- Un jeune cycliste de 35 ans a été attaqué par un loup.
William "Mac"Hollan et deux amis ont été sponsorisés pour parcourir de l'Idaho à Prudhoe Bay en Alaska à vélo (2750 miles en 6 semaines).
William se trouvait à 800 mètres devant les 2 autres cyclistes faisant partie du trek.
Sentant quelque chose à sa hauteur, le cycliste s'est retourné pensant que c'était ses amis qui le rejoignaient.
Un loup, sorti des bois, s'est jeté sur lui à ce moment-là manquant de justesse de mordre son pied. Là, s'en est suivi une course poursuite.
Le cycliste s'est saisi d'un spray répulsif pour ours dans une sacoche accroché aux guidons - utilisé à plusieurs reprises, comme dans tant d'autres récits, le spray n'a servi à rien sauf de ralentir le loup de courts instants.
Le loup rattrapait chaque fois le vélo, réussissant même à arracher des morceaux de sacoches.
Quatre véhicules ont croisé le cycliste sans s'arrêter pour lui prêter main forte.
Après un tournant, se trouvant devant une pente, le jeune homme a perdu tout espoir de s'échapper et de s'en sortir vivant.
Un véhicule tractant une caravane a fini par faire demi-tour pour venir à son secours et au même moment, désespéré, le cycliste s'est jeté devant un camping-car. La porte arrière se trouvant fermé à clef, le jeune homme a commencé à se jeter à travers la fenêtre ouverte du côté passager, tandis que le loup s'acharnait sur les sacoches du vélo.
Plusieurs conducteurs ayant arrêté leurs véhicules, c'est à coups de gourde et de pierres, dans un concert de cris et de klaxons qu'ils ont réussi à faire partir le loup.
Une fois remis de ses émotions, le cycliste et ses amis sont repartis accompagnés un certain temps par un des véhicules pour s'assurer que le loup ne revienne pas sur ses pas.
Ce n'est pas sans rappeler l'incident du mois de juin quand un autre loup avait pourchassé une moto ..
- Wolf chases cyclist on Alaska Highway in Yukon
Lengthy pursuit ended with wolf attacking man's abandoned bicycle
A cyclist had the race of his life Saturday in Yukon as he pedalled to outrun a wolf chasing him along the Alaska Highway.
American Mac Hollan and two friends are cycling to Alaska from Idaho to raise money for charity.
About 100 kilometres west of Watson Lake, Hollan’s two companions stopped to fix some bike equipment, leaving him to ride ahead. When he heard breathing behind him he thought his teammates had caught up to him.
He looked back to see a wolf pursuing him.
Hollan said his adrenalin kicked in, he changed gears and got far enough ahead of the animal to get his bear spray out.
That's when he blasted the wolf in the face.
"And he backed up about 20 feet and I thought he was going to stop,” he said.
“I thought, 'What a wild story. I'm glad that's over.' Then he kept running again and came back up to the back of my bike and actually attacked the back of my bike and ended up ripping the bag that I carry my tent stakes and poles in and ripped it off the back of my bike and spilled it all over the highway."
Hollan said the pursuit continued long enough that four vehicles passed before a couple driving a motorhome stopped to lend assistance.
When Hollan was safely inside the vehicle, the wolf attacked his bicycle that was left on the road.
It only left after another motorist threw a metal water bottle at it, hitting the wolf in the head.
Hollan said he and his friends prepared for bear country, with bear spray, bear bags and keeping a clean camp. They are not going to be deterred from cycling Yukon and Alaska by the incident with the wolf.
"It's kind of hard to worry about it happening again because I think the odds of it happening in the first place were astronomical, and for it to happen twice... I don't foresee that happening."
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Source: CBC-Canada du 10 juillet 2013
- Motorist has photos of wolf that chased Sandpoint cyclist
The photos were snapped by Pennock, Minn., resident Becky Woltjer, who was in the RV that stopped to rescue William “Mac” Hollan from the wolf that had become obsessed with his bike, nipping and tearing at his rear bike packs even after Hollan dropped the bike and took refuge in the RV.
Alberta resident Melanie Klassen helped chase the wolf away by beaning it in the head with water bottle.
The photos also show Hollan saluting the RVers after the wolf had left and he resumed his Point to Bay bicycle tour from Idaho to Prudhoe Bay with his two cycling companions.
Read on for Woltjer's Facebook account of the incident, and why she felt compelled to give a stranger from Idaho a big hug.....
Source: Blog outdoor du 14 juillet 2013
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- Wolf chases Alaska-bound cyclist
Growing up in the Yukon, Melanie Klassen had seen numerous bicycle tourists pedaling the Alaska Highway, but never one with a canine companion running behind him.
"I thought it was odd until I saw the panicked look on the biker's face — as though he was about to be eaten," she said in a telephone interview.
"That wasn't a dog; it was a wolf."
The cyclist, William "Mac" Hollan, 35, of Sandpoint, Idaho, verified Klassen's observation of Saturday's incident:
"At this point I realized I might not be going home, and I began to panic at the thought of how much it was going to hurt."
Read more:
Billing gazette 11 july 2013
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