We do know he had time to stop the bike, get off it so it was between him and the bear, then yell at the bear and get on the ground on his back with his hands covering his head and neck.
We do not know how much time this took.
We do not know how fast the bear was moving. Maybe as fast as 35 mph. Maybe this bear was moving that fast, maybe not. Bears can move anywhere form 0 to 35 mph. Not all of them move at top speed all the time.
From the actions he took, it appears he could have drawn and shot a pistol in the same amount of time.
As many have pointed out, we were not there. We do not know.
However, the experts point out playing dead before the bear makes contact, is a bad strategy. It makes you appear to be weak and or prey.
“We do know he had time to stop the bike,”
You make it sound so casual! Think! A running bear comes out of nowhere 10-15 yards away. Even at 20 mph that is just over a second before the bear hits you!
Get real!
“From the actions he took, it appears he could have drawn and shot a pistol in the same amount of time.
Yea. If he was already in a shooting stance facing the bear ...
I would not argue with you on that.
But I would point out that it is my understanding that when bears attack, it is a violent charge at the target...not the slow shuffle they would use when going to the fishing hole.
But as you say it could have gone several ways.
And some guys have been knocked down, bitten and pawed and still drew and shot. I believe in one of your reports under your name, you wrote about a guy who drew and shot a bear that had a hold on his leg. Not every one is born with that kind of fighting instinct.
But his real mistake was riding a bike in bear country. When you are riding a bike off the pavement, you are concentrating on where that front wheel is going because a slight mistake and you go over the handle bars and that really is not a lot of fun. Also your head is not on a swivel It is hard to cover the right and the left and behind is even more difficult.
He would have been much more safe and able to shoot without the distraction of the bike.