Helmet helps head off attacking magpies

By Callan Date
THE Magpies may have won the CaseyCardinia League football grand final, but the flying variety is not winning many friends around Pakenham.
Several magpie hotspots have flared up in the area and are causing grief to bike riders and passersby with their welltimed swooping attacks.
Pakenham resident and keen cyclist Phillip Taylor said he had been swooped several times in the past fortnight while out on his bike rides.
Mr Taylor is training for the Slog to Sale charity bike ride and is encountering more than just the usual aches and pains that come from pedaling hundreds of kilometres a week.
The rider has had to alter his favoured training circuit around the Henty Road area with too many magpie danger zones causing him grief.
“The first thing you know about it you hear the flapping of wings and the pecking on your helmet,” Mr Taylor said.
He said had it not been for his bike helmet he may not have been able to shake off the black and white birds so lightly.
“You’ve got to keep it together when they swoop,” he said.
“It is a bit of a shock but it could get real dangerous if you lose control of the bike.”
Mr Taylor named Pakenham Road near Beaconhills Secondary College, Henry Road and Catherine Place in Lakeside as the areas where he has encountered the most magpie mayhem.
“When you do about 20 to 25kmh you are a pretty easy target,” he said.
However, the fluttering feathers have not deterred Mr Taylor in his quest to do the required training and have enough kilometres in his legs come race day in October.
“I’ll avoid the areas but continue to ride,” he said.