I almost hit a bear riding riding to work one morning, well, not really but it was very close. I came around a corner, looked to my right, and casually thought 'oh a bear', then duble take wait a minute 'a bear!". It was literally on the side on the road, not more than 4, or 5 feet. I was happy to be on the bike. Though all my experiences with black bears, and I have had many, is they either run away (small ones), or take look at you, and don't give a ****, go back to eating (bigger ones).

Though the overpopulated deer here are scary, I know what you mean by 'appear'. I did a shoulder check right before decending a hill a 50+km/hr, soon as I turn around, a deer, no time to avoid, was inches...inches away from contact. That gets the heart pumpin!