About

BEAR NATIONAL TEAM was founded in 2011 in Santa Cruz, CA by Stu Bone and a committed group of 10 team riders. In 2013, Julia Violich and Chris Burnham joined Bone at the helm of the program. Jason Jablonski was added to the coaches roster in 2019 as the High Performance Director. Together, they built the program into the elite development platform that it is today.

Since then, BEAR Team Riders have won multiple National Titles and State Championships in both mountain and road disciplines.  To date, 55 different Bear Team Riders have been invited to race at World Cup and World Championship events with Team USAC in North America, South America, and Europe.  BEAR has excelled in a race schedule including events as varied as the Pro XCT MTB race series, USAC MTB Nationals, World Cup Races, Canada Cup Series, Life-Time Series, and other long mountain and gravel events.

8 years ago, BEAR expanded its roster to include Elite U23 riders at the professional level. Keeping consistent with our development focus, multiple Team Riders have graduated into elevated international programs, as well as factory UCI teams after their time with BEAR; Trek Factory, Giant Factory, Trek Future Racing, Santa Cruz Rockshox, and Rock Rider to name a few.

The current BEAR Team has 15 U23 riders and 20 junior riders ages 15 – 18, supporting student-athletes from 19 different states.

While BEAR’s racing results and development track record is impressive, this team believes that relationships make good things happen.  We feel a strong sense of gratitude towards our teammates, sponsors, directors and supporters.  BEAR maintains a focus on fun, awareness of other and personal growth driven by values and goals. 

Mission

We invest ourselves in the success of our team and teammates. Together, we make good things happen.

We understand that the gifts given to the team by our families, directors, supporters and sponsors represent an opportunity, not an accolade.  We show them our gratitude.

The joy of contributing to and being supported by a real team is a dynamic some people will never experience. We appreciate this opportunity. We give more than we take.

Every day we ride our training plans and communicate with our coaches and directors.   We take care of our bodies, our equipment and our teammates.

There may come a day when, despite our best efforts, we reach the ceiling of our abilities in the sport.  When this day comes, performance-enhancing drugs will not be an option. We stay focused on school. We create opportunities for ourselves in other areas of our lives. We have a strong sense of who we are apart from what we do on the bicycle.

There is no better place than here. No better time than now. No better teammates than these.  We’re healthy.  We get to ride bikes with our friends.  We’re stoked.