Unorthodox shooting position-mountain bike?

[fightingquaker13]

On a very slightly more serious note, this might be a good excuse to buy a Bond Arms derringer (I'd take any excuse to get one as they are beyond sweet). Anyway, they make a holster thats as good as the gun. Its called the driving holster and mounts horizontally on your belt so the gun is paralell to your waist. It should be ideal for biking, unles you are wearing those silly lycra shorts, in which case you deserve to get eaten. Seriously, a Bond is tiny and it would be damn quick to get to, and if you get one in .45, .357, or .10mm etc., its plenty of gun for a cat at 5 feet.
FQ13 who is always happy to be the voice of satan.

http://bondarms.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=665

[r_w]

I did not mean my post to sound sarcastic as it may have.
What I meant was that there really is no way to win in that situation, (without applying FQ's solution of "Sniper over watch ) there are just to many things going on that all require hands and attention .
For specifically Mountain lions, rather than the gun you might get better use from one of those "Spray can type fog horns they sell for boaters, Cougars are like burglars, they rely on stealth and do not care for loud noises.
It may not cause the lion to take off, but at least it alerts others in the area.

That is a good idea, a LOUD horn is always a good thing on a bike--whether on the trail or in traffic.  At least get you stopped and drawn.

[m25operator]

It all depends on your speed and such, but I would try to get the bike between me and the animal, even if it were a bear, not a lot of good openings for paws to go through, I bet your bike is pretty light and could be manipulated with 1 hand while reaching for protection in what ever form you can legally or illegally carry. I know a lot of riders who use their water bottle to squirt dogs that a chasing them to great effect. That frame mounted air pump might be a decent club. FWIW

[Dakotaranger]

I did not mean my post to sound sarcastic as it may have.
What I meant was that there really is no way to win in that situation, (without applying FQ's solution of "Sniper over watch ) there are just to many things going on that all require hands and attention .
For specifically Mountain lions, rather than the gun you might get better use from one of those "Spray can type fog horns they sell for boaters, Cougars are like burglars, they rely on stealth and do not care for loud noises.
It may not cause the lion to take off, but at least it alerts others in the area.

I didn't take it as sarcastic, it could be really realistic a thought  After doing a duatholon this last weekend on a mountain bike course it became pretty clear that stopping isn't going to be as easy to do on the Maah Daah Hey next summer, BUT when I'm on the MDH it's not that out of place to have my K-Bar strapped to my pack.  In town it would be (again the PD has killed one and there have been signs of a second). 

As far as cross drawing, I'm not too sure about that. To easy to sweep yourself with the firearm because you are braking with your hands. I have been carrying in a Sherpia and after going over the handle bars a couple times the pistol isn't going anywhere w/o drawing. 

The horn isn't a bad idea for in town, but the one problem is needing to have both hands on the handle bars.  I'm finding with incompetent drivers, my natural yelling ability takes over. (Kept me safe when a guy who was 'stopped' started rolling forward).  With a horn I would be loosing at least a second and I'd loose my ability to brake.

The reason this is important is because I have ridden anywhere between 1200-1700 miles this summer.  I'm more apt to have this happen to me than to have a carjacking attempted on me, not that I haven't visualized what I would do.

This is what I'll be riding through on the Maah Daah Hey

[fightingquaker13]

Actually the small airhorns with the handle bar mount are a great idea. I used one when I worked as a courier in DC. It saved my ass on at least one, and maybe two occasions. It made feel infinately better on several more.   Seriously, with a handle bar mount, you don't have to move your hand, just extend the thumb. It takes half a second and you get a whole lot of loudness. It might be more effective than a bullet or a burst of bear spray. I actually posted to reccomend the latter. The stuff is suposed to be effective on 600 pound grizzlies. It should more than suffice for a sub 100 pound cat. You also don't have to worry about accuracy as much or collateral damage. There should be no legal issues, and its cheaper (by far) than a pistol. No firm opinions, but I'd look into it if I were you.
FQ13

[Sponsor]

[Dakotaranger]

There's two problems with spray in this situation.  1.  The same as drawing from a bike 2. winds in ND can be around 20 MPH for weeks blowback becomes a real problem.

Getting the bike in between is the only thing I've heard so far (and one of the attacks was fended off this way for miles). 

I might have to pose a question on a biking site about a quicker way to brake because that seams to be one of the major hang ups I'm coming up with with any tactic I can think of

[fightingquaker13]

There's two problems with spray in this situation.  1.  The same as drawing from a bike 2. winds in ND can be around 20 MPH for weeks blowback becomes a real problem.

Getting the bike in between is the only thing I've heard so far (and one of the attacks was fended off this way for miles).  

I might have to pose a question on a biking site about a quicker way to brake because that seams to be one of the major hang ups I'm coming up with with any tactic I can think of

When I lived in austin there was a wicked nasty six mile loop of single track called City Park (I think the official name was Emma Long Park or something, but its been awhile). It was originally a moto-cross park, but has been given over to mountain bikes. This thing is scary. 45 degree and steeper slopes, stairstep lime stone ridges that have you dropping 2-3 feet or better all the way down a 1/2 mile descent while you're going like a bat out of hell. Its the best E ticket ride out there. Still, everyone who has ridden it has faced an endo where you plant the front wheel too sharply bouncing from one step to another and the bike wants to do a 180. The solution? Screw the brakes, part company with the bike (why I used toe clips rather than the shoe lock system). It was better to fall or stagger sideways than go ass over tit (kind of like laying a motorcycle down). The relevance of this bit of hippie wisdom? In event of cougar? Fall backwards off the bike and you'll have a sore butt, but still have time to draw whatever weapom you choose (this being plan A). Its imperfect, but it beats the hell out of being all tangled up with the bike and trying to do six things at once. Just my $.02.
FQ13

[tombogan03884]

There's two problems with spray in this situation.  1.  The same as drawing from a bike 2. winds in ND can be around 20 MPH for weeks blowback becomes a real problem.

Getting the bike in between is the only thing I've heard so far (and one of the attacks was fended off this way for miles).  

I might have to pose a question on a biking site about a quicker way to brake because that seams to be one of the major hang ups I'm coming up with with any tactic I can think of

That seems like a really good idea, Most of us here, our biking days are behind us  
On the "losing the gun comment I made, I was thinking of having it jar lose from your hand, if you fell over and hit the ground.
This is really a tough question, as I posted earlier, there is just to much going on.
You have 3 separate situations that all need to be dealt with now
1 - Bike at speed on a wilderness trail,
2- Defending against the animal attack
3 - Getting your pistol drawn and into action, with out endangering yourself or others . (more than they are )

Breaking it down like that, it looks like getting the bike between you and the critter takes care of the first 2 and the critter  dealing with the bike buys you the seconds you need to draw.
It looks to me like the big problem of getting the bike stopped and you off and stable as quickly as possible.
That is the part that other Bicyclists are more qualified to help you with.
As to the other suggestions of  sprays, I would not trust a non lethal response to a wild animal, they have a level of determination that modern civilized humans just can't comprehend.
Look how far a deer will run after being shot dead.
But that is just my opinion, some people are more trusting in "usually", most, and "generally".
Condoms are supposedly 98% effective, I have 2 kids, I don't trust any thing that is less than 100%

[Dakotaranger]

When I lived in austin there was a wicked nasty six mile loop of single track called City Park (I think the official name was Emma Long Park or something, but its been awhile). It was originally a moto-cross park, but has been given over to mountain bikes. This thing is scary. 45 degree and steeper slopes, stairstep lime stone ridges that have you dropping 2-3 feet or better all the way down a 1/2 mile descent while you're going like a bat out of hell. Its the best E ticket ride out there. Still, everyone who has ridden it has faced an endo where you plant the front wheel too sharply bouncing from one step to another and the bike wants to do a 180. The solution? Screw the brakes, part company with the bike (why I used toe clips rather than the shoe lock system). It was better to fall or stagger sideways than go ass over tit (kind of like laying a motorcycle down). The relevance of this bit of hippie wisdom? In event of cougar? Fall backwards off the bike and you'll have a sore butt, but still have time to draw whatever weapom you choose (this being plan A). Its imperfect, but it beats the hell out of being all tangled up with the bike and trying to do six things at once. Just my $.02.
FQ13

That actually makes alot of sense

[badshotomen]

Like fightingquaker13's idea with the driving holster.

Have to tell you though that I have a good amount of experience with puma concolor (mountain lion) through research and hunting in Arizona, California, and Montana. Unless you're wearing a backpack covering your neck, if one decides you are food there is not a thing you can do. You'll just feel something hit you from behind and bite your neck in a split second.

For ones whom have not decided you are food:
1) Bear spray is very effective at discouraging bad behavior, has decent standoff range, large pattern, and is the preferred method in this type of encounter. Unless you burn a lot of powder weekly and can remain cool, the spray is the way to go. A wounded
animal can make things turn seriously worse in a hurry.

2) Handgun, (I carry a light ported a 38 +P that will anchor a bear when hit between the shoulder blades, including grizzlies). A single shot in front of them works 99% of the time. Ones with rabies, have been raised closely to humans, already have had a taste of you, and some transients (ones looking for a home ranges) normally fit in this one percent group that will not respond to a warning shot. That is when you'll wish you had the spray

FYI: You may all know this, but if you think the animal has rabies try not expose spinal fluids to the air or damage the skull. Certain  rabies strains can infect victims purely through airborne transmission, exposing spinal fluids obviously increases this risk. Undamaged skulls can be tested and save you a lot of grief. Fortunately, only a very small percentage of lions get infected.

Hope that helps some.