Bicyclist Going 45 MPH Hits Bear In Boulder Co.

[jesvetmed]

OMG! Last night after the Wed night club ride, we were sitting at the pub, telling stories. And turns out that two weeks ago during club ride, the "fast ones" were coming down a hill and one of our riders hit a bear! He ended up with stitches and pretty beat up/sore. The bear just ran off. He was still pretty beat up the next week -- his wife drove him out to the club ride so he could say hello and check in. What a nightmare!

Jes

[Jenerator]

For those unfamiliar with the area, here's a map from MapMyRide.com If you check the elevation profile, you'll see why 45mph is possible on the descent.

For the doubters who've been checking snopes, if it made snopes, it would be tagged as true, and it's not the first bear hit by a cyclist there.

Bears are not considered pedestrians under Colorado law, but they do outnumber pedestrians in the area. (I've seen more bears [n=1] in the area than pedestrians) There are a lot more deer in the area than bears, so that makes them a potentially greater hazard. The deer seem to get hit with greater frequency by cars. The bears are apparently better targets for cyclists.

[SouthernBelle]

Even I've cracked 40 on a descent. And I've never had enough nerve not to feather my brakes on this particular hill. Fortunately bears are rather uncommon around here. Deer are not.

[Susan126]

Wow! Interesting story! I usually start to hold back when I reach 40 but DH has gone as fast as 50! He scares me and I have asked him not to go that fast. I think he's only done 50 once. We have a route that takes us to a hill with a 9% grade. He left me in his dust one time and took off down the hill. I noticed a pickup truck behind him. When I reached the bottom of the hill Joe and the truck driver were talking to one another at the stop at the intersection. Joe told me the driver rolled down his window and asked Joe how fast he was going because he could not pass him! That's when I discovered how fast he was going and flipped out!

The guy who ran into the bear was lucky breaking just a few ribs but I don't understand why the bear ran off only after a deer appeared. But interesting story! Perhaps the poor bear was in shock and the deer brought him around!?

[OakLeaf]

See the threads about descending - there are several on here. Anybody in a hilly area is going to see 45 pretty frequently. Where it's mountainous rather than just hilly, 45 is probably unavoidable.

What this thread is making me realize though, is the need for emergency braking practice. Just because of a bicycle's light weight, high CoG, weety tire contact patch and overall skinny profile, it's a whole 'nother skill to get in perfect alignment and maximum traction for a very hard braking maneuver.

How about it, y'all? Any tricks or things to think about? Is managing the front/rear brake proportions different on a road bike than it is on a vehicle with suspension?

[PscyclePath]

There's no saint like a reformed sinner, I guess...

I hit a deer while on my bike in January of last year. I was going down a slight hill, in the dark of course, when I rounded a blind corner and found a herd of deer grazing in the bike trail. I sideswiped this great big ol' doe, hitting her square on the left side of her butt with my left knee and hip. She took off to the left and disappeared, I spun off to the right and managed to stay on the trail and upright on the bike after some fearsome wobbles. I was running about 18-19 mph at the time.

There's a large population of deer in the park behind the industrial park where the DEQ offices are, and the deer are pretty bold when it comes to cyclists. They'll often stand there in the trail and argue right-of-way issues with you.

I've also managed to collide with the biggest German Shepherd dog that I've ever seen, who was unleashed out at the same place just about, and decided to run across the road to his master about the same time I came hurtling by. He got a little bruised, I got a little road rash and tumbled through a blackberry thicket, so we came out about even. The bike was okay, and better off than me or the dog

The fastest I've gotten on the bike is 47 mph on a long downhill run, until my common sense/fear kicked in a little and I started feathering the brakes.


Oakleaf:
Braking a road bike in these situations is a whole lot like braking a suspension mountain bike... in fact I'm of a strong opinion that riding an MTB like this makes you a better road rider. Leveling the pedals, coming up off the saddle and getting your rear end (and weight) shifted back over the rear wheel greatly increases its braking power... which in turn helps keep the rear wheel from skidding and keeps it (and your bike) under control.


Tom

[Grog]

Wait a minute.

If there is a bear sitting on the road, do you REALLY want to brake and stop in front of it? In this case it was a black bear, so not horribly dangerous, but still.

What you probably want is to get out of there fast!!! I know the bear's sense of smell is really good, but what about their sight? If they see you are they going to go back the way they came (like squirrels) or keep going across the street? I'd say the priority would be to keep enough speed AND guess the right trajectory of travel to get away from the bear!

[PscyclePath]

Wait a minute.

If there is a bear sitting on the road, do you REALLY want to brake and stop in front of it? In this case it was a black bear, so not horribly dangerous, but still.

What you probably want is to get out of there fast!!! I know the bear's sense of smell is really good, but what about their sight? If they see you are they going to go back the way they came (like squirrels) or keep going across the street? I'd say the priority would be to keep enough speed AND guess the right trajectory of travel to get away from the bear!

I would most likely elect to "quick turn" out of the bear's path/reach, followed by a bit of a sprint to make sure I drop him/her. In my most recent critter encounter/collision back last December, I chose to try the "rock dodge" manuever against an errant opossum. I found out that while rocks (and LCIs' tennis balls) stay still, 'possums don't; and the little booger ran right into my front wheel. So then I tried a mountain bike trick to try to roll over him like a log, and that worked, even with my road bike & pulling a paceline ;-)

It helped convince me that riding dirt whenever I can makes me a better road biker...

[beccaB]

When I lived in Sussex, New Jersey, I was training for a marathon. There were a lot of hills there, we were only 5 miles from a spot where the Appalachian trail crossed a nearby road. It's a difficult concept for most people that New Jersey would have a place like this. It was truly beautiful and secluded in some places. Well, anyway, I was starting up a big hill and I noticed that some animal had just pooped in the road. To be gross, it was still steaming(cold October morning) and it had berries in it. Or looked like it did. When I rounded the corner I saw a big furry black butt disappear into the woods.It wsn't till I got to the top of the hill that I realized I had just seen a bear. Sussex was known to have them. I felt kinda panicky knowing I'd have to go the same way to get home, and was alone, 3 miles from home!