“Beauty vs the Beast”

NZPA report:

Kaye Breaks Ankle Ending “Beauty Versus The Beast” Race

Excitement over an upcoming parliamentary cycle race dubbed “beauty versus the beast” has been dashed by National MP Nikki Kaye, who has crashed and broken an ankle.

As amused as I am by the headline, I have to say I’d never heard anyone refer to the contest in that way previously.

Central Auckland MP Ms Kaye was due to square off against senior Labour MP Trevor Mallard in the upcoming race around Lake Taupo.

They and other MPs have been in intensive training , but it all ended in tears for Ms Kaye yesterday when she fell on the streets of Auckland.

Ms Kaye said a car had moved close to her, so she had swerved to avoid it but crashed with her foot locked into the pedal.

Her awkward fall resulted in a very painful break in her fibula, near the joint with ankle.

She was expected to be in plaster and on crutches for up to six weeks.

Where’s a dedicated cycleway when you need one!

Some around Parliament joked Mr Mallard had knobbled Ms Kaye as he feared defeat by a younger MP, but Labour MPs insisted he was nowhere near the accident scene.

What I find funny is that Labour MPs actually checked that Trevor wasn’t in Auckland and were briefed to deny it was him 🙂

Trevor has been training massively for the race, and is set to knock 20 minutes or more off his 2008 time of 5:35. I hope he keeps the motivation level high as the more time Trevor is on a bike, the less time he spends making trouble in Parliament!