About

BEAR NATIONAL TEAM was founded in 2011 in Santa Cruz, California, 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. Together, they built BEAR into the elite development platform it is today. Julia remains the team director, while Chris now coaches a select group of athletes. Jason Jablonski and Julie Young joined the program as high-performance directors in 2019. In 2025, we welcomed Luke Vrouwenvelder to lead the high-performance program.

Over the past eight years, BEAR Team riders have won 70 national titles across mountain biking, gravel, cyclocross, and road racing. To date, 72 BEAR athletes have been invited to represent Team USA at World Cup and World Championship events in North America, South America, and Europe. BEAR has excelled across a diverse racing schedule that includes the U.S. Cup mountain bike series, USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships, UCI World Cups, the Canada Cup Series, the Life Time Grand Prix, and other long-distance mountain bike and gravel events.

Ten years ago, BEAR expanded its roster to include elite U23 riders competing at the professional level. Consistent with our focus on development, numerous Team riders have graduated to international development programs and UCI factory teams, including Trek Factory Racing, Santa Cruz, Giant Factory Off-Road Team, Trek Future Racing, Scott Factory Racing, Santa Cruz RockShox, Decathlon Ford Racing Team, Lexware Mountain Bike Team, and Scott MTB Racing.

The current BEAR Team supports student-athletes from 17 states.

BEAR believes in lowering the barrier to entry in an inherently expensive sport. Participation in the BEAR platform is free for Elite Team athletes. Race Team athletes pay a modest annual fee of $1,200 to help cover race support. Products and equipment are provided at no cost or at a significant discount.

While BEAR’s racing results and development record are impressive, we believe relationships make good things happen. We are deeply grateful to our teammates, sponsors, directors, and supporters. BEAR remains focused on fun, awareness of others, and personal growth guided by shared values and individual goals.

Mission

We invest in one another. Together, we make good things happen.

Progression. We commit to the work. We follow our training plans, communicate openly with our coaches and directors, and care for our bodies, equipment, and teammates. We pursue excellence with discipline and integrity, knowing that success is measured not only by results, but by how we grow along the way.

Culture. We give more than we take. Being part of a real team—contributing to others while being supported in return—is a rare opportunity. We compete for one another, remain aware of those around us, and never lose sight of the joy that brought us to cycling.

Foundation. The support of our families, directors, sponsors, and community is an opportunity, not an accolade. We honor it through gratitude, responsibility, and action. We compete clean, stay focused on our education, and create opportunities beyond racing. Our identity is bigger than what we accomplish on a bicycle.

There is no better place than here, no better time than now, and no better teammates than BEAR!