Why The Walmart Family Wants Bentonville To Become The Mountain Bike Capitol Of The World 🌎
As mountain biking's popularity continues to grow, increasing exponentially its potential economic impact, communities like Bentonville Arkansas have decided to invest into the sport and use trail building and development to completely re shape the lives of it's citizens. In this episode we chat with Gary Vernon who is the head of outdoor recreation and trail development for the Walton foundation. We discuss the lessons they have learned and the way the town has changed after over 150,000,000 dollars of investments from the Walton Family. ▶ If you enjoy our channel and want to support it there are a few different ways you can help out below 😊 #1 Join Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/RideMtb Our Patreon is a place where we like to communicate with our community one on one, brainstorm new video ideas, and do monthly hang outs! Being a Patron can also unlock some exclusive discounts so you could save money and support us at the same time! #2 We have some links to our favorite products listed below. Using our link doesn't cost you any money at all but it really helps us out with a small commission of around 5% :) Also if you shop on amazon and use this link ( https://amzn.to/40KYqV6 ) before purchasing anything it will give us a small commission on the sale without costing you anything. This works on all items and categories, not just bike stuff! Thank you guys for everything! We are so glad to have you as part of our crew! Kyle & April https://www.ridemtb.com/ ▶ Huge thanks to our channel partners for helping us keep these videos ad free during the middle of the video! ● Jenson USA - https://jenson.sjv.io/P0aaRQ ● Fezzari Bikes - https://fezzari.com ● Project Filter, Idaho fights Tobacco - https://bit.ly/3gq4hdv ● SR Suntour - Suspension - https://bit.ly/3w84b0L ● Stan’s No Tubes - Wheels and Sealant - https://bit.ly/3x33JRg ● Schwalbe Tires - https://bit.ly/3itSzRJ ● PNW Components- Handlebar, Stem, Grips, Dropper Post - https://jenson.sjv.io/9gLaVj ● Ergon - Saddles - https://bit.ly/2SnpsEL ● Apparel and Protection - https://bit.ly/34IqcqM https://bit.ly/355BaH2 ● Ride Concepts - Shoes - https://bit.ly/3gBuJRx ● Shimano - Brakes and Drivetrain - https://bit.ly/3pfvPGa ● Onnit - Supplements and Snacks - https://bit.ly/3x6E1vi 0:00 Intro 1:02 What Is Bentonville 3:18 Why They Decided To Build The Trails 6:25 The Decision To Market The Trail Network 9:12 What Is The OZ Trails 10:55 Does Asphalt Belong In Mountain Biking 16:40 The Economic Impact Of Something Like This 21:50 How Important Have Ebikes Been? 25:28 Bentonvilles Biggest Success & Failure 31:27 How Trails Effect The Community Outside Of Biking 34:15 The Future Of Bentonville & Trailbuilding 39:06 Accident Reports 42:26 Economics Of Machine Built Vs HandBuilt Trails 46:43 How Has Bentonville Helped Other Communities 50:58 Industry Moving To Bentonville 54:18 How Has Mountain Bike Culture Effected Walmart? 56:13 This Sounds Great But Can It Work Without Walmart? 1:03:00 Maintenance Cost Of The Trails 1:07:24 Three Biggest Mistakes Communities Make