OK - this isn't my adventure story, but it sounds pretty cool! This post showed up on a wookworking forum Mr. Fish was reading...

"Coming down from JumpOff rock this evening on Laurel Park Hwy. A great road with lots of 30mph sweepers. Very fun descent. I was leading the charge and having an exciting time. It almost got more exciting when a smaller specimen of Ursus Americanus decided to cross the road in front of me. Came round a bend and saw a fuzzy black animal on the side of the road. From a distance it looked like a Chow. Not the most friendly of the Canis gang. As I rapidly closed the distance, it became very obvious that we were dealing with Ursus and not Canis. My guesstimate is about 80-100 lbs. Not full grown but it would have hurt had I hit it. Got a little concerned that maybe mama was lingering about but I saw or heard no other critter than this one.
It makes having a dog run out in front of me seem kinda mundane. "

Now that's a sight!