Events: Bad Bear Enduro and Bear Scat 50
Places: Bad Bear at Bear Creek Mountain Resort, Macungie, PA and Bear Scat at Wawaywanda State Park, Hewitt, NJ
Ridden: June 2015
Click on video to watch. Video is from the Bad Bear Enduro.
The Bad Bear Enduro at Bear Creek was on Saturday, at this event we were there just to watch. This allowed us to experience a mountain biking event from an entirely different perspective. We cheered for racers, supported friends, and saw some mishaps also. It was a relaxing and casual way to be at an event; no stress of racing. Just a day of socializing, hanging out, and screaming encouragement at racers.
On Sunday we raced the Bear Scat 50 in Wawaywanda State Park in NJ. All week long both Joël and I were asking ourselves "why did we enter this race and what are we doing?". Our bodies and minds were still feeling the events of TSE. Bear Scat is notorious for being a tough course, the rocks just never end. Rumor has it historicially there is a 50% DNF (do not finish) rate. We had done a few shorter, easier rides during the week to spin out the kinks from TSE but did not know what to expect. We were just hoping that we would wake up Sunday morning feeling ready to go.
And I think it is safe to say we both felt pretty good on race day. The course really was 50 miles of never-ending rocks and roots, which is what we enjoying riding. Joël saw a large black bear and I saw a rattlesnake. The rocks are tough enough; add in dangerous wildlife and what a day!We both ended up on the podium, myself second female and Joël fourth male.
In summary, and awesome weekend of mountain biking. Spectating on Saturday and racing on Sunday. Bear Scat is a challenging course but worth the challenge to experience it.
- words by Jess
- video by Joël