Firearms & Glocks while riding?

Originally Posted by chuck luck

I live up in Oregon where mountain lions exist, but rarely do I hear about mountain lion attacks. I have not met any mountain bikers that carry a gun or has ever carried a gun. The attacks I've heard of usually involve small children that are left alone to wander out of the campsite. What I have heard about mountain lions is that they are curious animals that like to stalk prey from a distance, but are timid and shy unless provoked. I know some bikers that have come across them on the trail from a distance and it is usually the mountain lion that retreats into the forest.
Have youever been attacked by a mountain lion or other woodland animal?
If so I would like to know the details of the attack.
I've heard the best thing to do in an encounter is to stand your ground and make yourself look as big as possible such as taking your coat off and waving it above your head. You can also make load yelling noises. These two things scare the piss out of them. The worst thing you could do is try to hunker down or flat out run away cause this will cause the mountain lion to think of you as prey. As far as a gun goes there is a chance of shooting yourself or someone else when getting mauled. I would take mace or pepper spray over a gun anyday when it comes to getting attacked by an animal, cause of the applied area that comes from a spray compared to the size of a bullit and also the weight savings when riding.
To me coming across a mountain lion would be a bonus considering they don't like to attack prey thats larger than them and they dont like people in groups; more the reason to go mountain biking with two or more people.
Yeah,to come across one would be awesome not to mention uncommon.
Bye the way I would love to hear about some of the stories from the attack sites written in your post. How many mountain lion attacks have there been and have they been recent? Did the people getting attacked at this spot die or live? How long was the attack and at what time were they? Did the attack start from far away or was the victim pounced on unaware of the mountain lions prescene?

Originally Posted by triguy98

I would think this should read especially if it's a cat. They are so much faster than most people can even imagine. If you see one, he's not to worry about. It's the ones you won't see that "should" concern you.

There's alot more things in this world to worry about than those two incidents. You've got a heck of a lot better chance of getting robbed or carjacked than anything else. Backpacking in yellowstone in prime bear season, girl firend's mom was all concerned and worrying. Didn't see one bear. Not one scat. Not even a track untill the last day.

Get over it and ride.