Investigators said the gator apparently tried to bite the man's bike tire, and the man lost control of his bike, flew over the handlebars and was seriously injured.

A bicyclist was seriously injured Sunday evening when he had an encounter — but no physical contact — with an alligator Sunday on the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail.



According to a preliminary report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the incident happened around 9 p.m. and might be the first gator-related injury on the trail.

FWC spokeswoman Karen Parker said the man was riding his bike when he came across a gator lying alongside the trail. Investigators said the gator apparently tried to bite the man’s bike tire. The man lost control of his bike, flew over the handlebars and was seriously injured, Parker said. He was taken to Shands at the University of Florida



“We are still trying to determine what happened to the gator,” which was gone when emergency officials reached the scene, Parker said.