Getting back to nature.

[retina]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

I guess you weren't informed about "bear etiquette." Trying to flee from a pursuing bear is a Bad Idea. It's sort of like trying to run away from a dog, except bears are much bigger, with teeth and claws to match. And a black bear can go from 0 to 30 MPH in just over nothing flat.

Originally Posted by kriesel

Supposedly the worst choice is flight uphill. It will tire and slow you quickly and bears' limb geometry is well suited to it. Black bears are generally happy to avoid people. Brown (grizzly) or white (polar variant of grizzly) not so much. I know a slender nurse mom who deterred a brown bear from approaching her Alaskan campfire and young sons, with nothing more than a camp axe and loud vigorous behavior. Apparently bears understand "mama bear" attitude, even from a fair distance.

It isn't so simple as just riding back down to escape.

The baby bear crossed from the left to the right about 5 metres in front of me. Coming out of one bush and going into another. I was riding about 20 kph up the slope, so I already had some momentum. So if I decide to go back, by the time I had come to a stop, done a U-turn, cross to the other side of the road, and start riding down, I would have spent more time near the bushes where mummy might have been lurking. Compared to accelerating as fast as I was able towards the crest of the hill, then I can pass by the bushes relatively quickly. I managed to get to 40 kph at the crest and spent the next minute catching my breath coasting down the other side.

Perhaps that was a bad thing to do? What would have been a better option? Should I have stopped and pretended not to care? Wave my fist at the bushes hoping mummy would be scared off?

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by retina

It isn't so simple as just riding back down to escape.

The baby bear crossed from the left to the right about 5 metres in front of me. Coming out of one bush and going into another. I was riding about 20 kph up the slope, so I already had some momentum.

Hmm. You were going faster than I thought. At 20 kph (about 12 MPH) you might have been going fast enough that, if Mama Bear was around, you might have already been far enough away by the time she noticed you, that she didn't see you as a threat to her cub. Or, after Baby Bear crossed your path, it might have been on the same side of the path as Mama Bear. If they'd been on opposite sides and you passed between them, you might have been in trouble.

It's also possible the bears in the area were accustomed to cyclists, and Mama Bear just rolled her eyes. It's also possible AFAIK you met a juvenile bear that was already out on its own.

In any case, if you were past the point where the bear crossed your path, you would keep heading in that direction. If Mama Bear had found your presence objectionable, she would have charged at you, and you would have had no choice on which way to retreat.

I'm not completely sure about what to do when cycling; the rules I learned apply to someone on foot. In that case, you face the bear and back away. Maybe talk, but avoid eye contact. A black bear will charge at you to make you go away. If you face the bear and back away, the bear will figure you got the message and turn to its affairs. Then you can go on your merry way.

I read about a case in Colorado Springs where a man was walking on a road through Garden of the Gods park, and a bear came after him from one side of the road. He had almost certainly walked between a mother bear and her cubs. He ran, the bear chased, and he only avoided a mauling by jumping up into a tree and grabbing a branch, which allowed him to escape with a bite in the ass. I don't know whether he caught the branch on the way up or on the way down.

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

I read about a case in Colorado Springs where a man was walking on a road through Garden of the Gods park, and a bear came after him from one side of the road. He had almost certainly walked between a mother bear and her cubs. He ran, the bear chased, and he only avoided a mauling by jumping up into a tree and grabbing a branch, which allowed him to escape with a bite in the ass. I don't know whether he caught the branch on the way up or on the way down.

I was once in Yosemite and saw a couple of juvenile bears. Not quite cubs, but young. Some tourist were near by taking picture.
I made haste not to be anywhere near them
Remember you don't have to be faster than the bear, just faster than the other chap.

Elementary Watson, the Czech is in the male.

[retina]

A very different type of danger I encountered was in New Zealand.

This was a long straight downhill and it would have been very easy to power down at 75+ kph to "escape" the danger. But in this case it would have been entirely the wrong thing to do. In fact I used my brakes for the entire descent and didn't go much over 10 kph.

This danger was a large herd of cows being moved by the farmer from one field to another. The cows were all over the road. They do move aside when anyone approaches but they get a bit skittish and tend to suddenly decide to cross over at random times.

They also leave a lot of sloppy wet green on the road, which is slippery. Any sudden turns and I'd be eating pavement. So I took it slow and steady. The cows were scared of me, but they are also large, heavy and stupid. So any panicked stampede or badly timed decision to cross and I might have gotten trampled.

That evening my bike, my clothes, and me, all had to be thoroughly cleaned to remove the corrosive and stinky .

[kriesel]

Originally Posted by retina

This danger was a large herd of cows being moved by the farmer from one field to another. The cows were all over the road. They do move aside when anyone approaches but they get a bit skittish and tend to suddenly decide to cross over at random times.

They also leave a lot of sloppy wet green on the road, which is slippery. Any sudden turns and I'd be eating pavement. So I took it slow and steady. The cows were scared of me, but they are also large, heavy and stupid. So any panicked stampede or badly timed decision to cross and I might have gotten trampled.

I grew up around a Holstein herd. Mature females or year-old neutered males each weigh about the same as an early model Honda Civic automobile. And have about the same intelligence and eyesight, without a driver present. They generally try to avoid stepping on each other or people but accidents happen and they can't really see what they're doing. They are threatened by motion toward them, tend to run away from it, and fences become mere suggestions. And don't pass close behind one that has the cow flu. They can shoot fresh cow pie quite a distance if they cough or sneeze while the tail is up.

[LaurV]

Originally Posted by retina

a large herd of cows

Lucky you were in NZ. In Ro we have three animals which never give way, they always stay in front of your car, no matter what you do, unless you push them apart with your car. Slowly or not, this depends on you and the car type. The cow is one of them, and the pig is the second. (the policeman is the third - this is a very popular joke, born during the communist times, but still actual).

[retina]

Originally Posted by LaurV

In Ro we have three animals which never give way, they always stay in front of your car, no matter what you do, unless you push them apart with your car.

The problem was using your car. You should have been on your bike. Cyclists always get respect from everyone.

On your bike laddie.