XFIREPOP, You were lucky.
A mountain lion is probably the only thing a person could come in contact with that would scare me shitless (not much chance of encountering a Grizzly).

Luckily they find enough deer, dogs and kids to feed on that a grown man on a bike probably presented too much of a challenge.

California banned the hunting of mountain lions many years ago and now there are too many of them and some are coming out of the mountains into the suburbs. Had a case many years ago where one ate a kid in Orange County. The parents sued the county saying they were negligant for not posting signs in the park to beware of mountain lions, stupid parents let the kid wander off by herself. If she had been bitten by a rattlesnake the county would have been covered since there were signs posted about rattlesnakes.

Parents should have to take an intelligence test before they are allowed to have kids.

Was hiking in the Lake Meade National Recreation area with my dog one day. I knew there was a mountain lion in the area since I had seen tracks and found a big horn sheep they had killed and eaten (still have those horns). Anyway, I was packing open carry a 44 magnum pistol on my hip and ran into two park rangers on the trail. We were probably the only humans within 100 square miles. They asked why I was packing and I told them there was a mountain lion in the area and it was to protect me and my dog. Luckily, this was Nevada and they were more tolerant. "You can't shoot a mountain lion" they said. "If it comes to a choice between my dog and me and the mountain lion, the mountain lion loses" I told them. They accepted my logic and went on.