In this episode, I connect with Ryan Hale, founder of Laneshift, a consulting firm in Bentonville focused on helping other communities become more bicycle-friendly places. Northwest Arkansas has transformed itself into a Mountain Biking destination and, in the process, stimulated its economy and a culture of activity.

The amazing culture of activity transformation that has been underway in the Northwest Arkansas region over the past couple of decades is an encouraging narrative that serves as a testament to what is possible and we believe it is truly an inspiring story for other cities across North America and around the world.

Ryan has been in the middle of this "community evolution" over the past couple of decades and provides a fascinating view of the process and how the region continues to strive for additional active mobility improvements.

Additional Helpful Links:

The landing page for this episode on the Active Towns website for more photos and content

Ryan's firm: Laneshift

The Walton Family Foundation

Soderquist Leadership Center which was rebranded as Milestone Leadership in 2018

A story about the Denmark Study Tour  - Walton Family Foundation

A story about the Denmark Study Tour - in the local news

Another story about the Denmark Study Tour - in the local news

The Lebron James Interview about Bicycles

NWA Mtn Biking OZ Trails

Bike NWA - Local Non-Profit

NWA Best Trails in the Nation 

The Bike Snob goes to NWA 

PeopleForBikes summary of NWA

Rogers’ Railyard Bike Park

Boulder Valmont Bike Park

Walton Family Foundation/PeopleForBikes Economic Impact Study

National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA)

Northwest Arkansas Council

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Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.