Here’s Kath Fourie’s description of each of the South Africans at the UCI Masters World Championships in Andorra’s best/worst crashes/injuries:
Mark: Took a head first slam off the ending jump (2m drop, 3m fall zone) when he entered it with incorrect speed, skidded about 3m down the gravel on his kop and elbow, and then ended his performance by rolling over his bike. About 100 people watching all went “oooooooh!” at the same time. (8/10)
Nigel: Performed an impressive full cartwheel down the famous chute that leaves the bottom of the steep woods section, known as the “The Wall”. I believe he was trying to see if the bike or himself would land up in the transition area first. (7/10)
Jo: Took an almighty bail down the first steep section that had become very dry and loose, shooting into the catch netting and then landing in the track, only to be literally ground into the dirt by a man who said he didn’t see her due to “all the dust covering her, she was invisible”. (I give that a solid 8.5/10)
Kath: Before even entering the course, managed to clip a pedal on the top of the start platform sending her over the bars in a full 3m somersault, thankfully landing on her back protector, smashing through the metal fencing still attached to her bike. Walked away completely fine (although 100% mortified). (A for Effort, I’ve been told it was a world first.)
Pete: Was so thoroughly beaten up by the track after Day 1 practice – Rika found him climbing back out of a ravine after shooting down it head first – that he wisely decided the track was not his style and became Team Manager.
Rika: Got distracted by a woman she caught up with and forgot to stay on the track, flew off a bank and seat bounced herself off the bike piloting it superman style with her stomach on the seat until the bike homing pigeoned itself into a tree, propelling Rika into space like a glorious shooting star. Resulted in a mangled left arm, which could barely hold onto the bike for the race. (9.5/10)
Cobus: Amazingly, Cannonball Koos stayed mostly upright on track… until his final run when he lost use of his hands and couldn’t steer the bike anymore, nearly felling the tree that sat on the lip of the natural double at the end, and then landing with such force off the ending jump that we were certain a tooth was embedded in his bar. The fact that he didn’t fall off means he only gets a 2.5/10, but a 10/10 for the reality that he probably would have died had he hit the tree.
