300-pound black bear attacks Florida bicyclist

ap ^ | July 11, 2011

[george76]

A Panama City man is recovering after a black bear attacked him while he was riding his bike to work.

John Hearn said he saw something out of the corner of his eye early Thursday morning. The nearly 300-pound bear smacked him off his bicycle and then fled into some nearby woods. Passing motorists stopped to help

[Hatteras]

Not to mention that all bicyclists insist that it’s only a few bad apples that pass all stopped traffic at stop lights and cut to the head of the line causing vehicles to have to pass them all over again. But we do know better. I’ll keep it clean here, but basically, road bicyclists are morons, plain and simple. What serious, intelligent person would insist on 100 bicyle club riders to meet on a Tuesday afternoon at 5pm to have a group ride around town? Idiots...

[Opinionated Blowhard]

There is something bizzare about this story. Did the bear chase him, smack him off the bike and then run back into the woods? Or was he so self-absorbed that he did not see a 300 lb. bear in his way? Either way, very strange.

[Big_Harry]

Somebody is going to get into trouble for mentioning that it was a “black” bear!

[meatloaf]

I was thinking it was racist too.

[Big_Harry]

In Florida it could have been a “black” panther! :)

[Stentor]

If you don’t mind my asking, why are people who ride bicycles morons, and why do you hate them?

Have no problems with casual riders; families, light exercise types, even many who use them to get to work etc. It's the colorful insects who come at me at 20 mph riding 2 or 3 abreast, as I'm walking on park paths, who pass me from behind at 3 inches from my shoulder without announcing their presence, who violate every traffic and cycling law and who do it with obnoxious and moronic attitudes. I have familiarized myself with Pennsylvania code for cyclists and pedestrians and know what I'm talking about.

I had one stop once when I called him on it because, I guess, he was trying to impress his anorexic female partners. To his great embarrassment, I convinced him to move on.

[John D]

So roads were made only for you. So they are your personal property and you are the only one who should be able to use them. I understand.

[Greysard]

So roads were made only for you.

Accusing people of "owning the road" is a double-edged sword; car drivers don't own the road, but neither do the bicyclists. Not that many of them know that, or care.

The roads are built for everyone who can use them in a socially acceptable way. Car drivers are rebelling against bicyclists for this very reason - use of bicycles on many public roads is antisocial (but legal.)

It is also legal to be a hippie, not take a bath for ten years, walk among people and stink to high heaven. But don't be surprised if you are advised to stay away from the public sidewalk. Your arguments that "you are entitled to use it" will not fly. Your right of use of a public resource comes with an obligation to not abuse it.

Many roads simply aren't designed for bicycles and can't accomodate them without creating risks. The law ignores that little detail and encourages bicyclists to "fight for their rights" where it makes no sense whatsoever. For example, one of my friends lives on a road in the hills. That road on weekends is heavily infested with bicycles. There is a sign "Share the road with bicycles." The sign looks good. However the lanes are so narrow that if two wide trucks meet they will scrape their mirrors on both sides, unless one truck moves over and falls into a 100' deep ravine. Such roads are common in the hills. To pass a bicycle you need to drive into the opposite lane. But the lanes are separated by double yellow line. How in the $hot_and_fiery_place are you supposed to share that road without breaking the law? What is the bicyclist thinking when he rides on such a road? Does he even care how car drivers are going to navigate around him as he, panting and sweating, totally oblivious to his surroundings, barely able to balance his bicycle and swerving all over the road, pushes it up a steep hill?