A leisurely mountain bike ride through a forest in Slovakia took a terrifying turn for a couple of cyclists when a bear jumped out of the woods and began chasing one of them. And the whole thing was captured by one of their helmet cams.

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The massive brown bear jumped out of the trees and started chasing after the lead rider as the second cyclist, Dusan Vinzik, caught the hair-raising encounter on a video camera strapped to his hemet.

After pursuing the bike for about 15 seconds, the bear seemed to back off and jump back into the brush. But Vinzik may have saved his friend’s life, as it looked like the bear was thinking two steps ahead and was likely running down the mountain to cut him off at the pass.

Published by rsarlat

Rick is a freelance writer based in Reading, Pa, one hour west of Philadelphia. He's covered hard news and sports for a variety of websites and print publications over the years, first cutting his teeth as a newshound for the Temple University student newspaper.