8 July 2016

Is it a bear attack when a bicyclist collides with a bear?

That’s one question reporters were asking themselves as they wrote stories about Brad Treat, who was killed by a bear last week after running into it on his mountain bicycle.

Initially, reporters were told Treat was attacked by a grizzly bear while riding his mountain bicycle in the vicinity of West Glacier, and that’s what was reported. The authorities then began doubting whether the bear was a grizzly, whereupon reporters carefully wrote stories to convey that uncertainty and report what the agencies were doing to resolve it (DNA analysis).

Finally, more details of the encounter became available. Treat, riding fast down a narrow trail with limited sight distance, had crashed his bicycle into the bear, which instead of running away attacked and killed him.

When I learned of the collision, I had to rethink my image of the incident. The initial reports suggested that an aggressive bear, perhaps surprised, perhaps protecting cubs, charged Treat, knocking him off his bicycle, then killed him. Instead, Treat unwittingly provoked the bear, which then turned on him and killed him.

Here’s how Justin Franz at the Flathead Beacon described the incident:

That’s as neutral a description of the incident as will be written. It was neither an unprovoked bear attack nor a deliberately provoked attack. It was an inadvertently provoked bear attack involving a collision with a mountain bicycle, a whole new category of human-bear encounter. In many reports and accounts, it will be described as a bear attack, probably with an asterisk to note the special circumstances.

The family member, who may have witnessed some or all of the incident, rode back to West Glacier for help. That had to be a traumatic experience for the witness, which would explain why the details of the incident were not immediately known, and why some information that was released to the news media turned out to have been wrong or incomplete.

The collision, of course, underscores the need not to travel faster than you can see to stop. Other mountain bicyclists riding in similar environments should study Treat’s situation to see whether they should modify their riding habits to avoid a collision, if not with a bear, then possibly with a dog or child.

Treat’s memorial service yesterday was well attended by family, friends, and colleagues from across Montana, a crowd so large a football field was required to hold it. He was well-liked, and at 38, more than half of his life was ahead of him. The passing of a man so young always is a tragedy. My condolences to his family and all who knew him.