A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas
Tune into Visit Bentonville’s podcast series for a weekly update on all things Bentonville, Arkansas. Hosted by Beth Bobbitt, you’ll hear captivating stories and updates from our city—connecting you with the locals that make this town worth visiting.
A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas
Mountain Biking 101 with Nat Ross
Dive into the world of mountain biking with Colorado native and Mountain Bike Hall of Famer Nat Ross, who now calls Bentonville home. Journey from the sport's humble beginnings to its technological evolution as Ross shares insights from his professional racing career and breaks down the various disciplines and trail types that make mountain biking unique. Discover why Bentonville has become a cycling mecca, offering year-round riding for everyone from kids on strider bikes to Olympic hopefuls training for their next big competition.
You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.
Find us at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.
Welcome to Visit Bentonville's podcast, a New American Town recorded at Haxton Road Studios here in beautiful downtown Bentonville. I'm Alison Nation from Visit Bentonville, coming in for a special edition of our Bike Bentonville podcast. Lately it's been hosted by our friend Nat Ross. Well, for this episode I'm turning the tables on him and I'm going to be interviewing Nat. So, Nat, why don't you start us off with a little introduction of yourself?
Nat Ross:Thank you, Alison. Well, Bentonville's a special place. I'm going on six years of relocating here from Colorado, so I'm a Colorado native that have been attracted to the trails and the community here in Bittenville. So first things first, I'm just going to say it. I'm a mountain biker and this place was all about the needs for anybody that wants to incredible experiences on the mountain bike. It's all here.
Alison Nation:Okay, there's some more to be shared about you.
Nat Ross:Nat. Okay, let's dive in.
Alison Nation:Just want to say, like the purpose of this episode is to give people a little bit of a tutorial, a little bit of background on mountain biking, and I do think it's important for them to know your expertise in this area.
Nat Ross:Yeah, there's a little experience. So, growing up in Colorado, one of the birthplaces of mountain biking, I was lucky enough, just like the kids here, to be able to start mountain biking. The sport just started. The sport's about 40 years old I'm a little over 50. So I was in the sweet spot of when the mountain biking was called mountain biking and it was in the very beginning. So I grew up in the epicenter.
Nat Ross:There's two places that said they started mountain biking. One is Marin County, mount Tam, and that is the Larkspur gang, and that was in the 60s and 70 Colorado and the Rockies and ride a first mountain bike that I didn't even fit on Because in the beginning there was one size, rode back and forth to school and got hooked. And then everyone that was racing mountain bikes at the time took me because I was the young, fast, annoying kid and then that was my career. From there got to go over the pond, race mountain bikes in Europe professionally and got to win some world championships on European soil. Got to develop the 29-inch wheel, got to develop tubeless tires and all sorts of other crazy inventions that the sports had. Because it's fresh and it's mountain biking, it started in America, it started in the US. The Europeans are excelling at it at the moment, but places like Bentonville we're bringing it back.
Alison Nation:Thank you for sharing that, and I do want to say mountain bike hall of famer.
Nat Ross:Okay, there is that, that too.
Alison Nation:Just the little old thing. Thanks for that. And so, before we go a little further into the conversation, I wanted to offer you a quick pop quiz, because it sounds like you know bikes really well.
Nat Ross:I dig them. I don't know if I'm going to be in the front row, but Well, we'll see how this goes.
Alison Nation:So first question when was the first bike invented?
Nat Ross:Oh my gosh, you got me stumped on that one Um.
Alison Nation:I hazard a guess.
Nat Ross:Yeah, I'm going to say 1806 to 1810, something like that.
Alison Nation:Very close. The first bike is 1817. It's attributed to a German gentleman and I should know his name, but I don't. It did not have pedals, so it was almost like a strider bike. All right, okay, very close, great one. Now a few of these. You're going to get really easy, but here we go. What year was the first patent made for a bike in the United States?
Nat Ross:Wow, that is going to be closer to probably 1860.
Alison Nation:1866. Okay, 158 years ago. It did have pedals and transmission. Cool, okay, this one you've already hinted at. When was mountain biking invented? 1960s, 1970s. I have, in my research, learned about the klunker, so very cool to learn that that was from your neck of the woods.
Nat Ross:Very cool, well, and the klunkers? It's a lifestyle too. So the klunkersunkers, they basically they raced on this famous track called repack. They built their bikes, they wore gloves, car hearts, hiking boots um, there was definitely no lycra or baggies or any any of the motocross inference.
Alison Nation:They, they created and pioneered the sport very cool, yeah, okay, when were the first world championships for mountain biking?
Nat Ross:For mountain biking. That would be maybe 1989, but it might've been 88., 1990. 1990. Okay, durango was the first world championships, but there was actually an event in Northern Italy that claims they were the world championships prior to that.
Alison Nation:Okay, I think this was on the UCI's website but we'll come back to it.
Nat Ross:No, we'll go with that one.
Alison Nation:And then, when did mountain biking become an Olympic sport?
Nat Ross:84. My teammate, paulo Pezzo, took home the gold medal when I was racing for Gary Fisher she was back then we were the Saab, garrett Kasab was the auto manufacturer and auto manufacturers were the premier sponsors. And then the bike manufacturer didn't have to spend as much money toting us all around the world. But Paulo Pezzo, and then Bart Brindges from the Netherlands was the male gold medal winner. But we actually got a third place for the US in females and Julie Furtado, and we had a slew of great results that first year.
Alison Nation:Great job. A plus on the pop quiz. Thanks, nat for playing the game. Well, jumping into a brief history of mountain biking, so I'm really interested in this conversation because, as someone who's worked in Bentonville for 15, 16 years, I'm seeing mountain bikers and and I can ride a bike. I love to ride a bike. It was a big part of my college experience commuting and I love to commute around downtown. But there's so much more to mountain biking as a sport. Could you walk us through some of the key words, key elements of it?
Nat Ross:Yeah, and really mountain biking is exploring, so it is a bike that enables exploration no-transcript of slang. So think skateboarding and think snowboarding, and then basically the that type of single track would be the first intimidating word that you may hear.
Alison Nation:We have a lot of single track in Bentonville.
Nat Ross:We do have a lot of single track and we also have a lot of trails that are subject to progression, and then when you hear the words berms or whoops or jumps and all that stuff, it brings out the inner child in you. So that's what we have going on in Bentonville is a trail network right from town. So that's what we have going on in Bentonville is a trail network right from town. That's a secret sauce, really, because most folks have to load, orchestrate a trip, talk about logistics, and you got the bike racks, all the things to deal with at a trailhead and not in Bentonville. We have, we have something magical here.
Alison Nation:Very cool. What are some of the more popular trails here? I know you have some notes like dual slalom and yeah.
Nat Ross:So that the sport itself cross country would be, would be like one way to go exploring. And then, on the gravity side of things, since it's mountain bikes and a lot of folks started in the mountains, downhill would be kind of the thriller or the way to really scare yourself. Yeah, put yourself in jeopardy. Think skiing or snowboarding, and that would be downhill. It would be pretty much riding a chairlift up or a gondola and then enjoying the downhill without having to pedal up, enjoying the downhill without having to pedal up. So downhill is definitely. It's more of a resort thing, more of a mountain um community piece and really a high summer, so you can't in most places do downhill mountain biking year round. Um, downhill is a thing kind of like June, july, august, um, and then when you go back to school, downhill kind of waits till the next year.
Nat Ross:So the other one would be trials. Trials would be kind of like a Kenny Belay piece from his experience with Bentonville Bike Fest and stuff. They actually put on trials competitions. He built the trials course in town and that's balance and basically balance more than anything and agility and it's showmanship on a bike. Very cool. Then Enduro. Enduro is what everybody likes to do, so enduro is a version between cross country and downhill of half and half kind of. So you get, you get some fun downhill stuff and you you kind of have to earn it. So you got to climb up to the downhills but it's nothing that's too intimidating and it's uh, it's really good to do in a group where cross-country, it's hard to ride in a group because you're just at your limit, breathing usually or chasing somebody.
Alison Nation:yeah I just learned something with that enduro thing I had no idea that's what enduro was and that's something that happens a lot here in Bentonville.
Nat Ross:people Find that on our trails, yeah we have the amazing terrain for enduros, yeah, yeah, and especially venues like Kohler, slaughterpin, and then you can go up Bella Vista. There's like so many connections and places that have personality on the trails. And that's what an enduro really does it takes the, enhances the highlights of the trail and showcases that for a ride or a race, or a time or a course the trail and showcases that for a ride or a race or a time or a course.
Alison Nation:I love what you said about how mountain biking is really a bike, using a bike that enables exploration, and it reminded me in my research. Technically, maybe the first mountain bike was in the late 1880s, when different military forces iterated bicycles to be able to get out on all terrain to do research and whatnot. Um, so fascinating angle, um, and it reminded me of another point about mountain biking, which is a bike with that specialty structures suspension and, like you said, the handles yeah, and like motocross too.
Nat Ross:So think like a, like downhill, would be a lot of suspension and motorcycle technology, cause traction's really key. Grip is key, kind of cornering agility and and just keeping control of the bike. So there are even suspension companies in town or you can go to any of the bike shops and they can dial in your suspension so you can fine tune your bike to your settings or to the train. So if you want to go, uh, ride slaughter pen most of the time, but you want to go to Eureka Springs, um, there's a different type of suspension and and riding for different trains and it's. It's really helps the experience on the bike, not just your back and your neck and comfort, but just the overall control of the bike.
Alison Nation:Wow, yeah, it's very technical, lots of different things to account for and the types of trails you're on.
Nat Ross:Well, that's why the bike shops are so nice, because they have all that knowledge. So typically even the mechanics ride back and forth to work, they commute to work, so it's a culture. You walk in there and you'll know what bike shop's good for you, because some they're race-oriented, some may not have the display that you're looking for, but there's all sorts of bike shops around here that can accommodate your needs.
Alison Nation:Love that.
Nat Ross:Yeah.
Alison Nation:So let's get into the people riding these bikes. They are athletes, they are training. They've maybe been like you riding from childhood. Talk us athletes, they are training. They've maybe been like you riding from childhood. Talk us through that athlete's journey, one of the kind of thoughts in my mind coming into this conversation. You know folks understand how a lot of sports work, like baseball, basketball, football, very mainstream. Folks encounter those processes with their own lives, their children's games up into you know watching TV every Friday night. So tell me about what the translation is into the cycling world.
Nat Ross:Yeah, the cycling world. It's an industry. So there's a platform for kids to start segwaying more than commuting and having it find friendships or challenges once they start working with coaches or working with programs. So it could be an afterschool program and you could start them it could be on the strider level, which could be two years old in the driveway and then starting to explore from there to the next driveway over and then you could go all the way to like a program like buddy pegs for a perfect example, where you've got coaches that you may meet three times a year and that's that and it's a fun time and you go play in the Creek and use bikes to get from a to B.
Nat Ross:Uh, or you could have a weekend programming. You could go with coaching. You could end up with like um Thayden, which has a specific coaches and classroom setting to learn about the equipment rebuild a bike, take it apart, build it from scratch, understand suspension, tires and tire pressures, all those pieces, and you can also have a coach or a program that is an afterschool piece that segues you to NICA. Nica would be where you see a lot of the student athletes floating around.
Nat Ross:NICA is abbreviated to yeah, National Interscholastic Cycling Association, and Arkansas has over 900 student athletes, junior high to high school. So at your last years in high school then you have to figure out what your next progression is, and a lot of the other countries have that nailed, and it's it's a piece that we also have secondary education too. So folks that are in the area can ride at even the junior college here or go to race a bike further if they wanted to, or even just ride with their friends and race in the communities locally or ride locally. Not I speak racing, racing is kind of in my DNA, but I do mean riding.
Alison Nation:And when it comes to that racing side, there are brand partnerships, there are major, you know, grand Prix qualifiers, there are all these terms Can you talk us through some of that.
Nat Ross:Yeah, so Lifetime would be one of the groups here. Like USA Cycling, that is an event promotion or also a festival piece as well. So when you hear Sea Otter Classic or you hear Bentonville Bike Fest, that would be a festival that actually has races at it. So all folks are welcome, you can spectate or you could go participate and then beyond that throughout all, after May all the way till October, and really Bentonville showcases the end of the year racing here, which is October typically, and that would be gravel and mountain bike. So there's so many different ways that someone can watch and spectate, volunteer, participate or just race in their own backyard.
Alison Nation:Watch and spectate, volunteer participate or just race in their own backyard. So if there are athletes coming to town to race in, say, lifetime Big Sugar to get to another to be qualified to go to a national championship.
Nat Ross:Yeah, so there's a lot of different series and a lot of different ways that they could race. So as a junior, yes, and as a European, yes, but in general there's. So the big one would be the Olympics. But the Olympics doesn't even have downhill, it just has cross-country racing in it. So a lot of folks, for the different disciplines, use different series and have to actually get creative with where they travel and where they go, because it's where the competition is is where you want to end up.
Nat Ross:Luckily Bentonville is one of those spots. California has always been on the map, colorado, and there's some races on the East Coast as well too. So generally for mountain biking, the ski areas, there was one in Canada this last, at the end of the season every year, which is a big World Cup, and that's at Mount St On, at a ski area there which is really famous for kind of like what Bentonville does the end of the season.
Alison Nation:I think that's one thing that I did not know, honestly until maybe this year that these events that we're hosting here in Bentonville are part of some athletes' journeys to get to major competitions.
Nat Ross:And that's why you see the US team training here. So the national team, the mountain bike team, which is everything from 17-year-old all the way up to the World Cup level. They train and participate and start their early season racing here, um, and then end up here at the end of the year as well too. So Bentonville is pretty special because you can ride year round a lot of places. It's it's too cold, um, not that you need to train year round or ride year round, but for those folks that are on that pathway, it provides a lot of a lot of help.
Alison Nation:Very cool, wow. Well, what else about Bentonville? Do you think you might share about why our trails are suitable for those riders looking to train?
Nat Ross:Yeah, I think green trails and connectivity between a greenway and being able to utilize a greenway which is perhaps between the cities and that common space is a great place to start or a great place to branch out and expand once you get success. So I call it sessioning. Um I, I prefer Kohler mountain bike preserve Um it's, it's got everything there to progress from start with and then um it, it encapsulates a lot of the sports. So there's green, which would be the easiest trails to ride, or the greenway, um blue trails, which are the next step up all the way to black, and black would be, um, what, you see folks jumping and doing things.
Nat Ross:There's some famous features in Kohler. Um, there's a lot of famous features in Bentonville, but, um, if, if someone says they want to go to drop the hammer, then that would be a very advanced, high level skillset. That, uh, it would take a lot of confidence and, uh, someone that spent years on the bike to be able to go do um, that particular trail in Kohler which is, uh, it's a black run and it has a lot of thrills for folks. It's not for everybody.
Alison Nation:When these riders are building their skills and advancing what? What is it? It's like some athletes, you know you're you're playing to score and some you're playing to beat your personal record, like what is happening in the mind of these cycling athletes when it comes to these trails.
Nat Ross:I think in general, there it's more um. Speed is one thing for sure, um, but also just the uh ability to endure weekend after weekend or um, even climbing. So there's like incremental ways, and especially with Strava and the computers on the bikes now, to download uh information and even get it onto the drive trains of your bikes to measure your power. So there's so much science behind the bike that if you want it and that's what coaches are for too it can take you to the next level.
Nat Ross:I was coached by Chris Carmichael, so that was Lance's coach at the time that he was coaching Lance Armstrong. There were nine of us that Chris coached and I had to do a lot of Lance Armstrong's workouts a lot of times like they were at that level, um, and it would have been really nice to have some of these tool. I'm glad I didn't have social media and a lot of the distractions, but um and I had a lot of nutritional pieces that were, that are, still are, around. But some of the technologies, especially with power, the, the way we were downloading our files and the information we were getting was so delayed and it's instantaneous now. So the progression of the sport has been incredible.
Alison Nation:When you say just going back to climbing, that just means riding up a hill.
Nat Ross:Yeah, but really climbing for a lot of folks, it kind of when you're riding a bike it gets you in the space that your endorphins are flowing and it's kind of that freedom a little bit. But it's also that you're earning it on the downhill as well. So I I think um, mountain biking in general, the climbing um does mean a lot for folks, because it it there's a reward at the end of it and it's it's part of the journey and it's just, uh that the view is better from the top.
Alison Nation:I love to hike on our single track and there's some really beautiful things to see that you don't get to see when you're riding like mosses and ferns, so I will take pictures and send them to you.
Nat Ross:I love it, allison, but also running. And these trails we call them mountain bike trails, but they're for all the types and modes of transportation and especially when I say racing, they're also for riding and exploring. Yeah.
Alison Nation:Love it. What else do you want to share? Anything else to say about this really vast topic.
Nat Ross:Yeah, I think if folks want to learn more about the sport of mountain biking, sometimes maybe a bike shop may not be the best way to do it. Um, it's actually asking the kids um what they want and how they're getting around um and where they like to ride, and you can learn a lot from what the kids are doing Um, cause they progress, they like to push themselves and you'll notice a lot of features get built for them Um, and that's where they hang out and that's why they're so good it's. It's great if they're actually some of the better coaches out there. So when I'm talking junior high age um to high school um, it's pretty special to see what these guys and gals have in their backyard and then what they're doing with it.
Alison Nation:Love that. Yeah, wow Well, thanks so much for coming on today.
Nat Ross:Thank you, I think uh Bentonville is a special place for a lot of folks, so can't wait to share it with more people, Alison.
Alison Nation:Likewise Thanks everyone for listening today. Please check out visitbentonville. com for more information. We've got all our podcast episodes, links to our e-newsletter, things to do, places to eat all the things you need to plan a great trip to Bentonville. Thanks!