Ottawa fire crews rescued a cyclist from a sticky situation Tuesday evening after an off-road bike ride went awry.
Ottawa Fire Services said in a statement that a cyclist called 911 shortly before 7 p.m. on Tuesday, relaying that he went for a ride in Marlborough Forest near Richmond but became stuck in waist-deep water after trying to get his bike through heavy terrain.
The 911 dispatcher got the cyclist’s GPS co-ordinates and passed them to the fire crews heading to the forest, advising responders to enter via Goodstown Road, rather than the Kettles Road entrance the individual had originally used.
The search party split up at a fork in the path with crews heading south and west into the forest.
Dispatchers stayed on the line calming the stuck cyclist for nearly an hour as crews searched for his whereabouts, OFS said.
Eventually, an off-road utility vehicle was brought in to speed up the hunt, but it, too, became stuck in the muddy terrain, according to the statement.
It was three firefighters who eventually made their way through the forest on foot who made contact with the cyclist, who had seen their flashlights and called to them.
The individual was freed from the muck around 7:49 p.m., at which point he was taken out of the forest and met by paramedics. One of the firefighters was also treated for heat exhaustion, OFS said.