Mountain biker encounters laid-back bear 'eyeball to eyeball' on Utah trail

July 3 (UPI) -- A mountain biker in Utah shared details of the moment he was biking on a trail when he found himself within 20 feet of a black bear.

Jim Ossalear said he was on Jenny's Trail in Park City when he had his unexpected wildlife encounter.

"I heard a noise behind me, so I thought, 'Hey, let me stop and see that sweet little deer and check out Mother Nature,'" Ossalear told KTVX-TV. "There was a bear. We were eyeball to eyeball looking at each other."

He said the animal appeared to be calm.

"It was just kind of chilling, hanging out and checking me out, but I was a little scared," Ossalear said.

The cyclist fled the scene, but now admits that was probably the wrong move.

"I just completely panicked," he said. "I took off riding and then, of course, I was like, 'Oh wait, you're not supposed to go.'"

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources recommends anyone who encounters a bear in the wild to back away slowly.

"For black bears, you stay calm, stand your ground, and give the bear a chance to leave," Faith Heaton Jolley with DWR told KSTU-TV. "Don't run away, don't climb a tree, they're really fast, they can run up to 35 miles per hour."

Ossalear said he will know what to do if he encounters a bear again.

"When I got home, I actually researched exactly what to do about it," he said.