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Video: Mountain biker in California crashes into bear

Animal went on its way after collision on trail in Sierra Nevada

A mountain biker in California got a fright while riding on a trail in the Sierra Nevada last week when he crashed into a bear that was crossing the route.

Davis Souza posted a video to Instagram of the incident, which happened on the Mills Peak Lookout Trail northwest of Sacramento and was captured on his helmet camera.

Luckily, the animal continued on its way, leaving Souza on the ground, and he can be heard saying, “Yeah … that was a bear.”

Bear attacks on humans are very rare, with on average three deaths a year in the whole of the United States and Canada since the turn of the century attributed to brown (including grizzly) or black bears, and none of those in California.

Such attacks fall into three broad categories – the animal protecting itself and cubs or its territory, or for predatory reasons.

A cyclist in Alaska survived a bear attack in 2010 after remembering expert advice to play dead.

> Alaska cyclist survives bear attack

In 2013, Brad Paras posted footage to YouTube that showed him and his cousin being charged three times while out on their bikes in Alberta, Canada by a female grizzly bear protecting her cub, with both riders escaping unscathed.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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6 comments

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Nixster | 8 years ago
1 like

TBH I was thinking "he just hit a bear - WTF is he thinking to go back and look for it?"

Avatar
levermonkey | 8 years ago
1 like

Before you all get carried away going "Cissy MTB rider! Call that a bear! Not exactly a grizzley is it? etc, etc, etc." Something for you to consider - he hit a cub.

The question you should be asking is "Where's Momma?"

Why do you think his mates are hanging so far back?

Avatar
PhilRuss | 8 years ago
1 like

[[[Gosh, that was exciting, wasn't it?  Er, No.

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Artem | 8 years ago
0 likes

He has a bear sticker on the handlebar?

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JamesJ | 8 years ago
1 like

As bears go, that one looks more Winnie-the-Pooh than man eating grizzly.  Poor thing.

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bikebot replied to JamesJ | 8 years ago
0 likes
JamesJ wrote:

As bears go, that one looks more Winnie-the-Pooh than man eating grizzly.  Poor thing.

Great...  now it'll have a Disney lawyer after it.

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