Cyclists get chased by dogs quite often. Giant sprinting birds, not so much.
Oleksiy Mishchenko and his cycling pals were recently chased by a large ostrich, according to a video he posted on YouTube. They were riding in South Africa along a quiet road by the ocean.
“Suddenly,” Mishchenko wrote, “I spotted a white ostrich on my left, then this beast jumped on the road from the right and started chasing my friends!”
“Luckily the creature decided to leave us alone … My guess he wanted to show off in front of his girlfriend,” he said.
Reigning Tour de France champion Chris Froome has had his own run-ins with animals in his native Africa, and he tweeted the chase video (below):
Diehard cyclists will remember Kevin Costner and David Marshall Grant being chased by a vicious dog in “American Flyers“:
There have been documented cases of very angry magpies attacking cyclists:
The ostrich is said to be the fastest bird on land.
It can reach speeds of 45 mph and easily maintain 30 mph.