The bear, wounded from its bout with the bike, was then hit by a pickup truck before Anchorage police arrived at the scene at mile 10 and shot the dying animal at about 8:40 p.m.
Police and state wildlife officials are scratching their heads over the presumably unprecedented incident.
"It's very bizarre," said state wildlife biologist Rick Sinnott. "It's hard to believe that it was actually chasing them, but I guess stranger things have happened."
Dena Boughton of Anchorage said she sprained her left ankle when the bear "slammed" into her 2001 Harley-Davidson Dyna, but she was able to keep the bike upright and kept riding. Boughton was later treated and released from Providence Alaska Medical Center. Passenger Cameron Ryckman of Eagle River, out on his first motorcycle ride, was not injured.
Boughton said she and Ryckman left the Eagle River Nature Center at about 8 p.m. and spotted the adult bear a few minutes later on the opposite shoulder of the road.
"I had just started my roll," said Boughton, a motorcycle safety instructor in the group A.B.A.T.E. (Alaskan Bikers Advocating Training and Education). "We were cruising right along at the speed limit. I saw the bear. I backed off the throttle for a few seconds to figure out what I was going to do. Then I just powered up to go by it."
Boughton said she was surprised to see the bear running along beside her.
"I saw him loping outside. It chased us. I tried to outrun him. But it caught us. Bears can go zero to 60 faster than Harleys can," she said. "He charged into us. He hit my foot and did some damage to me and the bike. I couldn't shift after that. But I powered up and got the hell out of there."
Ryckman said the bear bumped into his leg too.
Boughton said the bear might have punctured itself when it charged into the metal foot pegs. Using one gear, she traveled eight miles and dropped Ryckman off in Eagle River. The boy's mother then drove Boughton to the hospital as Ryckman's father, David Ryckman, called police.
Police arrived at about 8:40 and shot the fatally wounded bear, which had been bleeding heavily.
Alaska Star
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