Originally Posted by
indyfabz
Saw a bear yesterday at about mile 20 of this route:
MR. B - A bike ride in Frenchtown, NJ
Got within maybe 10 yards at its closest. No spray. No AR-whatever. No howitzer. Just an iPhone to shoot it. And then we rode on. I'll post a link to the video once it's out there. In the rush, my GF turned on the video instead of taking a still and didn't realize it. Funny that a 5' tall women wasn't scared. Some people in this thread could learn something from her.
With all due respect to the courageous folks who bring us the amazing videos on PBS and National Geo. TV, etc.,
the young man who was killed by a bear in 2014 a few tens miles from your ride path was doing exactly what you described.
See
Student took this photo of a bear just before it killed him | New York Post
The outcome of the above event might have been different if he had a bear spray.