YouTube star Brian Kennedy (aka BKXC) recently visited Fayetteville’s Centennial Park as part of an extended tour of the region’s mountain biking trails.
Kennedy, whose YouTube channel has over 423,000 subscribers, travels the world to produce videos that give viewers a look at what it’s like to ride mountain biking trails while providing a brief history of how they came about. He began posting his adventures from Northwest Arkansas last month, and is still working his way through it all.
Kennedy’s visit to Fayetteville was shortly before the OZ Trails US Pro Cup races, which started last weekend and continue for another three days this weekend (April 16-18).
The video, which currently has nearly 65,000 views, includes a tour of the Millsap Mountaintop trails, including the US Pro Cup cross country racecourse. Also shown are some glimpses of the features being built for the Cyclocross World Championships course, which is set for January 2022 in Fayetteville.
Eli Glesmann, marketing and media coordinator for Rock Solid Trail Contracting, leads a BKXC tour of Centennial Park.
Video still, BKXC on YouTube
Kennedy’s latest NWA video was posted Tuesday morning and includes a tour of the Little Sugar system in Bella Vista. Although he’s spent most of his time in Benton County, Kennedy hinted at a possible return south to Fayetteville’s Kessler Mountain at some point.
Kennedy said he’s heard the term “mountain bike capital of the world” a lot when people reference Northwest Arkansas.
“At first you’re like…there’s no big mountains here…it can’t be,” he said. “But then you see they’re creating so much good stuff – the quantity and the quality – with world-class venues that host world-class races, and with amazing playgrounds built for people of all levels.”
All that momentum, he said, creates a magnetism that draws people and companies to the area, which begins to feed off of itself and boost tourism.
“It’s just really, really amazing,” he said. “And it’s starting to become hard to argue.”
Watch the Centennial Park episode above, or visit the BKXC channel on YouTube.
