I rolled out of the campground at 4:30 a.m. knowing that the store at Rich Mountain would close at 6 p.m. I was aware that since this day's route was much more demanding, I’d have to push the pace to make it there by closing. With short stops for filling bottles, eating, and going to the bathroom I had managed to maintain a pace of roughly ten mph over gravel through the previous two days, but I knew the route would be much tougher today. After a ten-mile flat start the course steeply climbs a ridge comprised by Petit Jean and other mountains. This is a truly remote area and I saw several wild turkeys, which are normally very wily and people shy. Near the end of the first long hilly section near Kingdoodle Knob, a black object appeared at about 75 yards in the double track gravel road to my front. My initial thought was that a large dog sat in the road, but I was far from any houses. The moment my brain processed the word "bear" I braked and discerned that two small bla...