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Footage of cyclist's encounter with mountain goat "on steroids" goes viral

After flexing for a few seconds the muscly mountain goat appeared to go on his way as the (likely terrified) cyclist hoped for the best

If you were to make a list of the most terrifying wild animals you wouldn't want to encounter on a bike ride, a goat probably wouldn't be very high up the list... but if that goat happened to be a mountain goat, and a particularly massive one that has been compared to numerous American football players and a prime Arnold Schwarzenegger, it might make the site of a mere wolf or boar seem pretty tame in comparison. 

In the clip, which we can't quite track down the origins of but believe could have been filmed in the US, the cyclist has dismounted their bike, possibly to avoid spooking the mountain goat, and the colossal creature appears to walk on by without incident. 

Of the few million people who have viewed the clip so far, many have speculated over the mountain goat's training, diet and supplement regime, while for some it made them think of 'Roger the Buff Kangaroo', a particularly muscly marsupial who achieved worldwide fame in the mid-2010s. Unfortunately a box office brawl between the pair is no longer possible, because Roger sadly died in 2018. 

Before we get pulled up on it, we'll clarify that mountain goats are technically not goats in the traditional sense because they are not part of the capra genus. They're actually part of the bovidae family of ruminants which includes antelopes, gazelles and cattle, which in turn goes some way towards explaining the size of this beast. 

This isn't the first time we've heard of cyclists having potential brushes with death due to animals either, although none of the others we can recall were this tonk. Back in May a group of cyclists captured the moment they survived an encounter with a grizzly bear in Montana's Glacier National Park, having to barricade themselves behind their bikes as the bear approached.

Last year, a cyclist in Alaska survived being mauled by a brown bear, with the motion of his bicycle seeming to spark the animal’s aggressive behaviour.

In June of this year, an 82-year-old cyclist in Hampshire was attacked by an “out of control” cow, with a passer-by eventually managing to fend off the rampaging animal with the victim's bike.  

Arriving at road.cc in 2017 via 220 Triathlon Magazine, Jack dipped his toe in most jobs on the site and over at eBikeTips before being named the new editor of road.cc in 2020, much to his surprise. His cycling life began during his students days, when he cobbled together a few hundred quid off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story) and bought his first road bike - a Trek 1.1 that was quickly relegated to winter steed, before it was sadly pinched a few years later. Creatively replacing it with a Trek 1.2, Jack mostly rides this bike around local cycle paths nowadays, but when he wants to get the racer out and be competitive his preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking - the latter being another long story.  

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3 comments

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Rik Mayals unde... | 1 year ago
0 likes

That's not a goat, it's a polar bear with a pointy nose and horns!

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ChrisB200SX | 1 year ago
1 like

GOAT goat

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Sriracha | 1 year ago
12 likes

Goat knows the highway code better than many drivers - went past the cyclist without using the horn.

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