Tragic bear attack.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Sam Mazzola of Columbia Station owns seven black bears, along with other exotic wild animals. He has a history of brushes with the law over his business and ownership, but only recently did his dangerous business turn deadly. A 24-year old man who had been working with Sam for seven years was accidentally killed by a bear he had known and been playing with since it was a cub. The 400-pound behemoth may have been friendly and loved the man as Sam claimed, but when it bit and severed an artery under the man’s armpit, an unnecessary tragedy culminated in the man’s untimely death. Spending as much time as I do in the woods and teaching the importance of ‘Leave No Trace’ camping and backpacking techniques, I tend to feel that wild animals should remain wild. It is their nature and it seems that humans are tempting fate when they interact in any way with them. As much as I would love to see and photograph more wildlife on my trips, I work hard utilizing their space in a way that does little to interfere with their lives and leaves the area I camp and travel as I found. I suppose the less I see of them, the better I’ve achieved my aim. I’m terribly sorry that this incident occurred and that the animal was subsequently destroyed, but taking them out of their environment is a mistake, in my opinion.

The hip continues to hurt, even while walking around the house, but is no problem on the bike. My doc says that there may be a femoral stress fracture that cannot be detected with an x-ray and if the problem continues, he’d like to do an MRI to determine the problem. For now he says stay away from running…but biking is okay. So…I keep biking.

It looked like rain all morning and into the early afternoon, but it never came so I climbed on the bike around 2 p.m. I’d gone about 5 minutes when the skies opened up, soaking me and making the road quite slippery. I knew I couldn’t run and so I decided to just keep going hoping it would clear up. Looking at the gray, cloud filled skies made this outlook seem overly optimistic, but over the next ten minutes the rains subsided and the roads dried.

I’ve been riding the same course for a couple of weeks and it only has three climbs that get me out of the saddle. I decided that since I had 2 hours, I’d add a bigger one to the loop. I’m tough on chains, having snapped them twice while climbing Rogers Road off of Chagrin River Road. It’s particularly steep near the base and when I stand to get the leverage I like for climbing, I must put too much torque on the chain and…snap…tip…fall over. I picked this hill for my extra training and as I climbed from the saddle, couldn’t help but think of the two instances when my chain had failed. Today…it held.

The hill only added about 15 minutes to the length of the ride and I was still feeling strong at the conclusion. Like any activity, the more you do, the better you perform. I guess I’m becoming a rider again, though I can’t wait to get back to running. Nothing seems to burn the fat from my body better.

Speaking of fat calories, Holly had purchased fresh peaches from Patterson’s Fruit Farm yesterday and decided that peach cobbler for dessert was in order. I seldom eat dessert right after dinner…I’m too full then and like to wait until I can truly enjoy the decadence of the calories. Today though, it was warm, smelling wonderful and sitting in front of me on the table with a container of whipped cream in close proximity. I’m weak. I filled a bowl, slathered it with the whipped cream and indulged. Later, I finished the remaining amount. I’m worthless and weak and need to get back to running before I regain all the weight I’ve shed over the past seven months.

Bike duration: 100 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 125.
Calories burned during workout: 1500.