Nurturing and Celebrating Diversity in Mountain Biking with Harry Hill of Minority Mountain Bikers

SummaryOn this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell shares the studio with Harry Hill, Founder of Minority Mountain Bikers (MMB), an organization dedicated to increasing and highlighting diversity in mountain biking. This episode spotlights the third annual Minority Mountain Bikers Bentonville Bike Week, comprising several days of rides, skills clinics, cultural events and community activities. Throughout the episode, James and Harry discuss the genesis and evolution of Minority Mountain Bikers, riders’ experiences during MMB Bentonville Bike Week and the wide range of support received from Bentonville and numerous people and organizations across Northwest Arkansas.
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Show Notes(0:52) Introduction to Harry(2:32) Harry’s Passion for Mountain Biking(5:25) About Minority Mountain Bikers(6:49) Why MMB Chose Bentonville (8:13) About MMB Week(11:26) Experiencing MMB Bentonville Bike Week(16:43) How Bentonville Has Helped Diversity Initiatives(21:28) #BecauseBentonville Story(33:24) How Bentonville Has People Live Their Best Lives(37:58) Closing Question
‍LinksJames Bell Bentonville Economic Development Harry Hill Minority Mountain Bikers
Quotes“...most people are welcoming, but at the same time you tend to not feel like you can be yourself all the time when you’re the only one because it feels like you’re representing all Black people. So riding with more folks that have experienced life the same way you’ve experienced it is kind of where it started.” - Harry Hill, (5:54)
“We want it to be more than just bike riding. We want it to be like an overall experience. We want people to come in, have a good time and meet each other.” - Harry Hill, (15:57)
“One of my favorite things is something that’s after the event where I see somebody from one part of the country go to another part of the country and they meet up with somebody else that they met here. That's a result of what we do, and I feel like that’s fantastic.” - Harry Hill, (19:10)
“I haven’t been anywhere that’s like this [in Bentonville], where everything is so right here. Even if you don’t want to ride at Coler or Slaughter Pen, it’s all so close. There’s no reason not to be outside.” - Harry Hill, (34:31)