Bentonville, it’s a whirlwind
Heading back to the States is always filled with mixed feelings. I did a study abroad programme at Lincoln University (my very first introduction into gumboots, stubbies, and popping your collar up) in 2005 and really just never left (don’t worry, I stayed on with a legit visa). So while I love coming back to Arizona to see family and a few friends, I’ve actually spent almost half my life in NZ. The States feels familiar, I’m nostalgic. Yet there are some things that are making America Great Again (ahem) that don’t quite fit with my world view anymore. So while I’m here, I’m embracing my family, love of Mexican food, and the joy of exploring new places… enter in my first stop on the Youth MTB organisations Study Tour (that really needs a better name)… Bentonville, Arkansas. Yep, elevation 386m and home to Walmart. It wouldn’t have been my first thought of a mountain bike destination but…
If you’ve never heard of Bentonville, then you’re in for a treat. Photos (like my really average one below) really can’t do this place justice. Like most people in Bentonville, they have/are working for the $546 billion dollar(?!) Walmart corporation. Over the past 2 decades, The Walton Foundation have donated over $75 million dollars to build and maintain trails (and cycling infrastructure) to make Bentonville into a mountain bike destination. How much? Well… ‘the foundation supported the construction of 208 miles of natural-surface trails and 72 miles of multi-use paved paths’. Each year over 100,000 people visit the region bringing in over $140 million in economic returns… sounds like a good investment if you ask me. Want to really see it in action? I thought so… grab a hot drink and check out this great video by Berm Peak.
Just your average Bentonville trail?!
And then there are the commuter routes to get you to the trails…
My cycle commuter heart is so full!
Now before we get into it, let’s talk about the ride from the airport… Like most of my travels, I’ve found that if you have a bike close by (or a helmet attached to a backpack in my case), you’re going to meet someone who just gets it (ie. another biker). Aidan, is one of the the new sponsored freeriders on the YT team in for the festival. That lead to Jimmy, the marketing guy, who was in town to launch The Mill, YT Industries new showroom and also happened to be Aiden’s (and now mine) uber for the evening. Well that’s all pretty normal bike world stuff in my book, but what wasn’t was the other people Jimmy was picking up, all the way in from Barcelona. Out into the steamy summer evening walks 1990’s hip hop legend Jeru the Damaja and DJ Sensi here for 36 hours to play at The Mill launch party the following day. I was quickly upskilled about their coolness by Jimmy and their chats about late nights in Barcelona. After a stop for some fried chicken burgers, the 5 of us arrived in downtown Bentonville. And no, I didn’t tell my mum about this…
Bike School Bentonville: where ‘bikes lead to adventure, confidence takes flight, and community grows stronger, one trail at a time’. I was introduced to Kyla, the founder of Bike School Bentonville, through Bruce (more on him in the next blog) as the epicentre of all things bike in Bentonville. Her and her family have been living there for almost 20 years, back when there were only a few miles (yep, we’re in America) of trails. After a couple of online chats she invited (ok I may have asked) me into her home for a long weekend of all things biking.
Kyla knows all the best spots… this one has the BEST frozen yogurt, and it’s FREE while you wait for your pizza?!
She is the reason NICA Arkansas was started and also kicked off Girls Bike Bentonville (which later became the wildly famous Women of Oz which sees over 150 women each month on their rides!). It takes us 20 minutes to do the less than 5 minute ride through town to get to the start of the Slaughter Pen trails, with almost every person we bike past wanting to have a chat to her. They speak of future rides together, an upcoming trail maintenance project, a parent with a kid in one of her programmes, and a school group session that she’s (and now me!) are helping with later that day. I love every minute.
From cups of tea (Kyla only drinks SPORTea), bike rides, late night ice cream stops, and early evening impromptu dance parties, I was treated to all things Bike School Bentonville. For the most part, there’s a lot we (WORD) have in common, after school programmes and holiday camps. They are the masters of gamifying skills and sweet merch(look out WORD 2024/2025 season!). And I adore their top skill and personal trait end of season certificates and their love of snacks. They leave most of the teen stuff to the NICA world (aka race team world), but do make plenty of space for young people to be coaches. It made me reflect on the role youth development has on WORD. It is everything. From our teen rides, to co-designed trips away, and the Assistant Instructor programme, supporting young people to develop and grow is at the centre of our world. If NZ had an organisation like NICA around, youth mountain biking might look a whole lot different. I’m still trying to figure out a way to really do ‘racing’ justice. Kyla and I reached the same question…How do you run a programme for young people that want to race, while at the same time believing that racing doesn’t matter?
Yep, I think we can be friends, ha!
Now, I have a confession…Kyla and Bike School Bentonville weren’t the only reason for the trip…this trip also happened to coincide with the Bentonville Bike Festival… ok ok that bit was totally planned, but boy oh boy I wasn’t ready for this. Town, the trails, the Bike Festival venue were pumping with the 15,000 people that come to town for this weekend. An expo, a bunch of bike races, trails demos, dual slalom races, and heaps of group rides. I joined in one with the incredible Marley Blonsky of All Bodies on Bikes who of course is Kyla’s neighbor.
Image: Nick, my new mate from Marley’s ride.
Bentonville Bike Fest also had kids area that was going off! Check out this fun obstacle course complete with bikes to have a go on and snacks. High fives all around with these kiddos and their folks.
After 2 days of the festival, things looked a little bit different with Kyla and her fam bam…
A strange American game of hide and seek? Kind of…here we are, 3 adults, 2 kids, and 3 dogs in the laundry room at 2am…after an unexpected tornado alert. I was grateful for the helmets as it made me feel a little bit more comfortable in a fairly uncertain situation. We knew it wasn’t good when the power went out and we could hear golfball size hail coming down. But we wouldn’t know how bad it was until the morning…
120 year oak trees uprooted and lining the street, powerlines tossed on the ground leaving a spider web of chaos, and the trails…. well, that almost felt like the worse part. All that money, time, community heart that went into them and here they were, absolutely destroyed. Somehow all the people in Bentonville managed to get away with few injuries, but the damage to the trails left all of us in shock. Understandably the Bike Festival was cancelled as the 150 retailers cleaned up and cleared out. But then something remarkable happened….
The community came out in force… neighbors helping others remove trees that had fallen across their driveway, friends sharing frozen meals before they all defrosted due to the power outage, taking turns with all the kids to bike around the neighbourhood to relieve boredom.
While I may have not ridden all the trails I planned to, or had the conversations I was hoping too, I saw something more important. I’d like to think that most towns would rally like this after a big weather event… maybe it’s just a small town thing or maybe… it’s the shared connection of bikes.
To help support the Bentonville trails clean up, check out Trailblazers.
A massive thanks to Kyla and her whanau for welcoming/feeding/teaching me the ways of Bentonville. And a big shout out to Sport NZ’s Susie Simcock Leadership Scholarship for making this trip possible!
Next destination…. the happiest city in the US…
