Bicyclist Going 45 MPH Hits Bear In Boulder Co.

[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!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I find it very hard to believe that cyclist going 45mph hitting a static object like a 500lb bear would only suffer some cracked ribs and road rash and then be able to get back on his undamaged(!!) bicycle and pedal to the hospital.
At 30mph maybe, but not at 45mph impact.

[SouthernBelle]

My understanding is that at a higher speed you skid rather than just landing kerplunk.

[Mr. Bloom]

OK, a slight deviation from the track of this dialogue....

When braking on a steep downhill,

How much risk is there of a blow out

Resulting from riding your brakes hard?

I don't go fast on blind curves or rough roads. But some I ride on truly exhaust me because I have to brake so hard to keep it under 20mph.

Sometimes, feathering and pumping just aren't enough...