able to take off back into the skies before he made contact with the roo.
But seriously, a fairly meaty animal running at full speed like that would surely knock the wind out of you at the very least.
At the beginning of the race they mentioned that a couple of teams were going to try to pressure Vine, didn't happen and despite losing 3 UAE riders Jay Vine kept it together, well done start to finish.
A few videos after the animal accident showed the roo sort of hobbled with a hurt or broken leg.
Australia especially the Northern territory, there are wild pigs, rabbits, buffalo, pythons (I think )and a bunch of other animals running all sorts over and they are a feature of every road after they are hit by vehicles. Road kill is a big issue.
Bunch of motorcycle people I know have been told in plain language to travel during the day and maintain safe speeds because you never know, can't predict when something will jump out in front of you and the daytime visibility is a possible life saver.
Traveling at night adds the danger of not seeing whatever it is that is in the road.
I thought elk, deer, sheep, cows ,dogs, cats were bad in my travels got the sh-t scared out of me multiple times, but amongst all the other Australian road ragers kangaroos are up there on the terrifying list.
It was just lucky that nobody was seriously hurt.. UAE thought that they had a plan for everything, guess not.
If anyone has video of camels interrupting a bike race, please post it
That's so sad, I guess kangaroos are a bit like horses in that breaking a leg for them is catastrophic and they need to be put down. (I remember there was a race horse some years back who had fractured his leg during a race and his owners had money and tried everything under the sun to fix him and keep him alive. But some months later the horse did eventually succumb to the injury.)
If that wrecked roo pulls at your heartstrings don't go to Northern territory.. There are wild pigs, snakes, birds, buffalo and all kinds of animals that litter the roadside. Australia is the world epicenter for roadkill. You don't what or when something is going to run, jump or walk in front of your vehicle. You don't know what you are seeing until you are close.. Are those plastic bags or maybe dust? Nope it's rabbits.. Place is infested with all kinds of critters.
I have bemoaned cows, sheep, cats, dogs, deer running in my path but it's only because I don't come from Australia.
It's a thing, sure lots of those animals are sold in pop culture folklore but for many Australians they are destructive pests. Wild boar are invading US and Canada but it's nothing compared with Australia..
Where my father lives in Northern Arizona the deer no longer run off the road when people or vehicles approach, just stand there, headlights or no headlights!
It might seem cute or cool for wild animals to co mingle with humans but it really means thousands are destroyed when they are injured or outright killed when hit by vehicles.. There are millions of crocs in Australia so car vs croc stories must be plentiful.
www.cyclingweekly.com
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram