Bear Mountain Grand Prix

Have any of you guys signed up? Looks like a pretty cool event. 

https://youtu.be/jds1mhHIJz8?si=BTKVo2o6is4m6ajZ 

I’m going to be in Japan during the race, otherwise I’d sign up. Next year for sure if they run it again. 

Ill be there. We have a decent group of friends signed up. Gunna be a fun weekend! 

How does that "Existing Racers Only" thing work? They cap a class but hold some spots for someone that might want to race a second class? If it doesn't fill, do they open those spots at the last minute or something?

Make sure to stop at the local coffee shop or food joint grocery store. Whatever they got so they'll be more for it next year. Most of all be responsible and respectful. 

Don't be the cliche biker gang Hollywood likes to portray us as. 

https://youtu.be/8P--qZnokNw?si=b5gmpeh-XbXGW7f7 

Hopefully they’re successful and the town enjoys it.  In an effort to support the community it seems like they had to make parking and pit area kind of a pain in the ass. I’m curious to read/see reviews after the event.  Looks fun though. 

OK, I'll say it. That track sucks. 

EDIT: Not to disparage the fine folks who are putting on the race, of course. That's just not my idea of a fun, safe environment to race in. Maybe the GP guys will disagree. 

Glad someone else said it first. I don't want to bag on this as I think it is awesome they went through the effort to put this on. Obviously there is a balance as it is a temporary track for this standalone event. Maybe the track will burn in better with more bikes and lines developing. And I usually love turn tracks. I'm more of an MX guy vs off-road/GP for reference. I did have a blast at the Vurb 8hr race at Mesquite.

Look at how awesome the dual slalom course is that they build (and teardown) at Snow Summit as a comparison.

MX track features could be left all year round and incorporated into features during snow season. Food for thought.

Boring track or not, I hope this becomes a recurring annual event. I think the unique setup and location probably makes the sub-par track more palpable for many.

Its a grand prix. 45 minutes of that with 40 others on the track, you will have your hands full. I am bummed I wasnt able to be ready to race it. It looks like a hoot. 

I am racing tomorrow. Had to work today so no practice so one site lap tomorrow will have to suffice for learning the track. '

To prepare for this I did .... absolutely nothing to my bike. Racing it just like I would race it at GH.  

I will update tomrrow night after I get home.  

I like the track 🤷‍♂️

I'm not a GP or off-road guy either. It's just a nice break from moto honestly.

Great to see Don out there on the starting line too.

Edit: I'll add that the techy/tight sections remind me a lot of what I love to ride on my mountain bike, so that's probably where a good portion of my positivity comes from. Also, my YZ can turn circles around the 450s in those spots.

2 things I wish I had... An extra air filter (which I always have, but for whatever reason didn't grab one) and handguards!

Right on, enjoy dude! Have a couple friends that rode it today and said it was pretty fun. Videos never do things justice very well, and I know it's a big/steep hill.

As stated above, I hope this continues and evolves. I'd be up there if I didn't get back from a trip last weekend, I'm catching up on work.

You notice the elevation at all power wise?

Feels like I'm down 10hp 🤣. Nailed the jetting, but damn, I'm using a lot of clutch to get out of the deep corners and berms.

Update: Race was fun and well ran, well except for my race starting too early so got a red flag and a restart.  

First, Thanks to A-Aron Cooke and everyone at SwapMoto. Well done. The info in the days before the event, the signage and directions day of, etc. was all spot on. 

Track: Man it was brutal. rocks galore, rough, slippery, etc. after about 3 turns into my site lap in the morning I remembered why I am not an off road guy haha. Lots of off camber turns coming down the mountain. But it was fun, in a terrible way haha

Results: Somehow I ended up 3rd in 50+ expert even though I felt like I was trail riding and was going so slow. It seemed like I spent half the lap worrying about bike preservation more than going fast. No skid plate was NOT the correct call haha. 

Conclusion: I am glad I went and raced it. Fun event, great pits. Awards were well done. Nice to have real restrooms and amenities. Hopefully the town and citizens enjoyed it and it will be back next year. 

For the event overall, I'd mostly just say "ditto" to Kevin's comments. If this thing had already been around for a few years, I would not have known the difference... It was ran THAT well. The pits and the facility totally passed the "vibe check". 

Now for my race and the track. Holy shit that was amazing, absolutely rough as hell, and maybe some of the best riding I've done in awhile. I somehow managed a 2nd place start on my YZ250 with it being dead engine and long uphill. The guy who holeshot swapped and nearly wadded in the first corner and I inherited the lead for the first 2/3 of lap one. During that time there was a stream of thoughts going through my head... "take it easy. don't crash. Fuck it's slick right now. wtf did I just hit a boulder!? do I have a flat tire now? Thank god I don't have to be behind the squids in the forest. Where is everyone? Fuck I'm tired already. loosen up your grip. breathe you idiot!"

From there I basically just tried to keep my pace consistent and not throw it away. I think I fell back to 7th at one point, but managed to claw myself back into 5th as guys were either crashing or falling way off the pace. 5th was good enough for a trophy and to hang around for the podium celebrations!

Edit: Forgot to add track stuff...It was just different than anything I've ever ridden. Rocks, trees, option lines, rough as hell, but then some moto sprinkled in. Honestly loved it. From practice on Friday to the sight lap Sunday morning, then the race, it just got rougher and rougher and you had to really be methodical with your line choices. Should I just do off-road now? (Nah)

I thought about my start quite a bit, and you know what? I'm convinced it's faster to kick and go while guys on 450s are waiting for their engines to turn over with the button.

Definitely going back next year.

had a blast! yes, course was brutal but being an off road guy wasn't to far out of my element. Was doing decent in 50 armature till I wasn't, oh well. Came in too hot next to the step up and landed down the embankment. Still was able to finish but a lap down. Overall it was run almost perfectly and 100% will be returning!

That was one of the most well-ran races I've been to, especially for a first time event! I was expecting a few hiccups being such a unique race at a place that has never hosted moto before, but like the others said it was such a good vibe up there and a ton of fun.

The track is subjective and people will always have their opinions of that but I can't see how anyone didn't have a good time up there. We even got a little rain!

I couldnt believe this when I saw this race announced in late July. On august 1st I signed up after having not raced since 2022, and having not rode since 2024. So I prepped the bike, rode glen helen a couple times last week, and saddled up and went up to just go have some fun.

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE WEEKEND!!!! Seriously, this race was awesome.

It was so well ran for being an inaugural event. The vibes were high, everyone was in a good mood, the vendors were awesome, ESPECIALLY ONEAL!! Holy crap that free custom hat giveaway was so incredible. What a great move by Oneal, and they now have 1,000's of people giving them free advertising everywhere they go with a rad hat. 

The race its self? I had a blast! The course was hammered, it was rocky, it got square edged, it was rough, it was just TOUGH. But so what?!?! thats grand prix racing. Thats off road. Ive raced desert and National hare and hound and that course was tame by any off road standard. The step up was awesome, wide open 3rd or 4th if you could pull it, and you could sail. The finish line jump was awesome. Just a nice 3rd gear roller and you could damn near clear the thing. Totally rad.

The little woods section in the tree's and the jump down off the logs was easy but I could see how it was intimidating. It looked way worse than it was. But still a blast.

Just an epic weekend. Great weekend, it was a success. There was a thunderstorm during the day saturday and it rained, it was cloudy, it was cool, and breezy. Meanwhile the rest of socal was burning under 100+ degree heat. We scored. Perfect weekend, perfectly ran, worth every penny. Swap guys did a FANTASTIC job. Hope this becomes an annual event!!

Damn that looks like fun!!

https://youtu.be/7czfj3dtxDc?si=oqaB2TAqde_o4UDy 

https://youtu.be/LECcesi-6mo?si=nMsS3gAvtBt3odf6