It's a bear

[Bryan 1]

I was riding at Rampart last week after work. I was ripping down a fun, sandy, twisty trail when I saw something move in front of me. After a minute I realized, IT WAS A BEAR. It was running down the trail in front of me. Then I realized, IT WAS A BABY BEAR!

What to do? If I stop and the mom is behind me, I'M TOAST. But I didn't want to freak it out.

So I rode for a couple of minutes with this little sucker ripping down the trail.

I finally decided I should speed up and hopefully scare it off the trail then GET THE HELL OUT OF DODGE. When I sped up, it quickly bailed off the trail and stopped.

MAN those suckers can run fast.

Luckily, I wasn't lunch for mom. Although I was nervous and looking over my shoulder for the remainder of the day.

Bears are quite timid but don't mess with a baby.

After some further thought, I came to the conclusion that it was probably not a baby, but a small adult. So I probably should have stopped.

Tough decisions while riding. And you thought all we had to look out for in Colorado were rocks and such!

?

Bryan in Denver...

[Rip Wheeler]

Well, a baby bear's mom is scary. But depending on what type of bears you have in your area, it will vary. Brown bears are aggressive and are mean. A Kodiak is an overgrown brown bear. Brown bears may not be always brown, nor black bears not always black. A brown bear will have a squared off looking snout and be a little longer than a black bear. Black bears will have a shorter rounded snout. Grizzlies will have the large hump at the shoulders. Black bears are petrified of humans. Ran into a large male black bear once deer hunting, was packing a Winchester M-70 in 300 REM MAG, so I wasnt worried. But as soon as I turned my head, he saw me, and literally bailed downhill away from me as fast as he could. This animal has real shiny black coat, it glistened in the afternoon sun. Would of made a nice rug, but I wasnt interested in the bear, so I let it live! I fear a deer jumping out in front of me more than any runins with a bear. ?

[jwriott]

I had a bobcat jump out infront of me last year West of Fort Collins on a trail. Went up a small hill and turned around and just sat there and looked at me. He was cool looking. I've seen tons of sheep, mountain goats, deer, elk, etc. while riding but never a bear.

[Sylvain]

I think your best move would of been to just let go the baby beast. Because we have to remember that they are beast. You have been very lucky, if mama bear had been nearby and sensed its baby in trouble, and I beleive that when you say :

So I rode for a couple of minutes with this little sucker ripping down the trail.

I'm sure the baby bear was in survival mode, so mama bear could of get very angry.

Animals learn from experience, and react accordingly afterward. Now that you have scared the hell out of that bear and pissed off the mama, because be assured that even if you didn't see it, she heard the scene. The next time this bear meets a rider, it might weigh near 600 pounds and in a state of self defense. I wonder how fast an adult bear can go ?

Respect is everything.

[Math]

A black bear mother may reach (very approximately) almost 50 Km/h (30 miles/hour) for let's say 300 meters but I doubt she would attack a rider while on its bike... She may try but it looks to me as a too tough shot for her...

If it is any kind of brown bear, YOU should run... Brown bear can reach very impressive size...even the females...

[spud]

I have always wondered what to do if I encountered a bear cub on the trail: sit and sweat or pin it, so far I haven't had to think that hard. When I started trail riding I was told sometimes you can smell a bear before you see him or after he has gone. And I have smelled a bear a few times on the trail ( or is that the jersey I havent washed).. I have had a bear come through camp a few times and now I can tell when one has been on the trail.. useless information maybe, but that smell starts making you look around when you cross it on the trail .. Easy way to tell bears apart: if you climb a tree and the bear climbs up after you its a black bear, if the bear pushes the tree over its a griz ?