If you’re a fan of social media you can’t have missed this gem that is doing the rounds at the moment.
This incident happened in Thailand and, from all appearances, the rider showed a fair bit of skill in avoiding the (obviously) angry snake. I am guessing that this incident is not as unusual in country areas of South East Asia, but it would still be unnerving, I think.
When I saw it it reminded me of the incident involving Gino Borsoi in the 250cc Grand Prix at Johor back in 1998. In this instance, the snake was a cobra and it exhibits the classic striking pose as Borsoi passes by only to be clobbered by the following bike (dude, target fixation!)
Thankfully we don’t have to worry quite as much about this here in Australia though my motorcycling experience does include some reptilian encounters which I will relate in a moment. First of all, though, one that I didn’t witness myself but which has gone down in motorcycling folklore.
In 1980 the local Honda distributors wanted to be REAL sure that they won the Castrol Six Hour Race with their new replica-racer CB1100R. As well as having several top local teams on the new bike, including the gun Mentor Motorcycles pairing of Wayne Gardner and Andrew Johnson (who repaid the faith by winning in the pouring rain) they added the clout of British superbike champion, “Rocket” Ron Haslam. Haslam was the flavour of the month with Honda GB and, pairing him with the acknowledged king of the Six Hour, Kenny Blake, seemed like a recipe for surefire success. Sadly, it wasn’t to be. Despite being an expert in the cut and thrust of British superbike racing, Haslam was all at sea at the tight Amaroo Park layout. To make matters worse, he insisted in setting up the bike using the settings he used in England which should have worked but, for reasons best known, it didn’t. He was advised of what the locals thought was needed but he insisted that his settings were right. Consequently, the harder he tried, the slower he got. In the end it was inevitable that he would crash and crash he did.
Once the bike was retrieved, it was rebuilt and the local, best-known settings were applied. It was all a bit too little, too late, Kenny qualifying down in 8th, half a second off pole on a bike that he found was still not right. Just three laps into his first stint, and running outside the top 10, Haslam slammed into the rear of another bike and a long pit stop for repairs ensued. The pair did finish, but in 22nd place and 21 laps down on the Mentor bike. It transpired after the race that the bike had a bent frame, courtesy of the practice accident. Tragically, for the Six Hour King, it was his worst-ever finish in his last Six Hour. Just a little over six months afterwards he was to die while competing at the Isle of Man.
However, I digress because this story is supposed to be about snakes and other reptiles and it was to the huge enjoyment of the locals and the discomfort of the eminently likeable Ron Haslam that he returned to the pits after one practice session complaining that he had nearly run over a crocodile! Clearly he was mistaken and it took some convincing to assure him that what had crossed the track in front of him was not a croc but our own version of large lizard, the ubiquitous goanna.
Now I can attest that these slow-moving monsters can be very intimidating. While on tour in northern NSW with my mate, Chris Mundy we were just slowing to the speed limit to enter the outskirts of Gloucester when I looked ahead and saw a HUGE goanna casually ambling across the road. He was so long that his head was already over the centre line and his tail was dragging in the dirt at the outer edge of the bitumen. Hard on the brakes, I managed to JUST sneak by his nose as he continued to make his own pedestrian crossing. Chris had a little more time to see and react (don’t travel too close when you’re group riding – that’s part of the reason) and he managed to navigate around the TAIL of the monster as he made his way across the road. I should add that, as there was traffic coming the other way, getting into the other lane and avoiding the lizard was not an option.
Finally, another reptilian incident. After Dale had had his “whoopsie” on the Oxley all those years ago, we pulled his bike back up the cliff and one of the guys rode it to Gingers Creek where the bike was stashed away from prying eyes until we could arrange to transport it home. Dale had a badly broken wrist so we volunteered to take him down the mountain to Port Macquarie Hospital. PLEASE NOTE: In light of more recent incidents I do NOT recommend that you pillion an injured rider ANYWHERE. If transportation IS required it should be 1. By ambulance (even if the injuries seem minor) or 2. By car where the injured rider will be safe and where post-accident issues can be better assessed and the proper action taken.
Anyway, after you descend the mountain there is a river crossing this consists of a bridge that has a 90 degree right hander on entry and a 90 degree left hander on exit. I was on the VFR with both my Ventura bag AND Dale’s strapped to my rack so I was well overloaded and feeling rather insecure. Chris was on the ST1100, pillioning Dale who couldn’t really hang on. As we braked into the right hand corner, Chris’s right foot came off the footpeg and he waved it vigorously , the universal biker’s signal that there is something hazardous on the road. There, lying in the middle of the lane was a huge carpet snake. Both Chris and I ran straight over it and both bikes got a bit “squirrelly” as a result. I doubt we did the thing any harm at all but it sure got our attention. Thus are the hazards of riding in the country!
Snakes? Hate ’em. Always have, always will. 🙂