A year has passed since five longtime friends set out for a weekend bike ride and found their lives forever changed. In the months since, there have been surgeries, physical therapy, and emotional processing—not just healing from injuries, but navigating the unexpected attention that followed.
We reconnected with the women—Keri Bergere, Annie Bilotta, Aune Tietz, Tisch Williams and Erica Wolf—to talk about where they are now, what recovery has looked like, and to ask how this experience continues to shape their lives.
Living Snoqualmie first shared their story in Five Against the Wild, which chronicled the sudden cougar attack that left one of the women severely injured and all five forever changed. Their courage and quick action drew national attention—now, they’re offering a more personal look at what came after.
Question—The last time we saw you, you looked and felt quite different. So, how are you, just briefly? I don’t want to dwell if you don’t want to, but how has the healing been over the year?
Shortly after the attack, Keri attempted a return to outdoor activity, joining the group on the John Wayne Trail. But it was cold, rainy, and dark—and the outing ended abruptly when she hit a pothole, cracked her helmet, and suffered another concussion.
Keri – We went up on the John Wayne Trail 2 months later, and I was probably not ready. It was pouring rain; it was dark and awful. I hit a pothole and got a concussion.
Tisch – It cracked her helmet.
Keri – And I landed on my bear spray. And it was on me for months. I was tasting it.
Keri – I feel very physically healed, still dealing with the concussion effects. I’m not back at work. I went back to work for 4 months and found I couldn’t do the computer work. So, I’m still on a disability right now, but the concussion is the biggest issue that I’m dealing with. I probably got a concussion during the attack. Yeah, I think I was doped up and everything. I probably didn’t realize I had a concussion, but the second time was really obvious. Anyway, that’s kind of—I kept thinking over the past year that it would go away in a couple of weeks, and it has not gone away.
Keri – I don’t chew exactly right, because my teeth don’t set right? But they’re all there. And my scars are pretty minimal. [1] They thought they might have to remove the metal from my face because of an infection in the bone, but they didn’t have to do that.
Aune – We’re really blessed where we are because our hospitals are amazing, and we have specialists.
Keri – They were incredible, over the top. They’re the best.
Question – How soon did you guys get back on the bike in that context? I’m assuming you returned to riding fairly quickly, but have you gone back out into the forest?
Erica – I got back on the bike right away, and I was mountain biking and gravel biking and doing all that stuff.
Keri – This one here actually got QOM, Queen of the Mountain, on the Magic Carpet route, and she dedicated it to us. So that was pretty special.
Erica – I did the record time. Somebody will eventually take that record, as it always happens. There’s always somebody younger and faster, but for now, I have the record time on that route.
Question – Was the first ride emotional or hard, or did it just feel like riding a bike?
Tisch returned to riding less than a week after the attack, choosing a familiar local route. She went alone, carrying bear spray, a whistle, and bells. The experience was tense at times—she questioned why she was out there, but kept going. Revisiting the forest where the attack happened still gives her anxiety, though it’s eased over time. She says the support from her biking community has been incredible, and she’s continued to ride often since, including near—but—not exactly on the original route.
Erica – It was a goal of mine to complete the route because it was part of my exposure therapy. And just part of my therapy was to complete that route. Then it felt like it was finished. And now next.
Aune – But you had not done it before. So my husband, Keri, and I found the route and designed it. On that day when we found it, it was a beautiful, clear day. It was a spring day, and going through the most remote area was like lush green, mossy ferns everywhere. So, I named the route that day. And the green magic carpet was rolled out for us. And then one guy from our team, who knows the forest very well, saw it. They said I didn’t know there was a cut that went through it, made it an official route, and named it the Magic Carpet Ride. When we had visitors in town or special days with us, we always had, ‘Let’s do the Magic Carpet Ride,’ because it’s one of our favorite routes. It has every surface involved in it. It’s a manageable distance, and we thought it would be perfect for us ladies. That day was a beautiful day to do it. It’s a very meaningful, special route, especially for me and Keri.
In addition to that, I went out with Annie, my husband and a friend two weeks after the attack, a little bit north of where the attack happened. We made sure to stay together. Usually on downhills or up hills, things are spreading out because we all have our own speeds, jams, and whatnot. We made sure to stay together, and we did for that day, and it went well. I personally never felt uncomfortable. We’re equipped with bear spray, knives, and everything we need for that day. I also had bells; our team sponsor gave me a bell, which I never had on my bike. So, when I felt something creeping up, I just turned the bell on. It was a little bit of my security blanket; it was great. We had a good time.
Annie – I have not ridden back there. I can’t get myself to do that, but I’ve been in other woods; it’s just a psychological thing for me. ‘Oh, nothing happened there. So, there is safe. I know it’s not logical, but that’s just how my brain operates. I still go out in the woods, but not as often as we used to. That was really the closest place to go, and other places we have to travel farther. We spend a lot more time on the bike trail around here (Bothell), but I have definitely been.
Keri – I have been back out in the woods a little bit, but not into the (same) area. I will one day want to go back there and just stand there and look at it. Same as Annie. When we’re out in some woods, I feel great. And then sometimes I feel a little creepy, and I hear things, and I look around.
Annie – I’ve ridden with her a few times where she’s been very spooked, and then we’re whooping it up.
Keri – Sometimes we’ll sing or whatever. She knows when I get kind of freaked out a little bit, like we’re getting too deep into the woods. It bothers me, but we, like Aune said, we have our knives, we have our bear spray. At least we’re prepared now, whereas before we had nothing.
Aune – We didn’t have anything. We didn’t have knives or bear spray.
Tisch – I’ll see leaves, dogs brown above that size with the tail. I’m sure my son is like, ‘Mom, you need to deal with that,’ because I literally get terrified when I see that. So, a total difference.
Question—Obviously, you’ve changed your habits regarding what you carry now, as in bear spray, the bell, and the knife, and all that. Have you done anything else? Or is that pretty much you carry different gear, stay closer together, and go with more people?
Aune- I think I won’t go with just the two of us anymore. So at least four people, because that I think that’s safe today that day for us, right? If it had been Keri and I or just the three of us, no way, I think it took all of us and it showed me that the number is safe.
And so that is, for me, the biggest takeaway: That I’m not going riding with under four people anymore in the back country. My husband and I went with Keri, just maximum three. Sometimes four, sometimes bigger groups.
Tisch- I guess the other thing to your point that you’re saying on is that I want people with me, but like sometimes, like you said earlier, I think it’s Annie yourself, said when we climb hills and things, because we all have different abilities, right? I want someone near me.
Annie – It still is hard. We’ve gone out sometimes, and you say you’re gonna stay together, but inevitably you get a little farther apart. And I have I’ve even been in situations where I’m alone in the woods, and then I’ll go WTF are you doing? Why are you here? Why did you do this? The anxiety definitely rises. I keep going out there because…
Tisch & Keri- we love it.
Aune – We really enjoy being out there.
Tisch- Erica and I went down to Oregon. It was called the Oregon Gravel Grinder. And a hundred-mile ride every day. And there were some parts we were out there in the middle of nowhere. Eric (a friend from Indiana) is a speedy Gonzales on the hills. Erica’s faster than me. I’m just out there all by myself, and I had my bell going, but cascading along the trail, in the middle of nowhere. I’m doing it with some anxiety, but to Annie and everyone’s point, you love it. I don’t want to stop doing it. I’ll deal with the anxiety, and I’ll figure out how to get through it, but I don’t want to miss out.
Aune said part of healing is confronting fear and doubt. Before the attack, they felt invincible—closely connected to nature and proud of what they were doing in their fifties. That sense of innocence was taken from them, she said. While they may never return to exactly who they were before, they are continuing to heal and find strength in a new place.
Their love of riding remains strong, even as each continues to navigate the tension between joy, fear, and the need for safety. However, the journey toward healing hasn’t ended there.
~ Stay tuned for Part Two, coming tomorrow, where the women reflect on public attention, unexpected lessons, and what life looks like one year later.
[1] *She looks amazing
[Featured Image: Erica Wolf doing her thing. Photo credit goes to David Chatham.]
