Bike stunts hero Danny MacAskill takes a tumble.. tripping on kerbstone

Published on Thursday 29 October 2009 09:32

HE MIGHT be best known for performing death-defying stunts on his bike, but cyclist Danny MacAskill is out of action for eight weeks – after tripping on a kerbstone.

The 23-year-old shot to fame when a film was posted on YouTube showing him performing incredible leaps and somersaults using walls, steps and trees around the Capital.

Since then he has been inundated with offers from firms keen for him to promote their goods, and was even invited to join a Korean circus.

But it's all on hold while he recuperates from an operation to pin a broken collar bone.

He was initially injured falling off his bike during a trip to San Diego, but it healed well – until he tripped in the street and damaged it more seriously.

He said: "I just fell on my side (in California], but unfortunately I had a fall over here and broke it a lot more and it had to be plated.

"In America, it was the most basic fall I'd had in a long time. In Edinburgh it was just an old- fashioned trip on a kerb. I've spent so much time on the bike I can't walk very well!"

After an overnight stay at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on Tuesday, he is now recuperating at home in Tollcross.

He might be taking it easy for a while, but fans can see more of his exploits with the launch of an advert filmed for Volkswagen during the summer. Due to be shown in Scandinavia, it could get a wider TV audience if it is well received – and it can been seen in the meantime on YouTube.

Shot in Lisbon, the ad shows Danny fearlessly turning somersaults and performing dramatic leaps on his bike before loading it into the boot of a VW – then having to get out of the car because he is afraid of a wasp trapped inside.

And in an echo of the ad's joke, it was not the stunt-riding that frightened him most about the job. "The down side was that I had to do some acting," he said. "I got flown out to Copenhagen for four hours to see if I could do the acting part. It's not my strength – I just ride my bike."

He has now signed with a management company to cope with the deluge of offers – including the inquiry from the Far East. "That was probably about the oddest one – I got asked to go and join a circus in Korea for three months. But I decided I didn't want to go in a cage at night – I like my own bed."

Danny might have entered a new world of big-budget sponsorship deals, but he says fame and fortune was far from his mind when he put his first film online in April. He said: "We posted it with absolutely no expectations. It never crossed my mind what kind of reception it'd get. It's just been crazy."

Click here to watch one of Danny MacAskill's stunts on YouTube