Hello r/gravelcycling! I recently moved to the PNW (outside Seattle) from the Chicago area and have been fortunate to find some really fun gravel riding just out my front door.
As I work up to my goal of riding a gravel century out here (specifically out to Snoqualmie Pass), I’m looking to explore longer routes and Gravelmap.com inspired me to plot a route through what look like sparsely maintained forest worlds (specifically Marckworth State Forest north/east of Duvall, WA).
Unfortunately, I have the weird quirk of enjoying solo riding while being pretty risk averse (my traffic/speed threshold on roads seems lower than other cyclists) — but I wonder if riding into what’s basically the natural habitat of bears and mountain lions is just trading one risk for another.
I realize that statistically, cars/drivers are orders of magnitude more dangerous, but being a few miles north of the [recent cougar attack](https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2024/02/19/group-biking-northeast-of-fall-city-fights-off-attacking-cougar-one-person-hospitalized/) (and last fatal one in 2018) makes it hard to ignore. The roads I’m considering being so sparsely travelled (actually gated against cars) and reports of a cougar living near the Cherry Creek Falls trail I want to use to connect back to Duvall make it even harder.
Add to that spotty cell service, the remoteness in case of a mechanical, and even the possibility of hunters making me consider wearing hunter orange, and I wonder if my worries are warranted or if ditching this route is an overreaction.
I have added bear spray to my loadout, although it sounds like that’s only useful if you see a cougar before it attacks. Suggestions that cyclists “look like prey” (from riding position + typical speed) don’t make me feel too good either. The last attack before 2018 being 94 years prior underscores how rare it should be, but I don’t imagine people were riding gravel/mountain bikes into these sorts of areas back then either.
Am I paranoid, or does the wealth of good riding out here mean I ought to find another equally-scenic but slightly less adventurous route?
by cymikelee
10 Comments
I ride in PNW in Canada and I feel your concerns. Typically bikes are pretty noisy and the animals don’t want anything to do with them. Sometimes they get curious. I have seen q couple black bears running off into the bush on my longer rides. Someone has actually collided with a bear on one of my regular routes. Have not seen cougars while riding, but I would say that would be a pretty unlikely encounter as well.
I have decided to carry some items to help me ease my – mind are a can of bear spray in my frame bag, a Garmin Inreach Messenger, and a small Baofengs radio tuned to the road channels I’m on to listen for any construction or logging traffic.
I ride in PNW in Canada and I feel your concerns. Typically bikes are pretty noisy and the animals don’t want anything to do with them. Sometimes they get curious. I have seen q couple black bears running off into the bush on my longer rides. Someone has actually collided with a bear on one of my regular routes. Have not seen cougars while riding, but I would say that would be a pretty unlikely encounter as well.
I have decided to carry some items to help me ease my – mind are a can of bear spray in my frame bag, a Garmin Inreach Messenger, and a small Baofengs radio tuned to the road channels I’m on to listen for any construction or logging traffic.
Cougar attacks are super rare. Like one a year in all or North America. In the summer it doesn’t even enter my consciousness. In the winter, cougars come closer to town to hunt the “town deer” that are habituated and occasionally when skiing trails at night I’ll get the feeling I’m being watched, but it’s probably just paranoia.
You will at some point cross paths with a bear. I see a bear or two every summer and sometimes they run and other times they poke a curious head up and then go back to foraging or whatever it was they were doing. The likelihood of a bad encounter really goes up when people startle bears and they act defensively, guarding a food source or their cubs. The advantage of gravel riding is good lines of sight and open ground. Bears will generally get a chance to see/hear you coming and move on. Any time you can’t see ahead more than 50 meters due to narrow roads, overgrowth etc, let out a “HEEEEEEEEY BEAR” every so often to announce your presence. This is more important when on smooth fast section when your bike isn’t making noise.
I ride in this area all the time. There are legitimate safety concerns, but those can be managed effectively with good equipment, knowledge and planning. Bring an inreach or similar. Have an emergency plan and practice it. Know how to manage likely mechanicals, but don’t obsess over every eventuality – you simply can’t.
Fwiw, I don’t worry about black bears in the area. I have seen plenty, and every time I do they scamper off without any threat. It’s become a low-stress thrill! Cougars are more intimidating, especially given the recent attack, but remember that this was an extraordinary event. Thousands of people ride thousands of miles in these areas without ever seeing one. I have, and they are also many times more likely to scamper off without concern than they are to cause any trouble. Still, have a plan, consider carrying defense (bear spray is unlikely to help you- I will be carrying a knife on my person after the recent attack, and will also consider having a personal alarm).
Feel free to dm me with questions. Ultimately there is some risk, but this can all be managed to make this a relatively comfortable, incredibly rewarding area to ride in. Welcome to the area!
I’ve always been a lot more concerned about cougar than bears. That recent cougar attack in Snoqualmie was a real eye opener for me. Specifically it was a lesson in how very strong, determined, and unstoppable a cougar will be once it gets its teeth into you.
I am planning a solo gravel ride through hundreds of miles of Oregon forest and I’m really thinking hard about this.
I live outside of Seattle and do a bit of solo gravel riding too. I generally bring bear spray, but I also don’t like to go TOO far out when I’m alone.
I did justify getting an iPhone 15 with satellite capability so I could at the very least call 911 while the cougar sinks its teeth into me.
I’m not overly worried about bears, having seen a few that all run quickly away. Cougars are the real risk, but I do take some solace in the fact the fatal attack was by a starving cougar, and the most recent one was a young one. Meaning the older, established cougars in the area have demonstrated that they aren’t interested in eating people.
There used to be trail races in Alaska but bears killed a few bikers and the races are no more.
In the PNW too. I ride solo relatively often in forestland. Two things I try to keep in mind:
1) You’re more likely to be struck by lightning than attacked by a cougar
2) We only deal with black bears in the area. A run in is not fun for anyone, but they scare off pretty easily.
Pack a Glock 20 for those rides.
Add a bottle cage resevoir air horn to your loadout?