Screengrab taken from video posted on YouTube by Oleksiy Mishchenko
Remember The Road Runner Show cartoon about a bird so fast it literally set the ground on fire as it dashed away from its pursuer, a wild coyote? Looks like the real version of that bird has been found in South Africa.
Footage captured near Cape of Good Hope shows cyclists, out training, being chased by an ostrich that appeared to have not received the memo about burying head in sand. In a YouTube video posted on March 5 by user Oleksiy Mishchenko, two cyclists can be seen peddling for dear life as an irate ostrich races after them. Mr Mishchenko managed to record the scene on his headcam.
The cyclists were out training ahead of the Cape Argus Tour, one of the world's biggest timed cycle races, when Mr Mishchenko noticed the bird. Within seconds it jumped onto the road and began chasing his friends. "It was a little scary at first, but then I thought I was gonna fall of my bike from laughter," he writes on YouTube.
Mr Mishchenko also mentions that the ostrich had no problem keeping up with the riders at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour. "Luckily the creature decided to leave us alone, as we were running out of road. The Cape of Good hope is a dead end way," he writes. One can only imagine what would have happened had the bird decided to continue with them for the entire ride.
Most people would find a situation like this terrifying but Mr Mishchenko manages to find some humour in it. "My guess is he wanted to show off in front of his girlfriend, I bet she was very impressed," he writes.
Whether the ostrich's girlfriend was impressed or not, the cyclists, we're sure, managed quite a training session ahead of their big race. After all, not every day does one get a lesson in speed from the world's fastest bird.
Footage captured near Cape of Good Hope shows cyclists, out training, being chased by an ostrich that appeared to have not received the memo about burying head in sand. In a YouTube video posted on March 5 by user Oleksiy Mishchenko, two cyclists can be seen peddling for dear life as an irate ostrich races after them. Mr Mishchenko managed to record the scene on his headcam.
The cyclists were out training ahead of the Cape Argus Tour, one of the world's biggest timed cycle races, when Mr Mishchenko noticed the bird. Within seconds it jumped onto the road and began chasing his friends. "It was a little scary at first, but then I thought I was gonna fall of my bike from laughter," he writes on YouTube.
Mr Mishchenko also mentions that the ostrich had no problem keeping up with the riders at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour. "Luckily the creature decided to leave us alone, as we were running out of road. The Cape of Good hope is a dead end way," he writes. One can only imagine what would have happened had the bird decided to continue with them for the entire ride.
Most people would find a situation like this terrifying but Mr Mishchenko manages to find some humour in it. "My guess is he wanted to show off in front of his girlfriend, I bet she was very impressed," he writes.
Whether the ostrich's girlfriend was impressed or not, the cyclists, we're sure, managed quite a training session ahead of their big race. After all, not every day does one get a lesson in speed from the world's fastest bird.
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