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Spectator Takes Bike, Crashes Hard

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After downhill mountain biker Adam Brayton took a bad crash during the UCI World Cup race in Cairns, a spectator grabbed his bike and tried to ride the course.

As you will see from the video, the spectator, reported on another video and Instagram post to be Ben McGowan, did not fare well.

According to an Instagram post by downhill racer Steve Peat, McGowan “has 2 broken vertebrae and a dislocated shoulder, (in his words “all fixable”). “He was doing Brayton a favour by taking his bike to the bottom, he didn’t steal it! The rumors are now cleared up and I want to say heal fast Ben.”

Brayton had to be evacuated with an injured leg after he hit a tree.

Brayton said in an email to Pinkbike that “The guy who took my bike down was a good man, no idea why he hit the whoops but I don’t blame him they were sick.”

We wish them both well. —Sean McCoy

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