Mountain bike racers face many obstacles, which in South Africa seem to include wild animals. To be sure, Evan van der Spuy is fortunate not to have been seriously injured, or worse, when a red hartebeest sprung from the brush and head-butted him off his bike during a weekend competition at Albert Falls Dam. The amazing incident was captured on video by another rider who was wearing a helmet cam. (Warning: Video contains a brief expletive after the collision.)


"Haha, think I might need a new helmet, that's just a guess," Van der Spuy said in a post on the Team Jeep South Africa Facebook page, noting that his helmet was mangled during the brief assault.

While Van der Spuy was clearly shaken in the moment, he shook off the brute-force blow rather quickly.

Red hartebeests, a type of antelope, are among the swiftest animals in Africa and can attain speeds of 65 mph. Van der Spuy, who may have startled the beast or represented a perceived threat, can attest that the creatures are also masters of ambush.