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<\/a>The most important piece of kit? Bear spray within reach. Even in downtown Thornbury. Colin Field photo.\nThe shock<\/p>\n
The couple in the RV urged Ward to load his bike inside and accept a ride to safety. He refused. Only after they drove away did the adrenaline wear off.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all started to kick in,\u201d he says. \u201cI can\u2019t explain or quantify it. It was just that feeling of vulnerability.\u201d<\/p>\n
What shook him most was realizing everything he had learned about making noise and appearing intimidating had failed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought everything that I\u2019d learned about being big and making noises worked,\u201d he says. \u201cThen it just went straight for me. For two minutes I was on the food chain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ward eventually reached the Continental Divide Lodge 35 km further down the highway. He was shaken.<\/p>\n
The altered journey<\/p>\n
The encounter altered the remainder of Ward\u2019s ride. He had planned to continue down British Columbia\u2019s remote Cassiar Highway, one of Canada\u2019s classic long-distance cycling routes. Instead, he abandoned that section altogether.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was too switched on and affected by it,\u201d he says. \u201cIt changed everything about the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision disappointed him. He had looked forward to riding the isolated highway, but the thought of camping alone after the attack proved too much.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was humbled by the whole thing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
So he got a ride to Kitwanga and carried on from there.<\/p>\n
More than a bike ride<\/p>\n
Years earlier, Ward survived a collision with a car that led doctors to discover a life-threatening aortic aneurysm. The crash likely saved his life by revealing the condition before it ruptured. His father died from an aneurysm. That experience pushed him to begin taking on ambitious rides.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a bit of an existential moment one day. I woke up at three o\u2019clock in the morning and was really thinking about mortality because you don\u2019t do it when you\u2019re younger. You think you\u2019re so robust. The next morning I woke up and thought, \u2018Right, I\u2019m going to ride across America.\u2019 I raised money for an online forum in the States that was supportive of people with heart surgery after replacement. So that\u2019s what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was in 2017. He rode from the Yorktown, Virginia to Astoria, Oregon. He rasied about $9000.<\/p>\n
This trip honours his late mother, who died after complications from Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Ward is raising money for Alzheimer\u2019s research<\/a>, saying he wanted to do something meaningful in her memory.<\/p>\n Looking back, Ward considers himself fortunate. Truck drivers later suggested the wolf may have been a lone animal forced from its pack or a female protecting nearby pups.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just unlucky really,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The attack has not diminished his appreciation for Canada\u2019s wilderness.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has given me a different perspective on nature,\u201d he says. \u201cThe beauty of it, but also the need to look after yourself. It\u2019s something I won\u2019t forget quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Understatement of the year.<\/p>\n