Bear Creek MASS Race Course Pre-ride Directions
Park in Parking Lot #4 (stone lot on your right coming in the driveway)
Get out of car, walk to kiosk, sign waiver and deposit in box
Sign out on clipboard with time and date
The race course: Portions of the race course will not be available until race day, please stay out of construction areas and off of the ski slopes unless marked for mountain biking. These directions will send you through all of the singletrack used for the race. All trails are marked with a colored arrow on a white background. The main loop around the mountain is marked with blue arrows. There is a yellow loop and an orange loop off of the blue trail. Trails marked with red arrows are shortcuts. There will be some work road and slope crossings in the course that will be marked and open by Friday Sept 21. Again, please stay out of these areas until then. Elite/experts will race 3 laps, sport will race 2 laps, and beginners will race 1 shortened lap
□ Across the road from the kiosk, there are 2 blue arrows pointing into the wood line, this is the beginning of the trail, enter here
□ Follow the blue arrows, after a short climb you will come to an area with a tight mix of trails marked in blue and red, follow the blue arrows around the outside of this area
□ The blue trail will lead you downhill through some tight, fun bermed turns, continue following the blue arrows
□ There will be a 20’ bridge crossing a creek, after the bridge is the first technical rock garden, continue following blue
□ After the rocks there will be a sharp left then right still on the blue trail, at this point you will begin climbing up through a series of 2 switchbacks
□ This climb will bring you out to a network of abandoned railroad grades, follow the blue arrows to the top tier of railroad grades, there will be red trail about ½ way up that you do not want to follow
□ At the end on the railroad grades, look for a sharp left onto the orange trail, the blue trail will go right, towards the slopes, the course follows the orange here
□ After the sharp left onto orange, there will be a sharp right approx. 15’ later, follow the orange
□ The orange trail will dip through a dry stream bed, across a bridge, and onto a double track
□ The double track will bring you to a gravel road and a gate, cross the road and pick up orange on the other side following the yellow rope and stakes, you will begin climbing
□ You will come to a clearing with fresh dirt, continue straight across to the wood line to pick up the orange trail
□ After the clearing, the orange trail will bear left, continue climbing the orange
□ The orange trail will rejoin blue on a gravel road (at this point, the race course will go straight and cross the ski slopes, eventually climbing to the top of the mountain in a more roundabout way, please follow the marked blue trail for pre-riding, there may be unmarked hazards present on the ski slopes)
□ Make a left on the blue and follow up the gravel road (I know this climb is not fun or even possible for most. It will not be in the race. However, until the course is open on the slopes this is the only route to the top.)
□ The climb will take you to the summit of the mountain; look for blue arrows leading into the woods behind a snowgun
□ Descend a technical section of the blue trail; follow the blue until you reach a left down a gravel wash on the yellow trail
□ Begin following the yellow arrows, watch for a hard right turn at the bottom of the hill; the trail will briefly follow double track
□ Keep watch for yellow arrows leading in the woods on your right; follow yellow
□ The trail will go across a series of wooden bridges; some have chicken wire, some do not; be careful if it is wet
□ Continue on the yellow trail; there are a number of double track trails in this section; keep an eye out for the yellow arrows, the trail will go from double track back to singletrack
□ The yellow singletrack will descend into a marshy area and go right across a rock garden/bridge combination
□ The trail will briefly merge onto a double track climb; follow the yellow right back onto singletrack
□ The yellow trail will level out and then climb; the top of the climb contains a tricky rock garden (there is a line, good luck)
□ The yellow trail will descend over a few logs then level out again
□ You will come to an intersection with red and blue arrows; this is the end of the yellow trail
□ Follow the blue arrows straight ahead, through a patch of rhododendron
□ Continue on the blue trail over a log bridge and a short climb before the decent
□ After the climb, the technical descent begins; the blue trail will negotiate a series of rock gardens, switchback, and narrow benches as it makes its way back down the mountain
□ After the first section of technical descending, the trail will level out briefly
□ The trail will pass a silver well head on the left, continue straight onto a freshly bench cut section
□ Here the trail will begin to descend, becoming progressively more difficult; there are a number of tricky rock gardens and rough trail
□ The trail will make a hard right onto double track and then a hard left back onto rocky singletrack; all is marked with blue arrows
□ Descend the blue trail to a bridge across the Swabia Creek; follow the blue arrows
□ Here the trail will wind its way through a flat area before a gradual climb towards the large pond
□ When the pond berm is in sight, the blue trail will make a left up an initially rocky climb
□ The climb will smooth out shortly and the blue trail will continue climbing up along side the large pond
□ The climb will lead you past the parking lot; the trail will ascend an old stone wall and come out at the bottom of a steep grass hillside
□ Follow the trail along the far left side of the hill; climbing towards an overlook with a section of split rail fence at the overlook, continue up the gravel path (the gravel will also lead right, across the hillside)
□ Follow the gravel path around a small tree farm and into a small section of woods
□ Continue on the gravel path; the gravel will lead to a parking lot
□ Continue straight onto a paved path and descend the paved path
□ This will bring you back to parking lot 4 and your vehicle (if these direction were clear and you followed them)
□ The race course will continue down the paved path and into the base area; this section is not yet open for riding
□ The final course mileage is around 7.1 miles; the loop above should be around 5.7 to 6 miles
□ Place your bike on your roof or in your trunk and remove your helmet
□ Drive your vehicle down to the lower paved parking lot
□ Follow signs to The Grille at Bear Creek
□ Order a cold beer and congratulate yourself on finishing a loop (or 2-3) and contemplate doing the same at a race pace.
Have fun. Any questions on the above directions can be sent to Chuck Takacs at chuckt@skibearcreek.com.