Riding the infamous Coler Mountain Bike Preserve. Even though I've been to Bentonville before this is my first time riding Coler.
We start off with Fire Line, a blue jump trail. Flows decent but of there's some pedals needed to clean all the jumps but a fun, progressive line for sure.
Then Cease and Desist which is basically a bigger version of Fire Line. I'd say this one doesn't flow quite as well as Fire Line though. The first little bit goes pretty well but the middle is flat with roller doubles and it just takes so much energy to carry speed that it's hard to keep it going on the last half. The Bentonville pedal is real on this line. Fun jumps just so tiring.
Cease and Desist goes right into Drop The Hammer. Three drops and two step ups down a ravine. Very easy to session and so that's what we did. Yes the first dop is pretty big but it's kind of idiot proof. the landing is so long you really can't screw it up. I've heard so much about this trail and people would ask if I've hit it. I'll be honest, I really didn't understand the infatuation with this trail. It's just drops with a couple of step ups. Fun drops, sure but also so straight forward and simple. I think I understand it now though, it's about progression. I've hit bigger and gnarlier drops than this so I wasn't nervous one bit about it. I actually never even looked at it before hitting it. But to a lot of riders this is bigger than any drop they've ever hit so it's scary. Also there's a big lip to hit after it. There's a ton of people traveling to here that don't have access to these kinds of features where they're from. So I'm sure it feels awesome when said person sends it and lands surprisingly smooth off the biggest drop they've ever hit. That's why I say come here to progress. Yes you have to pedal into jumps but they're bigger jumps and you can work up to them with trails like Fire Line. There's also tech trails to boost skills on or just have some fun on. There's also a very nice and easy return trail to keep lapping. Coler serves an important role in Bentonville that it packs in progressive trials and features to boost confidence and skills.
We also hit Rock Soft which had it's moments for sure but some of that rock work just isn't my cup of tea. I'm sure some love it though.
So for sure visit Coler while in Bentonville and if you're nervous about Drop The Hammer I'd say don't over think it. Give it a quick look, go up and just send it. It's just a drop and drops always seem worse than they are. It's built well with a super long landing so don't stress on it.
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