Other Sports Mountain Bike Help - Page 8

kcchiefsus · 07-07-2017, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewChief

Time for another NewChief goes mountain biking with his kid video. Please excuse dorky dad encouragement for the boy. I like this video for a few of reasons:
1) It shows the boy's progression in flowing on his bike, which is a result of the work he's been putting in at the pump track. You can really see him flowing with the trail in a few places (punctuated by me encouraging him)

2) Shows off some of the typical "features" that we get on our trails in the area with bridges, berms, step-ups, catwalks, doubles, etc..

3) The boy decided to use the catwalk to head back to the top toward the end of the video, which surprised me.

I plan on making a trip over to the Bentonville area soon. Any suggestions on which trail or trails would be best to hit up first?

NewChief · 07-07-2017, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcchiefsus

I plan on making a trip over to the Bentonville area soon. Any suggestions on which trail or trails would be best to hit up first?

What sort of riding do you like to do? The Back40 (and Blowing Springs) is probably the most fun with widest variety of options, currently. Coler is really great and has the highest downhill difficulty. Slaughter Pen is the oldest and has a huge variety of different rides as well. The good news is that you can hit good portions of all of these on a given weekend.

If you're more into a XC style without too much technical difficulty, then Hobbs State Park is awesome (also best place to ride if it's been raining a lot, which it looks like we're entering a dry pattern now). If you like really technical climbs and descents with a really natural and "wild" feel, then check out Mt. Kessler down in Fayetteville. The Railyard bike park is also a lot of fun with 3 different flow lines of varying levels and a jump park (its opening is highly weather dependent, though, and it closes with just a little bit of rain and stays closed until completely dry).

Are you camping or staying in a hotel? There are also some MTB friendly AirBnBs right on the trail. I'd highly recommend staying in downtown Bentonville (21C is your best bet for a hotel... really nice boutique artsy hotel that isn't crazy expensive), because you can literally get everything you need and want to do without ever getting into your car again once you get to downtown Bentonville (barring deciding that you want to ride Kessler in Fayetteville or Hobbs State Park).

I'll be happy to answer any other questions you have about suggestions for places to eat or other things to do.

Oztrails has become the sort of "catchall" branding for the overall area, and their website has pretty good overviews and maps. Everything is also on MTBProject and Trailforks. If you have questions about specific trails or rides, I'll be happy to answer.

**Bugeater** · 07-08-2017, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewChief

Time for another NewChief goes mountain biking with his kid video. Please excuse dorky dad encouragement for the boy. I like this video for a few of reasons:
1) It shows the boy's progression in flowing on his bike, which is a result of the work he's been putting in at the pump track. You can really see him flowing with the trail in a few places (punctuated by me encouraging him)

2) Shows off some of the typical "features" that we get on our trails in the area with bridges, berms, step-ups, catwalks, doubles, etc..

3) The boy decided to use the catwalk to head back to the top toward the end of the video, which surprised me.

Yeah...I would've skipped the catwalk. Those things freak me out.

NewChief · 07-08-2017, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Yeah...I would've skipped the catwalk. Those things freak me out.

He did a really big one today over a gulley that was basically a step up (really steep downhill then steep up then flat landing) and was about 10 feet off the ground in places. I've started shopping around for full face helmets for him. Hah b

**Bowser** · 07-08-2017, 02:53 PM

Nice vid of you and your boy out on a trail, NC! But I'm not going to lie - your arms off to the side in the video made it disconcerting, like I was playing some weird FPS game or something. lol

NewChief · 07-08-2017, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowser

Nice vid of you and your boy out on a trail, NC! But I'm not going to lie - your arms off to the side in the video made it disconcerting, like I was playing some weird FPS game or something. lol

Yeah. I need to figure out if I can somehow narrow the field of view on the GoPro. I think it's on wide screen capture currently. Weighed using chest mount vs. helmet mount and went with chest because helmet mounts really distort the terrain. I may get a gimbal one of these days.

**Bugeater** · 07-08-2017, 03:40 PM

I use a handlebar mount for my GoPro. Hated the helmet mount.

07-08-2017, 02:53 PM	#5
Bowser sorta mod-ish Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: KC North Casino cash: $3261616	Nice vid of you and your boy out on a trail, NC! But I'm not going to lie - your arms off to the side in the video made it disconcerting, like I was playing some weird FPS game or something. lol
Posts: 100,928

07-08-2017, 03:40 PM	#7
Bugeater The Maintenance Guy Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Renovated Bugeater Estate Casino cash: $6232680	I use a handlebar mount for my GoPro. Hated the helmet mount.
Posts: 70,443