the wind is howling past my ears, the sun starts a slow slide across the ridges of the mountains in front of me. the air is cool... the clouds in the sky add just enough formation to give the picture a living texture of life.... im in the groove. im on the road again. im riding the al-can highway...again. running 80 and just loving life. the scene surrounds me... the 'doing it' envelopes me... the sound of dyna's screaming pipes, the surrealness and pure unmarred beauty of it all unwittingly draws my attention from the road...... just for an instant...

OH SHIT!!!! BEAR BREAKING OUT IN FRONT OF ME!!!!!!!.......

the once highly touted theory of time......stops. my mind freezes, yet wanders off..... back a bit in my personal history when i was supposed to have learned the lesson of giving into the beauty of the al-can highway... pay attention, ALWAYS, you stupid fuck!!! remembering that first time out of dawson creek, leaving the zero mile marker and heading up the al-can... how intimidated i felt. how scary it all could be. my friend kelly had given me a riding bell that became my best friend on that ride, keeping me on my toes, occasionally, with an intermittent ring as if asking... are you paying attention? you stupid fuck?? i remember how i felt at that moment about the thought of running up against a bear. what would i do? how would i act? would i crash? would i die? and it never happened...lol. the entire run was so friggin wonderful, and without drama. so, the decision was made to go back up there again. different destination, different route, but back on the al-can in the end.

its 3 years later. my friend wayne and i are back on the al-can highway...... cruising along from junction 37, west to teslin.....thats in the yukon territory. running at our normal 80. wayne is 100 yards out in the lead... im busy thinking about the nesutlin bay bridge (youd have to ride it yourself to ever understand), and its coming up real soon. my buddy and i both remember this bridge very well from the last time... we had hit the deck at 70mph+ and almost died that particular day....lol we had made a concious decision in our trip planning to slow down for it this time. while we think of this.... we roll along oblivious to anything else. the overwhelming pureness and beauty just captures the mind...and the eyes. working hard to be safe, and trying to catch as much of the ride as you can is always a challenge.... at that instant.... time, and reality, catch up with my wandering mind.........

OH SHIT!!!! BEAR BREAKING OUT IN FRONT OF ME!!!!!!!!!!..............

MY BUDDIES PIPES HAVE SCARED HIM OUT!!!! he's running hard out of the brush just in front and to the right of me......... he's accelerating fast and closing at a real hard angle... my ass is tightening up cause this IS NOT LOOKING GOOD!!! i have nowhere to go, would have to dump dyna to outbrake him, that aint happening.......... he's closing on me so fucking quick i can about floss his teeth... he's as big as my bike at least... oh fuck!!!...im going to die on the al-can after all...... oh shit!! ... a last flashing of life gone by... im going for the big one!!!

at the very last instant, pet bear hears my pipes closing on him, slows up half a step, and starts to turn up from me. as his nose buries itself into my air cleaner, my right knee catches the bear just under the left ear, so when i hit him full on..... his head was not in front of the forks. but, all 300lbs+ of him spins into me sideways.... the force of the impact about pulls the bars right out of my hands. the blood drains from my heart as the adrenalin, the equal fear of crashing at 80mph, and the thought of being eaten by a bear take hold... DONT LOSE IT!! BOUNCE RIGHT!!! COUNTER THAT HIGH SIDE!!! DONT FIGHT THAT SLIDE WITH TO MUCH BRAKE!!! BACK HARD ON THE THROTTLE...... and drive out of it......

and thats the way it happened... july 6th, 2004. 30 miles east of teslin..... thats in the yukon territory.

in the end.... the bear and i both came out of it fine. he went down, but got right back up and ran off. i managed a save... but, i cant help think what pet bear must have been thinking watching me ride off....... ' was i just not a tough enough son of a bitch, or was he just a better rider? now what am i doing for lunch....???' lol............ i dont know about all you pussies..... but ill be going back again. smiles......