A BEAR!!!

(This happened about a week ago).

I was not prepared for this!

So I’m zipping down about 4 straight miles of mountain (finally leaving the Appalachians), and all of a sudden this black bear decides it’s about to CROSS THE FREAKING STREET.  And I use the word “street” loosely here - we’re talking PA Route 31, with lots of trucks and wide spacious lanes (at least on this stretch).

Like this, but in the street!

So there’s a lull in the traffic and Yogi steps out of the woods and into the breakdown lane DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME.  This bear was maybe 5 yards away from me, and I’m absolutely cooking down the hill at a sweet 30-35 MPH.  I quickly swerve into the lane, exclaim “HEY, A BEAR!” at which point it turns around and darts back into the woods.  

Of course, I’m still freaking out, since I almost ran my bike into a bear, which I’m sure it wouldn’t be too happy about, and my bike is wobbling all over the place.  I finally get the fishtailing under control in time to avoid an oncoming car, and yell the whole way down the rest of the mountain to try and scare off any other giant critters that might be looking to jump out at me.  

Some vital safety tips: 

• Bears are afraid of having their existence pointed out to them.  If you encounter a bear, simply shout, “Hey, a bear,” and it will disperse.  

• Bears do not look both ways when crossing the street, so be aware of your surroundings at all times

• If you have to swerve into the street because a freakin’ bear steps out in front of you, make sure you are fortunate enough that there are no cars coming at that exact moment (in retrospect I feel quite lucky about this).

• The more you scream while bears are NOT around, the less likely you are to see bears.  So scream. 

Always scream.