After a two-year hiatus, it’s finally here! Time to ask yourself the question: do I want to race Bear Mountain? The answer is obviously, yes. While as NYC racers we have the opportunity to race in our city’s iconic parks, you can’t overlook the one “real” road race we have at our doorstep. Harriman State Park is beautiful, the course has everything, and bonus: there are showers and real bathrooms!* To quote a fellow member of the NYC peloton – it’s just a cool thing to do.

Here’s what you really need to know about Bear Mountain:

• Get your numbers early: One less thing to worry about on race day. Early number pickup: Wednesday, May 4, 5-6pm @ Rapha SoHo or Friday, May 6, 7-8a @ GAP in Prospect Park.

• Food options are limited on site: absent a food truck being at the race (which happens some years), there is no food on site and its a bit of a drive to closest coffee shop, so make sure to pack sufficient pre-and-post race nutrition.

• Get in a Good Warmup: Bear Mountain, despite the neutral downhill start, doesn’t start easy. That neutral descent is good for lulling you into a false sense of security and then suddenly you are straight into the climb. And boy, do people love sprinting full gas into the climb.

• The U-turn: The U-turn, the hairpin, the 180, it goes by many names, but the thing to remember is - it’s real. The race is still neutralized in the first lap, so while you may not be going top speed, you’re still going pretty fast. Don’t slam your brakes, but don’t go full send. Definitely don’t stare at the yield sign at the end of the turn or you will ride directly into it. Tl;dr don’t end your race before it even starts. 

• Change Gears Before the U-turn: Great, you made it through the U-turn, but were in the big ring. RIP your race.

• The Climb Isn’t Over When You Think It Is: You see the bridge at the top of Tiorati and think “finally, my suffering is over” (until the next lap). It’s not, there’s still a little more climbing right on the other side of the bridge. Don’t start shifting yet.

• The Second Climb: The Lake Welch climb comes after a nice long steady flat (into a headwind, usually) and isn’t quite as steep or long as Tiorati. But what it lacks in gradient, it makes up for in perpetually bad road surface. (Our recon confirmed it: still bad.) Be prepared for this to sap more energy than the profile indicates.

• Positioning: The two climbs aren’t the whole race, and Bear Mountain is largely an attritional race. Focus on positioning and don’t waste energy making up for every little mistake.

• Eat, Drink, Eat Again: This is the longest race for any CRCA field this year, with a far more civilized start time. That piece of toast with peanut butter won’t get you through to the coffee hang on the other side. This also isn’t the time to test new gels or bars, stick with what you know works for you. Bonus: there’s a feed zone! Wrangle a friend to stand out in the sunshine and throw haribo peaches at you. Bring two bottles, ditch one after the first lap. However you do it, eat. Drink. Then eat again.

• The Finishing Sprint: follows a long downhill and is VERY fast. Timing is everything for this sprint and it is both very easy to go too early (possibly spinning out depending on your gearing) and to go too late and get boxed in if a large bunch comes to the line together - though outside of the very large M4 and M5 fields, finishing groups are typically small at Bear Mountain.

Whether you’re there to race, support, test your legs or just cheer on your teammates, it’s always a great day. As a bonus this year – you may find yourself crowned the New York State Road Race Champion.**

* Right, sorry, this isn’t cyclocross.

** The author makes no promises about the existence of an actual jersey.

Bear Mountain Classic Journal Entries