British Columbia cyclist Kevin Milner was rounding a downhill corner on a North Vancouver trail last Monday evening when he slammed into another road user crossing in front of him.

The collision -- which sent Milner flying and left him with a broken scapula, cardiac contusion and other injuries -- didn't involve a car or another cyclist. Milner's bike had T-boned a black bear.

"The last thing I saw of the bear before the accident was just him running. I can see his muscles as he was charging across the road, and I just hit him right behind the shoulder blade and then I kind of launched myself over top of him," said Milner, whose expects it will take six weeks to recover.

Milner's accident on the Seymour Demonstration Forest trail was unusual, but authorities are warning that with spring in full swing, bears across B.C. are emerging from their dens and encounters with humans are on the rise.