‘Bad timing by all parties’: California cyclist suffers cracked ribs and a separated shoulder after colliding with a bear near Pinecrest Lake

A California man was injured after his road bike reportedly collided with a black bear crossing a mountain road near Pinecrest Lake in Stanislaus County. Don Terres, 67, of Riverside County, was riding downhill at approximately 25 mph when the animal stepped into his path, leaving him no time to stop or swerve, he told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Terres said he and his wife had left their lakeside cabin earlier that evening and cycled up toward the Dodge Ridge Ski Resort for exercise before sunset. On the way back down, as he came around a bend on the curvy road, the bear appeared directly in front of him. “I didn’t see the bear until it was literally five feet in front of me and I just hit it,” Terres said. “All I remember is a close-up of the bear’s face. He looked about as scared and surprised as I was.”