JW reports from Bear Springs–NO SNOW!

This year, my teammate Ryan Eiesle and I chose Bear Springs Trap XC as our first race of the season. We both entered the single speed class again this year after our good finishes last season. This time I geared down to 32/18 from a 32/16 last year hoping to improve on my 6th place finish. Bear Springs is one of my favorite courses of the year: it’s probably 85% single and double track with just a few gravel and pavement sections. It is very technical riding in some parts with big rocks, roots and some tight switch backs. It also includes some sections that are very fast. I started off the race at about the same pace as last year hoping to be faster on the climbs with the change of gearing. I worked my way up to around 8th place and felt good on one of the biggest climbs but at the 17 mile mark on the second big climb I hit “the wall” and started going backwards fast. I felt horrible and probably would have DNFed if I had known the a fast way back to the start. I ended up in a disappointing 15th place but even with that, this race is still one of my favorite races and definitely one to try if you like a real MTB ride. Ryan finished a very impressive 4th considering the three riders ahead of him normally race the in the pro class. Next up is the Coast Hills Classic. I plan on racing the single speed again–hopefully for a little redemption!

JW