What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1065377
DECEMBER 23-29, 2018 WHAT'S UP! 39 The Host With The Most World champion riders, Olympians, bike enthusiasts, vendors and thrill- seekers descended on Northwest Arkansas this year unlike ever before. The developments to the trail systems combined with the natural amenities of the region — not to mention the addition of the largest pump track in the country — positioned our corner of the state as the ideal host of nationally and internationally significant events. In October, the 2018 Epic Rides series came to Bentonville for the fourth race of its race series, the Oz Trails Off-Road. The weekend saw some of the sport's best riders as they competed for $60,000, the largest cash purse in the world. "We started talking about this event in Bentonville three years ago," says Todd Sadow, founder and president of Epic Rides. "They are just doing so many things right in Bentonville for bicycling. There are some other places that are doing some nice things, but Northwest Arkansas is on a different level completely. It's unheard of." Later that month, the Red Bull Pump Track World Championships — the first ever world championship event in pump track racing — were held at The Jones Center's new Runway Bike Park, opened this year. A pump track combines rolling jumps with high-banked turns on an asphalt surface. The track is ideal for both mountain bikers and BMX riders. "Pump tracks were built for practicing skills, but it just sort of became natural for people to race on them. Pump track racing combines BMX and mountain biking disciplines," says Joost Wichman of the Netherlands, a former BMX national champion and one of the event organizers. The park also includes two additional bike tracks, one for strider bikes and the other for skill line practice. Near the end of that same month, Bentonville hosted another major name. Outerbike is described as an industry event — but for the consumer — and brings the testing, product browsing and community building directly to consumers in established biking areas in Idaho, Colorado, Utah and now Bentonville. The variety of trail types in Northwest Arkansas made the destination a no-brainer for the expansion of an event that lets riders test the products on actual trails. "Typically when you're out to buy a bike, you buy the bike that you think is going to help you best ride the things you think you're going to ride," explains Graham Cobb, Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, of the event's benefit. "Cycling is sort of a gateway drug to the out-of-doors, because if you build the cycling infrastructure, you're helping everybody get outside, not just the mountain bikers," shares Ashley Korenblat of Western Spirit Cycling, the organizing body behind Outerbike. "The reason communities have asked us to bring Outerbike to them is it helps put your community on the map as a biking destination, and [this community] has already done that in so many ways." — JOCELYN MURPHY CONTRIBUTED TO THIS STORY. Bikes Continued From Page 2 NWA Democrat-Gazette/CHARLIE KAIJO Northwest Arkansas has become an epicenter of mountain biking culture, with trails, tracks and major cycling events all converging on the area the last few years — with more to come. Hughes Brothers Theatre, 3425 West 76 Country Blvd. Branson, MO (417) 334-0076 2008-2017 BransonShowAwards.com • 2016 BrammyAwards.com Merry Christmas from the Hughes Family AREA APPRECIATION THRU 12/29 Hughes Brothers Christmas Show $10 Lunch & Hughes Brothers Christmas Show $15 Dinner & Hughes Brothers Christmas Show $20 (Meal includes Pick Two ½ Sandwich & Soup or Salad & Beverage from the Celebrity Bistro) (Dinner is 3-course meal, table top dining in Dinner Theatre. Reservations Required)