By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
LARA racing announcer and popular MC Rob Gaylard barely saw the flying wallaby that brought him down in a cycling fall to rival anything the Tour de France dishes out.
The avid cyclist was in the second bunch out on an early morning ride toward the You Yangs two weeks ago when a startled pod of wallabies shot out of an adjoining paddock.
Rob said he couldn’t believe his luck following a serious cycling fall five years ago after hitting a stray jockey wheel in the darkness near Little River.
“The same paramedic came out this time. He said, ‘You realise the third time you’re out?’,” Rob said, trying not to laugh.
But the injuries this time were no laughing matter, sending Rob to the Alfred Hospital’s trauma centre after doctors at Geelong Hospital discovered bleeding on his brain.
The ferocity of the fall also caused heart distress, broke ribs and his collarbone and took the top off Rob’s left pointer finger.
Another wallaby took out a fellow cyclist who ended up in a ditch beside the road but without serious injury, Rob said.
“That’s the worst one I’ve had. I don’t want to go through that again,” Rob declared.
“I’m struggling a bit now, but getting a huge amount of support, which is really incredible to me.”
Rob said the ambulance officers told him they were collecting cyclists after kangaroo or wallaby crashes “every other week”.
He credited his helmet with preventing a serious head injury.
“It’s got four enormous cracks. It certainly saved me.
“If you don’t wear one you’ve got rocks in your head.”
