hey, if its any comfort, i lived in that area for years, and used to go mountain biking back there almost daily.
ive seen mountain lions while out riding on more than one occasion,
several times in that same area, and never once have they done
anything more than hesitate before fleeing. consider that the odds
are very, very low - see
http://tchester.org/
the trigger in most cases is either:
a) the prey (for human purposes, read "victim") is small, or appears feeble, or is moving erratically (small child, small build adult etc)
or b) the prey turns to flee. unfortunately or not, you can give this impression accidentally, having not seen the lion, as you ride (or run, or walk) past its vantage point and then away from it. rapid movement away from the lion, with your back to it, translates as "chase me, im trying to escape" in predator-speak.
best thing to do is ride in groups of 2 or more.
if you spot a lion, id say stop and make yourself look threatening. make eye contact and hold it. if the lion doesnt move off, bare your teeth, make loud noises, make yourself look as big as possible. basically do whatever you can to signify to the lion that youre not going down without a serious fight. throw rocks or sticks etc etc. but dont take your eyes off the cat.
on the other hand, if youre attacked, you have 2 choices (assuming your neck isnt snapped instantaneously, which is a standard approach):
1) the ol' play dead routine, which is not always guaranteed to work, but if you try it, make sure you curl up and cover your vitals/delicates, and especially cover your neck and throat.
2) fight like hell. best targets are head and eyes, but the more you fight, the likelier the cat is to give up. i know personally one person who has done this, and walked away.
thats the basic summary of everything everyone i know who has worked with big cats has told me. (including my brother, whos had to deal with a known killer jaguar that woke up while being prepped for surgery) remember that a big cat, even a smaller one like a mountain lion, has about 16 times the power and strength of a human. above all, DO NOT RUN. you will *not* get away. (exception of course is if you have a house or car or something you *know* for sure you can get to before the lion gets to you. but if the lions that far away, theres no need to run anyhow.)
the thing to remember is that as an omnivore, regardless of the advantages our technological developments give us, humans are not top-level predators, and thus are fair game for big carnivores. ie - never forget that you are, in essence, a potential prey animal. that doesnt mean you have to *act* like one, but its just something to be aware of. theres nothing hardwired in a mountain lions (or any other large carnivores) system that says "oh wait, thats a human. i cant eat that." (as much as some people would like to beleive that there is...) were threatening to them only as regards us being something unusual and big, which is just as likely to be intriguing as it is to be scary. dont ride around in fear of attack, but be aware of your surroundings and how you may need to react to them, just like you would riding in traffic.
me, i equip all my bikes with at least one cr-period component apiece. its worked like a charm so far. sunspots and hemlines, you say? all i have to say is that no mountain lions, bears, rattlesnakes or even brown recluse spiders have attacked me yet. my brother, who rides a mountain bike with no cr-period components, has been bitten by a black widow and had a coyote follow him for 4 miles. you be the judge.
sorry for the long ot post, but the mountain lion attack thing is one of my all-time favorite rants (you should have seen how pissed i got when they closed caspers regional park in 86 - see the attacks list link above - after a small girl was attacked, not while she was collecting tadpoles with her mom, but while her parents let her wander off out of sight in posted mountain lion territory)
-joel
>I am sorry for the OT reply but this really has me spooked. I ride
>in this area frequently (yes, I admit it. I crossed over to the dark
>side long ago). The male mtn biker was killed in exactly the same
>spot, Four Corners, where I took a comfort break just last week.
>Riding by myself as this guy had, even riding exactly the same make,
>model, and color mtn bike. At the same time of day. To coin a
>phrase,There but the grace of God...
>Jay Van De Velde
>Seal Beach,CA
>
>Steve Maas <stevem@nonlintec.com> wrote:Yet another good reason to
>ride classic bikes, on the streets, instead of
>going out into the woods on those mountain-bike thingies....
>
>http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/01/09/mountain.lion/index.html
>
>Steve Maas
>Long Beach, California
>
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--
joel metz : magpie@messengers.org : http://www.blackbirdsf.org/
bike messengers worldwide : ifbma : http://www.messengers.org/
po box 191443 san francisco california 94119-1443 usa
==
i know what innocence looks like - and it wasn't there,
after she got that bicycle...