Captain Crash

I was on the trail I went on yesterday, and I decided to explore a bit further.

Big mistake...

I went right at the t shaped fork, and dropped a marker at the way to turn to go home. I rode along, and came to a fork. It was a dirt trail, not like the grass one I was on. I went down it only to find a huge dropoff. I couldn't do it so I turned around. I couldn't remember what trail I went down, so I rode up the left one. After I while. I noticed things that were different.

"Crap, I'm lost" I thought...

I turned around and got to the same fork, then turned right. I was on the way back to the main trail.

So i'm powering along, and all a sudden...

GRRRRRRRR!

"Yep, I'm dead." I said aloud.

My body began shaking with fear. I began to perspire as I looked into the face of a giant black bear, not more than 25 feet away. It looked MAD. I tried to compose myself enough to figure out a plan to outrun it. That was when I realized that I was mountain biking. There was no way to outrun it. As I stood there, reflecting on what I could have done differently with my life, I realized something.

Its not over yet. There's one thing that could save me.

I closed my eyes and began to pray for guidance, protection, speed and awareness beyond my normal capabilities. I asked god what I should do.

I waited, and I felt I had been answered. I was supposed to just get back on my bike and ride. I hesitated, but I did it. I pushed off. When I got moving, I looked back to see where the bear was. It had turned and was retreating into the woods. After I was a safe distance away, I got off and pushed over terrain I would have normally been happy to ride over.

Here I am, 20 minutes later. I am sweat soaked, still shaky, and trying to understand what just happened to me.

I know some of you aren't Christians, and that's okay. But nobody can tell me that this was not god.

So, from now on, I will not be riding on undeveloped trails. They are like that for a reason, and I won't soon forget it.

-Captain

Oh, and I am NOT making this up. Just wanted to clear that up in advance.

Little Leo

did you pee your pants like a little girl too?


seriously now, good to hear your ok

migoythepinoy

...hm all of us christians should get together for some kind of MTB retreat somewhere....yeah.....

ad9

o snap! the drop off may have been the better move on that one. Congrats on not becoming lunch

C Law

kumbaya

I've had run ins with black bears a couple of times. I am still here and I never prayed.

It does shake you up though

Podolak

I'm really glad you are OK, sounds like pretty good luck.

I can however tell you this was not god. Stopping short of opening a religious debate lets just say I believe there are a great many other things that could be the reason besides some great mythical being who likes to have fun at our expense.

dieslcruisrhead

Black bears sometimes attack but it is less often the case. Good for you though to not have been attacked. For what its worth, 28 people have died from black bears in the last 100 years.. Making the odds worse than getting hit by lightning..

junkyard

The bear was god? I'm confused.

GV27

Glad you're OK, but a couple things to help yourself (God helps he who helps himself) next time:

1) Wadda ya mean you couldn't run because you were mountain biking? God gave ya good advice. Black bears are fast and could probably outsprint you over a short distance but a black bear's not going to run somebody down on a mountain bike speeding away. In reality you probably could've just kept riding and been OK.

2) If ya really felt cornered you should've picked your bike up over your head and started shaking it and yelling. Yogi woulda been like "WTF is that big thing?!?! That ain't no picinic basket! I'm gettin' outa here!".

C

Captain Crash

Haha, nevermind. Lets just say that the title is right, I'm lucky to be alive, god or no god involved. You guys can think what you want and so will I.

iwantakona

What saved your life was the fact that you didn't run right off. Once you run the bear sees you as a food source and will eat you. If you stand your ground it sees you as a predator or at the least an equal. A bear knows food runs and is hard to catch. Something it wants to steer clear of stands its ground.

PS: A rattel snake is somethig to be scared of a black bear isn't. I can tell you don't know much about bears or you would know that seeing one that close at all was a treat. A bear is a very hard animal to actually find out in the open and when you do you usually only catch a glimpse before it runs away.

rb07

From my understanding of encountering bears, you shouldn't run or ride away. The second option is better - most bear encounter literature I've read says you want to appear bigger and to make noise. But as was pointed out, black bears do not usually attack. Not that I would have been calm about the situation in the least. Glad you're alive.

Captain Crash

Wait, so the bear felt I was more of a threat to it than It was to me?

I still think I should learn something from this.

Stay on the main trail.

Bing bing!

iwantakona

Like I said food runs and a threat stands its ground. I've been within 15 feet of a full grown mother bear with two cubs. I stood my ground and she decided I was not a threat to her cubs nor was I a worth while food source. Animals only think about two things. Reproduction and food. Don't hurt their babies or look too much like lunch and your good. Unless you scare them like I said. At 25 feet you rode up on your clanking mtb and scared him. When you stood your ground he felt you were not a good food source. He was probably in a berry patch feeding his face and dint notice you till you were right on top of him. Yes staying on the main trail will keep this from hapening. The last thing a bear wants is to be bothered by a person.

GV27

Well, there's a big difference between a black bear and a brown ("Grizzly") bear. Black bears are generally really chicken. Some have been known to go crazy (like that one in Utah a couple of months back) but generally they'll be more scared of you than you are of them. They definitely won't see you as a good thing to take on for food. In general the only time they're really dangerous is if you get between a momma and a cub. She just wants you outa there anyhow so if you can take off on your bike that's a good move. In that case she's not going to let you being big and scary slow her down anyway. Slowly and quietly walking away is probably your best move in that situation.

A brown bear in the spring or fall can be very dangerous and see you as a meal. Again, however, your bike is your best friend. If you are on a hill and can point down hill and really go you can outrun it (like you can't on foot) but in most cases your best bet is to make yourself look big and scary. Hold your bike up, shake it and yell. Same goes for lions.

If you're riding in brown bear country you should be carrying pepper spray anyway.

Screw the main trail!

Chris

rb07

Staying on the trail is a good idea, but won't necessary keep you away from the bears.

That said, I might be wrong about the making yourself bigger thing (I've heard that mostly about travel in groups and bunch together if you encounter say a Grizzly in Alaska ), but here are some tips:

https://usparks.about.com/cs/natlpark...a/beartips.htm

Including: "Never run from a bear. Running may elicit a chase from an otherwise non-aggressive bear, and since they can run faster than 30 mph, you have no chance of outrunning them."

iwantakona

When I go riding anywhere in the woods I carry pepper spray just because you never know who you'll run into in the woods.

mcoine

So, you're saying bears don't go on the main trail?

iwantakona

Bears are solitary animals and avoid human contact so yes they don't go on the main trail.

Captain Crash

Bears generally stay away from well traveled trails.

mcoine

Thats funny, the only black bears I have ever seen where in the parking lot of a restaurant looking for garbage, or walking up the middle of the road. That was in virginia.

dminor 

Coming from one of our more noteable nobodies.

iwantakona

They were hungry. Very hungry. Those were the most dangerous kinds of bears. The mother and cubs were in my grandpa's back yard. It had been a dry summer and they came down out of the mountains because the river that he lived next to was the only source of water in the valley that hadn't dried up. The bears were there probably at the restraunt because the trash was the easiet or only source of food they could find. Sometimes due to urban expantion or food shortages animals do things that are not in their nature.

mcoine

And bears are never hungry in your neck of the woods?

Urban expansion in Shenandoah Park??

Captain Crash

Hmm, there's construction on one side of those woods. Could that have driven them near trails?