He and his nephew estimate they were traveling at about 45 miles per hour on the hill just west of Boulder. Neither one could believe what happened.
"I saw a blur and thought to myself, 'Big dog.' Then just as I was hitting it, I saw this gigantic bear head with huge teeth. He was surprised to see me and I was surprised to see him. It was almost like a cartoon when we collided," Egan said.
Egan and his bike were thrown through the air.
I can not count the number of times I have crashed into a bear during a ride. It's probably as often as I've gone 45 mph. America's #1 threat - Bears.
This has happened to cyclists on Skyline Drive too.
Posted by: govegan | June 27, 2008 at 09:13 AM
Time for the Bear Patrol... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Apu_About_Nothing
Posted by: Joe | June 27, 2008 at 10:25 AM
Was the bear moon-walking? They always seem to sneak up on me.
Posted by: Tom | June 27, 2008 at 12:22 PM
That's why I avoid cutting through the zoo in Rock Creek.
Posted by: Jack | June 27, 2008 at 04:23 PM
This isn't so funny as you think:
www.bostonherald.com/news/national/west/view.bg?articleid=1104043
Posted by: Richard Layman | June 30, 2008 at 03:03 PM
Don't know if this has ever happened to cyclists, but a number of runners and hikers have been threatened or attacked, and in at least one case killed, by cougars (AKA pumas, mountain lions, panthers). The situation is well-documented in a fascinating book called "Beast in the Garden". (http://www.beastinthegarden.com/) Actually the young man who was killed by a cougar was a bike racer, but he happened to be running when he was attacked.
Posted by: Purple Eagle | June 30, 2008 at 05:28 PM
There was a pretty famous attack of a mountain lion on one (possibly two) cyclists in California in 2004. Whether the lion killed the first cyclists is a matter of debate but he definitely attacked the second one. Very rare though.
http://www.bikemag.com/news/mntlion/
Posted by: washcycle | June 30, 2008 at 05:39 PM