Atomic News & Events

Jul 6, 12:36 PM

Atomic member eaten by bear - reports unconfirmed

VANCOUVER – Unconfirmed reports indicate a rider from Vancouver-based Atomic Racing club has been eaten by a bear. Though it’s not clear at this time which team member has been chosen for lunch, news coming out of the Colville National Forest indicates a grizzly has stopped and eaten an Atomic member out on a training ride.

“All we have to show for it is a bike and a jersey”, said an official with the US Department of Agriculture. “No bones, no guts…nothing. It’s odd that a bear has gone for a bike rider type, as they tend to be too skinny”, he said. “And it must have been a real slow rider; the bears are kind of slow and confused this time of the year, so the guy must have been going awful slow”.

Andrew Wilson, membership director with Atomic wasn’t able to confirm or deny the early reports. “We do have a couple of guys riding the BMC type bikes that shows up in the photograph”, explained Wilson, “and they tend to be slow, so I suppose it could be possible, but I’m not able to say anything else at this point”.

Wilson went on to explain that the club issues clear guidance to all its members concerning interacting with wildlife. “Atomic Racing urges all its members to keep a look-out on rides for animals, but it’s usually squirrels and dogs and cats we’re concerned with. A bear is an entirely different issue. We’ll have to amend the club handbook to reflect the new reality. And we’ll tell our slower riders to stay away from areas where the bears might be on the hunt”.