I had grand plans this morning. Ride through Bear Creek Park to Gold Camp Road, then take Gold Camp as far as felt sensible — preferably past High Drive, perhaps even around the collapsed tunnel.
That is, until I met the bears.
It’s a lousy shot — never, ever use the lame-ass zoom on an iPhone 3GS — but you get the general idea. There I was, just riding along, when all of a sudden. …
Looks like mama is teaching the kids how to forage in some high-dollar trash cans. There are some nifty properties up there overlooking the Broadmoor, and I’ll bet the garbage is pretty damn’ fine.
Mad Blog Media 
you should have sprinted pass them, great training
for speed
Not me, Bubba. Some years back Herself and I were headed home after camping on the other side of Music Pass in Custer County with our friends Hal and Mary. I remember noticing a largish dog running at speed alongside our vehicle … and then I said, “Heeeyyy, wait a minute, that ain’t no god damn dog.” It was a bear, and running flat out, too. He shot up a power pole and called it a day; I guess something startled him the way he did me.
I hear the way to get round those boys is to head downhill. They’re a little big in the booty to make efficient downhillers. Plus they don’t smoke enough weed.
Y’know, we could learn a lot from those bears. “Dumpster Diving” is just a snobbish way of saying “recycling that which others have failed to recycle”. If it wasn’t for dumpster diving, I don’t think my basement would be furnished at all.
I get a bang out of bears. Haven’t always gotten along with them — we had some particularly obnoxious ones hanging around in Custer County — but I like watching them from a respectful distance.
I hope this lot isn’t spending too much time snuffling around the upper-crust Dumpsters. Doesn’t take much for The State to send a bear to Valhalla these days. I think it’s two strikes and you’re out.
But as dry as it’s been the forage must be pretty lean, and these guys wake up hungry, assuming they hibernate at all. Proximity to man has thrown a few monkey wrenches into bears’ bidniss.
That’s a great JRA story not many can beat!
Almost as good as bunny-hopping the buzzworm on my personal ’ cross course, eh, Miz Lo?
I wasn’t as quick a draw on the smartphone camera, but we have now encountered (possibly the same) large black bear twice now – just hanging out in the middle of the trail as we came around the corner. Ed also suggested we try sprinting by – but I knew who’d be bringing up the rear, so we waited him out.
Susan, these guys aren’t set up for endurance, but they’ve got sprinting speed. I give ’em wagon room when I see ’em. I’m ugly enough already. A bear mauling is hardly likely to improve my appearance.
I thought briefly about trying to edge around them. But it’s a bit of a grade, Gold Camp is, and I was on a heavy bike and wearing my winter ass. So I grabbed a couple of snaps and then took myself elsewhere. Next time I bring a real camera along for the ride.
Susan, remember, bears are faster than us, but you don’t have to be faster than the bear … only faster than your hiking buddy.
I didn’t have anyone with me, so I was the de facto slow dude. Come to think of it, I’m him in company, too.
There used be be an mountain lion that hung out in the area around CO 67 between West Creek and Deckers. I encountered him one evening when he was trying to cross the road and came within about three feet of bagging him with my old Toyota Previa. Lions are occasionally spotted in my neighborhood in South Boulder, hunting for deer, dogs, and joggers.
Duncan, I have seen only the tail of a mountain lion, disappearing around the cluster of rocks we used to call the Mad Dog Media Mountain Viewing Facility outside Weirdcliffe. But Herself got to see the whole cat once.
She was driving up the way-steep road that led to our place, and just as she crested the hill coming from the north the cat crested it coming from the south. Man, I’d have loved to see that rascal. From inside a car.
Bobcats and buzzworms we saw all the doo-dah day. One bobcat looked at me like I owed him money. Neither I nor my truck impressed him. So much for evolution and technology.
Dang. All we got hanging around the dumpsters is coyotes, rabid deer and Republicans fly dumping from their Armadas.
Can I borrow a bear or two? They’ll liven up the next group ride and ‘tween times there are plenty of slow moving right-wingers to keep them fed.
There is no better way to get your heart rate up, is there?
One time in Tuscany I came over the crest of a hill to see a wild boar crossing the road. I was far enough away there was no danger (they say these things can be quite nasty) but I kept a close eye on the scrub bushes at the side of the road as I went past! I like to eat ’em just fine (they make a great sauce for pappardelle) but getting gored by one doesn’t sound like fun. Same with bears, might be good in a stew but…
Spring has finally sprung in western Iowa, we get warm temps and howling winds…only two weeks to go ’till we’re outta here!
Larry, the gyrations you have to go through to make bear meat tasty would render a WWII-era canvas pup tent delicious. Gimme a platter of grass-fed beef or free-range pork any old day. But I’ll take my pork off the hoof, without them big sharp nasty teefuses, thank you.
Hogs who dine on acorns taste mighty fine. In Italy and Spain they let ’em run free in oak groves, gorging themselve on the acorns before they end up as prosciutto or arista di maiale. The wife roasted up a nice piece of pig the other day, stuffed with garlic, rosemary, fennel, etc. like they do in Umbria and Le Marche. We still have a few slices of this “porchetta” in the fridge for sandwiches, so we’ll skip the bears or canvas pup tents! Now if the wind would just die down some from the 30-40 mph whacking we’re taking I could get out on the bike!