r/bears

I unfortunately don’t have any Video or pictures or you would have seen me on tv. I rode my bicycle yesterday from Avon up Vail Pass and back. About 4-5 miles to go I came to where the bike path bridge leaves Gore Creek and crosses the Eagle River at the confluence of the two. The area is called Dowd Junction and is a canyon between West Vail and the Minturn freeway exit. After the bridge it’s flat for a minute before heading down a steep hill. The river below is in a gorge that is a section of class 4 whitewater. There is an industrial chain link fence on the right side of the path separating it from the river. On the left is a very steep hill going up to highway 6. After the flat I start charging down the hill where I usually get into the low 30 mph range. I’m already flying down when I see these 2 brown furry critters on the left side of the path, one about half the size of the other. Momma bear and her yearling cub! I had to make a split second decision. If I tried to brake I’m going to end up right on top of them and alert them to my presence earlier. Also if I stop I have no escape so I punched it. As I was nearing momma started to move to my side of the path! I was worried about getting body checked and knocked to the ground with my bike then mauled! I just got past her! Felt like I could have reached out and touched her! That’s the closest to a bear I’ve ever been! It was definitely scary and an adrenaline rush but it happened so fast then it was over that I just kind of laughed it off. Could have definitely ended badly but I guess I chose the right course of action. About a month ago I had the same exact situation in the exact same spot with a mule deer doe. She also came running over to my side and I narrowly avoided a collision. But I’ll definitely take my chances with the deer over the bear anytime. Few years ago I was coming back and there was a cub on the bridge without momma in sight. I waited 5 minutes and it was gone so I cautiously rode on. Probably 20 years ago I was riding home after a night shift around 11:00 and as I crossed the bridge going up river I heard brush breaking. It’s pretty dark right there and my bike lights don’t do much more than illuminate the path a little bit in front of me. So while I’m bracing myself I’m thinking about what’s coming. Mountain lion? Probably not, much more stealthy, silent hunters. Bear? Yep probably that’s what’s coming. So I’m thinking I’m about to get my ass handed to me by a bear when a cow elk runs in front of me less than 10 feet in front of me. I went from crapping myself scared laughing instantly. I thought and even might have said out loud good one elk! Then a bunch more crossed the path between 50-100 feet in front of me and ran up the hill after the first one.

I work at a bear sanctuary and I like little fun facts about bears and their behaviour in general, just recently I found out about the tappen but I would love to know more fun facts about bears