This is ridiculous. If the other cyclist had had a firearm he would likely have been able to shoot the bear and save his friend. A few years ago a troop of Boy Scouts surprised a bear on a trail in the Kenai peninsula, and the bear attacked one of the kids.One of the grown ups with the kids was able to use a pistol to shoot the bear and save the kid.

Same with bear spray, there are many documented cases of people spraying a bear while the bear mauled someone and the bear running away. I know people who did that on Resurrection Pass Trail.

You make it sound as if brown bears go on a killing frenzy once they are provoked and that's just not true.