BITING OFF MORE THAN IT COULD CHEW

One of the original stars of XC, Thomas Frischknecht still races today, as well as managing the Scott-SRAM team. Here, he takes us back to the 1990s and a bizarre encounter with an American pitbull...

“As preparation for the 1995 XC World Cup races in Mammoth Mountain, California, and Vail, Colorado, I raced the Tour of the Gila road stage race in New Mexico. During the big mountain stage I managed to get into the breakaway group and I was going well. As the lead group of eight riders came howling down a twisty road alongside a creek, a dog came running out of a driveway.

“We were all lined out in single file and I was sitting in the middle of the group. I had the dog in my sight, and wasn’t too worried at first. But, as we got closer, it became obvious he had an issue with us. It was an angry, barking pitbull terrier, and a scary size, too.

“All of a sudden, while we were leaning into a long left turn at around 32mph without any thought of braking, the pitbull attacked. It chose my left calf to bite, and at the very same moment his teeth broke through my skin, one of his legs got tangled in my rear wheel, which locked up. I was sliding sideways with a pitbull attached to my leg. Me, my bike and the dog all crashed into a ditch at the side of the road. Not an ideal scenario – but the worst came after. The injured dog was so angry with me that he tried to attack again.

“This scared me to death and I felt I was literally fighting for my life. All fired up, I had only one thing to protect me from another bite – my bike. Screaming like a warrior, I hurled it at full force at the dog, who limped away on his three good legs. My calf was bleeding pretty badly, but just as I finished truing my rear wheel, the main pack raced by, so I jumped back into the race and finished the stage.

“After I’d cleaned my blood-encrusted Sidi shoe and had my leg checked over, I went back to where the attack happened to ask the owners whether it was possible the dog had rabies. Luckily, it was all fine. The dog survived with a broken leg, and I won the World Cups in Mammoth and Vail, securing the series title. All’s well that ends well!

“I WAS SLIDING SIDEWAYS WITH A PITBULL ATTACHED TO MY LEG... NOT AN IDEAL SCENARIO – BUT THE WORST CAME AFTER”