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Our 'first'

tibork

tibork

New member
After eight years on a 600 cc Yamaha street bike, we went out on our first short trip with the 'new' Beemer. Just riding around town through small towns and back home, we clocked 127 miles. This was our first trip with the new bike and with a touring bike (picture shows when we stopped for ice cream) ... but the highlight of the trip was something we missed taking a picture of :banghead a very large black bear crossing the road right in front of us! We had to slow down as it walked across the road in a slow pace, then when it was in the ditch we got right by it just feet from it. I put the bike into 2nd gear in case the bear would start chasing us and also kept rolling for easy take off but fortunately it was just staring at us. It then turned around and went into the woods. Neither of us seen a black bear (or any bear) in the wild let alone get to just feet to one and one this large. I had my iPhone in my inside pocket but I had to drive and be ready to take off in case it turned on us and my girl's phone was in the box behind her so sadly we missed any photos of this rare event ... oh well, we'll be more prepared next time:(. The trip was still fun. Keep on riding!

7-6-19 Afton.JPG
 
I saw a black panther while riding on the Natchez Trace. Had always heard about them, but never saw one until then. Of course, I am way too dumb to think to take a picture. Just sat there, in the middle of the road with my mouth open :banghead. He was in no hurry and I didn't even think about him wanting me for dinner. :)

PS: I once had a bike just like yours....still makes me pop out in a cold sweat when I think about how many time I dropped that thing. Hope you enjoy yours though.
 
That RS is a beauty!

I had the same thing happen...only I was on my road bicycle. It was early morning when I lived near Mt. Rainier in WA state and I was on the section of my 30 mile loop ride that is somewhat remote. I look ahead and see an animal in the middle of the road, but can't tell what it is as the road is quite shadowed by the tall trees on each side. As I get about 50 yards away it finally dawns on me...THAT'S A BEAR!! He's just sitting on the road and I'm stopped and staring at him. He turns around, sees me, jumps up and heads into the woods. Decision time...do I continue on my ride or turn around. I shift into a low gear in case I have to accelerate (not that I would be able to out-pedal a bear) and continue forward. When I get to the point where he went into the woods I look over and there he is, his butt facing me and him looking around to see me. We give each other a momentary greeting and then he heads deeper into the woods and I continue on my ride, just two creatures enjoying a beautiful Cascade morning!
 
Thank you all for the complements!

shortythorne: I heard about them, just a few weeks ago I watched a show where they tried finding one of those black panthers but didn't have any luck. You're very lucky to have seen one!

powwow: On a bicycle? Wow! I would have turned and ran first sight ... I know you not supposed to run from them, best just stand your ground and watch. Sounds like you too were lucky and didn't have to resort to drastic solutions. They are magnificent animals and best if we don't interfere with their worlds just observe as they do with us.

We'll be taking longer trips to get more experience then we'll be looking for some of the group rides, hopefully there will be something organized near by us at the time.
 
I stumbled upon a black bear mom and 4 very small cubs on a hiking trail in the Smoky Mountains about 8 years ago. She was smaller than I expected and I thought they only had 1 or two cubs, I was surprised by 4. The cubs were smaller than adult raccoons, perhaps less than a month old. The mom was eating everything in sight and was paying far less attention to the cubs than I thought she would. The cubs were hilarious doing silly stuff with each other while they played. We were close, less than 100' away on a trail slightly above them. The woods had a thick canopy so there was little undergrowth, its not like we caught a glimpse, all five were visible the whole time. The mom let the cubs get a good distance away, but we were never in any danger of getting between her and the cubs. I've heard a lot of bear stories so I was pretty wary, but she paid zero attention to us. My speculation is she was very preoccupied eating so she could feed the 4 cubs, or she was use to hikers that simply wanted to watch. We hung out for 15 minutes or so until they wandered off, it was once of those once in a lifetime moments.


The RS looks nice.
 
tibork said:
After eight years on a 600 cc Yamaha street bike, we went out on our first short trip with the 'new' Beemer. Just riding around town through small towns and back home, we clocked 127 miles. This was our first trip with the new bike and with a touring bike (picture shows when we stopped for ice cream) ... but the highlight of the trip was something we missed taking a picture of :banghead a very large black bear crossing the road right in front of us! We had to slow down as it walked across the road in a slow pace, then when it was in the ditch we got right by it just feet from it. I put the bike into 2nd gear in case the bear would start chasing us and also kept rolling for easy take off but fortunately it was just staring at us. It then turned around and went into the woods. Neither of us seen a black bear (or any bear) in the wild let alone get to just feet to one and one this large. I had my iPhone in my inside pocket but I had to drive and be ready to take off in case it turned on us and my girl's phone was in the box behind her so sadly we missed any photos of this rare event ... oh well, we'll be more prepared next time:(. The trip was still fun. Keep on riding!

View attachment 74724
Click to expand...

I like the RS

3D09A9BC-AC91-413B-955C-B241CC7123A9.jpg
 
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