Bear Mountain Spring Classic

[PJ McQuade]

It's unusual for a race to disappear for a few years then reappear on the calendar but that's what happened. I'd heard people talk about this event in the past but never got a shot to do it so I signed up for the Cat 3 race (AKA the leave my house at 5 a.m. and drive for 3 hours for a 9:30 start race) to see what all the hype was about. Classic indeed. It was worth the drive. And the punishment.

The course consists of a 14 mile loop in some of the nicest country I've ever raced on. Forests, lakes, streams (mostly) smooth roads, and hardly any cars. Actually parts of the course were closed to traffic. The course began on a screaming 2 mile descent (think Quabbin) with a 180 degree left-hander immediately into a ~3 mile climb. The turn was definitely sketchy on lap 1 with a full field but got easier each time as riders dropped off the back. The main climb, (2 miles into the race/lap!) is best described as a "step climb." Steep at times but mostly just a long grinder. If you stitched two Oak Hills or Purgatories together you'd probably be close. Due to the high racer turn out CRCA got Strava onboard for a KOM contest at the “false summit” of the climb. This made each trip up climb that much harder with guys battling it out for cash money and Strava glory. The KOM was followed by another mile or so of false flat and punchy kicks which hurt a lot! A short descent brought us around a rotary, into the feed zone, past a lake and onto the windy backside of the course which was flat to rolling. The last 4-5 miles featured one small climb, which got harder and harder as fatigue set in. The last K was flat into a slightly downhill fast finish. A sprinter’s finish for sure.

We did 4 laps. It was a large field of 80 plus riders. I lined up front row, stayed toward the front into the sketchy turn and up the climb and then got passed by a bunch of dudes on the descent and ended up mid-pack. Classic me! No damage done though. Oh, and there was also a sprint competition through the finish each lap making the pace super hot every time through. The long climb, KOM and sprint points meant there was no let-up the entire race. Here’s what I remember on the middle laps. Lap 2: field of 80 suddenly down to 60 after a second pass up the long climb. Lap 3: down to 40. It was that kind of race. There were a few small breaks and attacks here and there but nothing stuck. Lap 4: I felt pretty good up the final time through the big climb/KOM and made sure to be right up front realizing this would be “the selection.” Sure enough, a gap opened midway through the climb and the race was down to maybe 30 of us. My goal of improving pack position definitely paid off this time. A NY dude in a green kit went off the front around 5K and ended up staying away by 30 seconds. Impressive. We were closing in on the guy but ran out of road. The bunch sprint was very fast and a little sketchy but we managed to stay upright. I ended up 10th in the battle of the spaghetti-armed non-sprinter guys who could actually sprint pretty well!

I would definitely go back to this race and know others would enjoy it; hopefully it falls on a more family-friendly weekend next year.

[ahamilton]

Top 10 on what sounds like a very tough parcours. Pretty darn good, I'd say.

[Jacob]

Great result - classic you.

[jraguin]

Awesome PJ. As usual, killing it.

[JeremyC]

Nice PJ. Sounds hard. KSR will be harder. Bring it!

[Len_E]

Heck of a job, PJ, as usual. Great result.

[Rich]

Great job! Thought seriously of doing this race until i realized the day would cost me the rest of the season!