Big Kitty

So I was riding by myself on my friends cross bike today up in long canyon (1st time I've been on one, what a blast) so I can get a feel for it for Sunday's Santa Cross Race. Everything was going great, trails were nice and tacky due to the recent rain and it was cool out. It actually felt like cross season compared to the rather warm winter we've had up until this week. Came down the fire road that connects with Albertsons motorway and turned right heading towards Lang Ranch. I was rounding the left hand sweeper just before the fire road turns to singletrack and spooked what looked like a bobcat or some sort of medium sized feline. Thought it was pretty cool seeing one up close if only for a split second while it scurried into the bushes. I dove into the singletrack where it makes a right handed u-turn, and then I realized what I'd really spooked, an adolescent mountain lion and it was walking right beside its mother about 15ft in front of me. As soon as I saw her my brakes were on and the last thing I wanted to do was tick her off. My mind immediately kicked into overdrive and I was super alert and ready to fight if I had to, in a slit second I'd surveyed the scene and realized the disadvantaged situation I was in. Fortunately they were both walking away from me, down the trail I was planning on taking. Once I realized that she didn't hear me I turned around and started pedaling back the way I came. My head was turned around like an owl as I pedaled off making sure she wasn't setting up an ambush or chase attack. After pedaling out of there had a nice chance to reflect on how blessed I was that the situation didn't turn for the worse. Mountain Lions are absolutely awesome animals but they demand an incredible amount of respect, seeing one in the wild especially a mother and cub is a true blessing in disguise that most people will never experience, so I consider myself very fortunate for that. For me this was the second encounter I've had with a mountain lion about two and a half years ago while night climbing on the planet of the apes wall in Malibu Creek State Park, my friend Cristine and I were stalked by a full size adult, a very eerie experience. The mountain lion had just seemed to have gotten a kill and it wasn't happy that we were in its dining room and it let us know by letting out a huge roar at us. Then were in a fifteen minute bluffing match with this magnificent predator, staring each other down eye to eye. We were able to make it out okay after rigging up some makeshift weapons from our arsenal of climbing gear. Fortunately we didn't have to use them.

Cheers
Scott