First ride, fine ride
Other good trails in the region for beginner mountain bikers include Lake Atalanta in Rogers, Lake Fayetteville’s off-road trail and the beginner route at Slaughter Pen Trail in Bentonville, said Brannon Pack, executive director of the Ozark Off-Road Cyclists.
Pack recommends taking short rides at first, carrying a spare tube and pump on the bike and learning how to fix a flat. Always wear a helmet and cycling gloves.
Source: Staff report
Every day someone in Northwest Arkansas goes home with a sparkling new mountain bike.
Next on the agenda is to dirty it on the maiden ride. New trails for off-road riders are popping up everywhere in this rugged corner of the Ozarks. With so many to pick from, which are best for that first mountain bike ride?
Scores of new riders have pedaled their new bike along the Bashore Loop at Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area east of Rogers. The ride is about four miles on a meandering dirt path through the forest close to Beaver Lake.
It begins at the Piney Road trailhead, along Piney Road a mile south of Arkansas 12. The route starts with a one-half mile ride to a junction where the Bashore Loop begins. The more difficult Dutton Hollow also starts here.
Riders can do the whole Bashore Loop, or just pedal out and back a ways to get used to riding off road with trees close to the path. The loop can be ridden clockwise or counter-clockwise. Either way, it’s mostly level or downhill the first half of the ride, then gradual uphill much of the second half.
The Bashore Loop is a “family friendly trail,” said Brannon Pack, executive director of the Ozark Off Road Cyclists. It’s the easiest loop of all the mountain biking options at 12,000-acre Hobbs State Park, he said.
There’s plenty of flat and downhill sections, but there is some elevation, Pack noted. That’s good for new riders because they get a gradual introduction to climbing.
This is the Ozarks, after all, with its hills and hollows, which are going to require a bit of climbing on nearly every trail. Most experienced mountain bikers will testify there’s no shame in walking a bike up a hill.
“The important thing is for the ride to be enjoyable,” Pack advised. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew.”
“A great thing about the trails at Hobbs is they’re a good place for people to advance their skills,” Pack said. The Hidden Diversity multi-use trail is made up of loops that total around 35 miles.
Beginners can start with the Bashore Loop, then tackle tougher routes such as the Little Clifty Loop, which is the longest of the multi-use loops at around 9 miles. There’s some major hills.
The 6-mile War Eagle Loop is closed because of flood damage. Mark Clip-pinger, superintendent at Hobbs, said the loop will be closed another two to three months, maybe longer.
“The damage is so bad, we can’t even drive our vehicles in there to fix it,” he said. “It’s going to be a big fix.”
That means even more riders like Tomek Siwiec of Rogers are riding Bashore Loop and other routes. Siwiec took a spin around the loop on a pleasant Friday evening, Sept. 1.
He likes the Bashore Loop because it drains quickly after a rain, so it can be ridden in any weather, except after a deluge or an ice event.
“There’s not much elevation change. There are no technical features on the Bashore Loop,” he said.
Siwiec, 42, is no beginner. He’s a mountain bike racer who can circle the Bashore in about 17 minutes.
“Hobbs has some of the best trails in the region,” he said.
Winter is his favorite season to ride them.
“The leaves are off the trees, and you can see some really nice views. The weather is cool. There’s no bugs and hardly any traffic on the trails.”
He’s drawn to the sport for the exercise, scenery and camaraderie with other mountain bikers. Nowadays there are so many trails that people can take a quick ride before or after work. There’s a trail within an easy reach of most Northwest Arkansas homes.
Mountain bikers can expect to meet hikers and horseback riders on the Bashore Loop and all of the Hidden Diversity multi-use trail, since it’s shared by the three groups.