James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead

Norm

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Today

...is another day. No waking up nor going to bed anywhere abnormal.

One of the things that came of the work trip was the executives on "the big project" are complaining that things are not moving fast enough. Ok, to be accurate, we know this is true. I am running this project from a BA/Architect role but I also have 9 other projects I'm on. The big client doesn't know this, of course. So if you math that out, there's approximately NFW I can give them the attention they want. Well they have made enough noise this week that I have been directed to go Full Steam Ahead with them for the foreseeable future. I told my boss I could not do that unless I cancel all other meetings on my plate. He gave me the green light to decline any meeting not pertaining to the big project. That's f'ing awesome.

I lost a KOM today. This one was legit, now gone. I will never get that back.

I lost a local legend to Glenn. Since it is like 2 times around the CR ballfield, I could get that back. But I am indifferent.

I went for a road ride after 3 days on the mountain bike. I did a version of the normal 1-hour loop but I ended at the garage because we dropped the truck off for an oil change this morning in preparation for the big trip.

When I got home we went to walk the dog at the park for 45 minutes or so. Bear did not get a full walk yesterday so he is ALL-IN with his energy level.

I lifted weights and set a new PR with exactly 20,000 pounds lifted. I did not try for this. It just happened. Since I skipped a day, I pushed myself and it felt good. It's been a long time since I have lifted weights routinely and I am enjoying this. I do not own any kettle bells yet.

I will go upstairs and stretch after I submit this to round out the day.

3 years ago today, and a preview of things to come (in part):

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jmanic

jmanic

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
Staff member
JORBA.ORG
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I did not know Arkansas was that far south, I totally would have put it higher up playing pin the tail on the state.
#GeologicallyChallenged
 
Patrick

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
jmanic said:
I did not know Arkansas was that far south, I totally would have put it higher up playing pin the tail on the state.
#GeologicallyChallenged
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Creole accent for Our Kansas. cause it is between them, if you don't count OK, which nobody does.

(more seriously it is a french accented indian word.)
 
serviceguy

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
Norm said:
Today

...thanks to Carson for the Indianapolis recommendation. Amazing coffee & crepes.

We bikes in seriously Nowhere, America, precisely Illinois.

Hit St. Louis and stopped at a coffee shop I had been to before on a work trip. Solid.

Now we are here in Bentonville with Alex & Mark for the week.

A ton of pictures here.

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Your rearview mirror takes pictures?!?!? What's next, salted caramel?
 
Norm

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Today

...we rode more Bentonville, the Little Sugar section. Going to be honest here, this was pretty much forgettable. There were 3 short trails that were fun, but the vast majority of the 15 miles was unremarkable.

Spent some time in the town later in the afternoon & evening. Great coffee place and great place to eat. I would say this is something that this destination has over KT or Sedona, as an example. The non-bike scene is very good.

Blog post here.

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Norm

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Today

...we rode Mount Fitzgerald and this place was really good. Today was a good day. Riding was great, weather was great, and as always, hanging out with these guys is great. Also walked a bit in town later in the day and it's a nice little area.

I will say that I'm not sure how much longevity this place has with the combination of so many miles of trails and the terrain being what it is. We rode a few flow trails today that are just a few years old and are totally disintegrating. There's a lot of effort being put into building new trails but we have seen a lot of miles of trails falling into disrepair each day that we have been here. How is that sustainable?

Blog post here.

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Norm

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Today

...we spent some time at the Railyard Bike Park in which I ate shit on the paved jump path. This is my reality in that I keep pushing myself until I crash. In all, not terrible though I may wake up and not agree with that.

Also went to Slaughter Pen for round 2 and it was a much more pointed & successful trip this time around. As with many things, we are really starting to figure shit out here just as it's time to go home. Well, not yet.

Blog post here.

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Cassinonorth

Cassinonorth

Well-Known Member
Norm said:
Today

...we rode Mount Fitzgerald and this place was really good. Today was a good day. Riding was great, weather was great, and as always, hanging out with these guys is great. Also walked a bit in town later in the day and it's a nice little area.

I will say that I'm not sure how much longevity this place has with the combination of so many miles of trails and the terrain being what it is. We rode a few flow trails today that are just a few years old and are totally disintegrating. There's a lot of effort being put into building new trails but we have seen a lot of miles of trails falling into disrepair each day that we have been here. How is that sustainable?

Blog post here.
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Would you say that's due to a complete lack of maintenance or the high volume that Bentonville gets in MTB tourism now? Combination of both?
 
ChrisG

ChrisG

Unapologetic Lifer for Rock and Roll
cassinonorth said:
Would you say that's due to a complete lack of maintenance or the high volume that Bentonville gets in MTB tourism now? Combination of both?
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Having spent a week there over each of the past three summers, one thing that stands out is the sheer amount of trail being built. There are multiple professional trail builders working in the area at any given time.

It will be interesting to see how the network as a whole evolves as trails and years accumulate.
 
Norm

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
ChrisG said:
Having spent a week there over each of the past three summers, one thing that stands out is the sheer amount of trail being built. There are multiple professional trail builders working in the area at any given time.

It will be interesting to see how the network as a whole evolves as trails and years accumulate.
Click to expand...

That's one thing that struck me is the amount of miles here, and the miles being built, is staggering. By sheer numbers of miles, these are hard to stay on top of. The terrain is like CR in spots. The lower part of Mount Fitzgerald has 3 flow trails that were built on what looks to me almost exact CR soil & rock. Imagine if we did that at CR, how long would it take to start falling apart? 30 minutes? It also seems they get a lot of rain here - multiple people commented to us that we have been very lucky with weather this week. So you have many miles, lots of usage, and rain on top of terrain that is more CR-like than KT-like.

We talked to a guy for a while yesterday who is local, and something he said was interesting. He did mention that a professional outfit from BC had come to build some stuff, so it does seem like orgs come from all over the country to build here. But he also referred to a section we hit that's brand new, and not on the map as, "The new hot thing," while kind of rolling his eyes a little. Take of it what you will, but that does speak to effort being put more into building than maintaining.

One of the main drivers of why I wanted to go to Bentonville now is that in 10 years, this could very possibly not be what it is now. The trail model relies heavily on Walton grants. And if those grants dry up, what happens to the trails? I have no idea. Lots of people ride here, so maybe there's enough to support everything. I will say that the Walton family has done an amazing job turning Bentonville into an awesome little town. It's really a nice place to be.
 
Norm

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Today

...we rode bits of 4 different trail systems in 2 different rides. First we did Bella Vista, Blowing Springs, and The Back 40/Ledges. Then we did an extra hour at Handcut Hollow. In all something like 25 miles to wrap up the 5th day here. Had a good meal in town to wrap it all up.

We are starting to figure this place out now. If you had asked me Wednesday if we'll be back, I would have said no. Today I would say there's a decent chance we'll be back. Hopefully we remember something of this trip.

Blog post here.

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Norm

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Today

...I woke up in Arkansas. Then drive to Missouri to ride bikes, but we pulled the plug early because it was super soft due to rain, and we were tired. Then Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. We are not east of Lexington in a random hotel that has a bed we will use for the next 8 hours or so.

Blog post here.

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