Learn me MTB: Bentonville AK

I'm doing a marathon in Springfield MO Nov 3rd.  I have 3 days of extra vacation.  I will be alone.  I noticed that Bentonville is only like 1.5 hours from Springfield.  

I remember from Seth's Bike Hacks that apparently the mountain biking in Bentonville is quite good.  

Any GRMers in the area or know the area?  Where is the best place to ride?  Looks like bunch of trails downtown with a place Google reviews describe as the best bike park in the world about 3 miles away.. 

Anywhere I must eat while I am there?

I know Walmart is apparently a big deal there...

In Alaska?  It's cold there in Alaska in November.

Repost or change the title. AR is Arkansas.

NWA = Northwest Arkansas. In my opinion, from across the border in OK, Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, and Springdale all run together as one place. Eat BBQ pork.

https://nwatravelguide.com/things-to-do-in-northwest-arkansas/

Branson, Mo would be good for a day too.

I havent been there, but man I hear it's great. There was a big IMBA event hosted there, like a world summit thing, a couple years back. Maybe you can find coverage online from that for some insights? 

Oh, Bentonville ARKANSAS.  That makes more sense.  Yeah, I know a bit about Bentonville, AR.  I am there 5 days a week for about 9 hours, give or take.  If you want some TexMex, the Las Fajitas chain is the best around.  There are at least 2 in Bentonville, one of which I have been in at lunch when the CEO of Walmart and his crew were also there eating.  Our favorite is La Huerta (part of the chain) in Fayetteville.  If you're here on Saturday, I'll buy you lunch there. It's 30 minutes from Bentonville. 

My friend lives in a subdivision on the north end of B'ville.  A house across the street from him is owned by a guy that rents it out by the room on Air-bnb or something like that, and targets the bicycle crowd.  It is apparently close to the trail head.  It is packed with 3-4 cars loaded with bikes every weekend.  There's a bike path that goes from Bentonville down to Fayetteville.  That's probably what you'd be looking for.

Store 100 is the flagship Walmart.  It is across the street from WMT HQ in Bentonville.  If you ever wanted to see a Walmart store that is as close to perfect, that's the one.  I was there once when George Thorogood was giving an in-store concert in the jewlery section.  The CEO was there again with us watching.  We were like 6' away from GT. There is also a newer store about 10 miles south from there that is pretty amazing.  Store 1 is in Rogers.  It's kind of a dump, but I think they have been remodeling it.  The original store is a museum in downtown Bentonville. 

Other than that, it's just quiet around here.  I could give you a tour of my shop, but it only lasts about 5 minutes.

Oh yeah, if you're into art stuff, Crystal Bridges  is spectacular. It's what you get when the richest woman in the world decides to build an art gallery/museum. 

In reply to Dr. Hess :

Seems like it would have been more appropriate for Thorogood to perform in the liquor aisle?

You've probably already found this but it gives a nice overview of the mountain biking in the area with a Trailforks map at the bottom.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/the-unlikely-mountain-bike-mecca-of-bentonville-ar-2017.html

We're currently thinking about a spring destination to do some riding for a week in April and this is on the short list for sure.

Adam

In reply to Pete Gossett :

At the time, there was no liquor isle at store 100.  Well, even today there's no liquor, but there is now a beer and wine isle.

It was great.  He sang and played rhythm guitar and had another guy playing lead.  Then he did an autograph session.  I think he was promoting a new album. I just happened to go there at lunch for what we refer to as a "store check."  That is, I needed something.  I saw a poster saying he would be there at 5 performing and called Dr.Linda and told her to come up (45 min drive from the house.)

I might have mentioned that I also saw Kurt Busch and his NASCAR car out in front of store 100 signing autographs and letting you stick your head around inside his car.  I think he was like 18 at the time, and Rubbermaid was his primary sponsor. 

Pete Gossett said:

In reply to Dr. Hess :

Seems like it would have been more appropriate for Thorogood to perform in the liquor aisle?

That would have been the evening concert inside the garage door on the side of the nearby Sam's Club...

In reply to secretariata :

Yeah, the Sam's Club in Fayetteville has a liquor store.

In reply to Dr. Hess :

Hey Doc, you have business connections to WM? We are a vendor there, so my boss and a couple coworkers are regular visitors out there, but I have yet to make the trip.

I've been in the vendor community for 18 years now.  13 years at Cott Beverages, a cheap sodapop company that makes cheap sodapop, and 5 now with a data provider.  We host up RL (and virtually every one else's) data and have powerful tools for the vendors to use.  So, holler at me when you're in town.

Just wondering, if I ever wanted to see a “perfect” Walmart...

LOL, for a second I thought Walmart was moving up here.

I see you've got a couple of days till your event still so I'm going to throw in two rivers bike park in highlandville MO. Much closer to springfield and you can check it out on trailforks  or several other sites. My family goes there several times a year to hike through, we are not the bikers skilled enough to tackle the best stuff they have there.

In reply to Dr. Hess :

If I ever make it out that way I absolutely will. Knowing the rep of the trails out there I've always planned to stay over a day or two if possible just to ride.  I assume there are some bike rentals available in town?

We're a small company and run one SKU (right now) in the cleaning dept, but we've been in since the '90s. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but always there.

In reply to ultraclyde :

I second Crystal Bridges. Truly a world class art museum with large beautiful grounds. And it is Free.  I was just there last week. There was actually some big mtn bike deal going on at a park right by the museum. Had a parking lot full of all the big name vendors with set ups and demos. That was last Saturday. Apparently one of the main trails starts nearby.

For barbecue, I’ve been going to Penguin Ed’s B & B Barbecue in Fayetteville, near downtown, since 1970(went to college there) for the bbq pork or beef sandwiches on homemade bread. Sassy’s BBQ in west Fayetteville is much more recent but  also quite good. 

I dunno about bike rentals, Clyde, but given that the whole biking thing is really big, I would suppose they do.  Phat Tire is a big bike shop in downtown Bentonville.  Or old downtown, I suppose.  Close to Sam's original store on the square. 

My wife likes Penguin Ed's.  Good vegi-burgers and baked potatoes.