Exploring a national park just outside Helsinki, minus 10, large, soft snow flakes falling, absolute silence everywhere. The contrast between the dark night and the light of the snow reflecting off my lights. Following a singletrack path stamped from walkers and XC skiers around the margin of a frozen lake. Shadows of trees slowly sliding by. Thinking about the conversation with my girlfriend, who'd only let me nightride and bivvy after I found there were 'only' 800 bears in Finland, most in the North East near the Russian border, and even less wolves, none near Helsinki for years (though she was still concerned I'd get stood on by an elk/moose!). I turn a corner to get a little closer to the lake, and it's there to my side, running towards me in the edge of the light beam, its shadow cast towards the lake showing the sharp ears, long muzzle, gliding stride of a wolf in the snow…
Ahem. It was the shadow from a branch that somehow seemed to move totally differently to the countless hundreds of other branches, trees, bushes I must have ridden past. Nearly ended up in (on) the lake I pedaled so hard away from it though!
Oh and then a pack of real coyotes in the middle of the desert in Arizona, and a ridiculous amount of bear scat on a trail also in Arizona when I hadn't realised there were even bears anywhere near where I was going to be… Made fixing a cactus spike multi-puncture at 3am in the middle of a gale at 9000 feet on the top of a ridge with bear poo all around a somewhat scary experience…