Buys And Theron Podiums At Isuzu 3 Towers
In The Lowveld

Press Release

Buys and Theron podiums at Isuzu 3 Towers in the Lowveld despite run in with a mamba.

During the Mankele Three Towers Tour in the Lowveld, Francois Theron and Philip Buys (Garmin adidas), again experienced the truth of the team’s logo which claims that being a professional mountain biker means ‘living a life less ordinary’.

The highlight for the two youngsters, or should we rather say adrenaline rush with a difference, was not finishing 2nd overall or winning a stage, but having a slight altercation with one of Mother Nature’s most deadliest creatures – the black mamba.

It is a well-known fact that one bite of a black mamba is all it takes to kill a human being.

The battle for survival occurred on Friday during the tour’s 2nd stage.

The day started off quite serenely with Buys and Theron riding themselves back into contention with a kamikaze attack during one of the serious downhill sections. With about 5 kilometres from the finish, they had a five-minute lead on Max Knox and Brandon Stewart (DCM).

But there is a very good reason why the words ‘plain sailing’ are not used too often in mountain biking.  First Theron had to stop to fix his tyre after it had been cut open by a rock. They were not to know yet that it would be the least of their problems.

Buys takes up the story.

"We were just entering Mankele when I saw something in front of me on the single track.  At first I could not see what it was, but suddenly, when I was about five metres away, I got the shock of my life when I realised that it was not just something in the road. . . .it was a black mamba!

“There are no words to describe what went through my mind when I saw the mamba.  I knew that this was the one snake you did not want to upset, especially if it was about three metres long.

“However, my dilemma was that I was racing at full speed and on single track, which meant that I did not have many options.  I realised that there was no way that I would be able to stop in time. The only choice I had, was to ride over the black mamba.

“That is when you get a different sort of adrenaline rush.  I hit the mamba at full pace and then I really got going.

“It felt as if I was part of a reality programme on television in which the cops are involved in a high speed chase with shots being fired all the time.  There is no time for the cops to worry about being hit by a bullet.  They can only stop afterwards to check whether or not they have been shot.

“It was the same for me. I raced flat out until I crossed the finishing line and only then did I start to check whether the mamba had perhaps managed to bite me.”

Theron, who was riding just behind Buys and had a ring-side seat to watch his friend’s battle for survival, said he thought that Buys had left a different sort of skid mark during his altercation with the mamba.

“But I had no time to worry about that. The black mamba did not take kindly to Buys’ riding over it.  It was criss-crossing over the single track, looking for something on which to vent its frustration.

“For a moment or two my brain and legs were involved in a battle of their own, with my brain shouting ‘Stop! Stop!’ but my legs saying ‘No way!  We are not stopping for a mamba’.

“Luckily, just before I had to do some really serious decision-making, the mamba sailed off into the bush.  But I was not going to take any chances.  I can’t remember whether the mamba sailed off to the right or to the left, but what I can tell you, is that I made sure that I went in a different direction, also through the bushes.”

As far as the last day’s racing is concerned, Theron said he should take the blame for them not winning the tour outright.

“Philip was really strong and he begged me to give it my all when Max Knox and Brandon Stewart (DCM) attacked on the first serious climb of the third stage.  My body was willing but my legs were dead.  I just could not keep up. That forced Philip also to slow down.”

Stewart and Knox were the overall winners.