Preparing for battle

I came around the corner and there was a black bear charging towards me. I quickly jumped off my bike and readied myself for battle.

No one knew I was out here 20 miles from Bozeman in the Gallatin Range. I was riding my bike alone. That is what I have done lately. I have become a loaner lately and prefer to ride my bike far from home then sit  alone with no one to talk to.

And now I was facing down a bear. I raised my bike over my shoulders but the beast did not even noticed. At the last moment I tried to alert the bear with my voice. “Up up up” I shouted. A phrase I usually yell at a bike racer going up a hill. But this is all that I could mutter at this time.

With that the bear reeled and headed off in the opposite direction. Relieved I placed my bike back on the trail. The big guy didn’t even see me and was running from a sound which was probably my brakes bouncing off the canyon walls. He was not attacking me at all. A total miscommunication.