The video is almost certainly for real. Bears can run at 40mph so it’s highly likely this guy could gently pedal away from it, even though he is off-road and on the flat.

Bears are also renowned for their sense of smell, so hiding 10 feet away behind a tree would certainly throw him off the scent.

But most importantly, hiding would have been irrelevant if he could bunny-hop: the fallen branch would have disappeared under his wheels as he sailed across.

Read our guide to the bunny-hop, how to do a stoppie and other useful bear-avoidance techniques…

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Flat-out pedalling doesn’t always equal faster riding. Here’s how to go faster and expend less energy at the same time.…

On a serious note, there are plenty of bear encounters for real, just watch this video from Jasper, Alberta in Canada: