A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas
Tune into Visit Bentonville’s podcast series for a weekly update on all things Bentonville, Arkansas. You’ll hear captivating stories and updates from our city—connecting you with the locals that make this town worth visiting.
A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas
Revolutionary Biking Program for All Coming to Bentonville, AR
Welcome to A New American Town. In this episode, we’re talking with Adventure for All founder, Chase Pettey, about the new Bentonville adventure biking program launching in September 2025! Explore why Bentonville is the perfect place for their programs, how you can get involved, and the story behind it all.
Adventure for All is an organization on a mission to redefine the human potential for all humans with exceptionalities. To learn more visit adventureforall.org/
A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.
You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.
Welcome to A New American Town. I'm your host, natalie. With Visit Bentonville Today, I'm joined by Chase Petty, the founder of Adventure for All, an organization on a mission to redefine the human potential for all humans with exceptionalities Through programs like adventure, biking sessions, outdoor challenges and inclusive experiences. Adventure for All is opening doors for people of all abilities to discover their strengths. We'll explore the impact of these programs, why Bentonville is the perfect place for them and how you can get involved. Thanks for joining us, chase.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for having me. That was a really good intro. I'll try to deliver as well you just did.
Speaker 1:No, no, so happy to have you on Right before this podcast. We were just digging into your story already and I'm so excited to share it with our audience. So, yeah, let's just start with who are you and what is Adventure for All?
Speaker 2:You said it really well, but I'm Chase Petty, the founder of Adventure for All, as you stated in our mission statements to redefine the human potential for individuals with exceptionalities. I think when you hear that, you think, oh, it's just this statement that you created as a part of a business plan. But it's deeper than that, because I feel, to redefine something, it all comes back to one word, which is belief. It comes back to instilling self-belief in these kids. It's instilling belief in others, within our society, within our communities, and so I think to redefine something is to give us an opportunity to reflect on our current perceptions and find that belief within ourselves, belief in others, and I think that's the bridge to a more beautiful world.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's beautiful. What made you want to start Adventure for All?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's beautiful. What made you want to start Adventure for All? Yeah, I think we were kind of joking about this before the podcast. It can be a long story but I'll keep it relatively high level here.
Speaker 2:I grew up kind of in an upbringing that I think society would perceive as a tough upbringing Just alcohol, you know, being homeless at times but had a beautifully strong mother that you know, raised us and through that upbringing I think there was some, you know, just sense of being an underdog, I guess in a way, you know, having a lack of opportunities maybe, or a lack of belief by the outside world, just because of you know where we were currently. And so I think I kind of built this resiliency of you know we define our future, we define our opportunities, we define who we want to become, and so I've always kind of had this pull towards people perceived as underdogs, and so I think that was the initial pull, just in finding that purpose in life of who I want to help and how I want to give back to the world. And so, leading into my 20s, I had never had actually any interactions with these individuals. You know, I think, like most of society, we kind of build these walls, naturally growing up, because, you know, I didn't have anybody in my family. I didn't have a family member, a cousin, any outside family I didn't. I wasn't around them in school, in jobs, afterschool programs, right, it's very segregated.
Speaker 2:And so I think when you grow up through your main development years and you never interact with these individuals, you just kind of build up fears of like, whoa, I don't want to approach them and say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing. And so you know, I think, just like everyone else, we just I had these kinds of fears or walls to to approach them or interact with them. And so my little sister, luckily, is a lot more courageous and brave than me is. She went to a camp and it changed her life. You know it's called Camp Barnabas, I believe it's in Springfield, and she did a summer program working with these individuals. And she called me after the camp and she was like hey, I just want you to go volunteer at a classroom, whatever, even if it's just for a day, just I think it would really impact you and I'm super close to my little sister.
Speaker 1:So I was like, okay, For real living at the time.
Speaker 2:So I just moved to Florida.
Speaker 1:Okay, wow. So you came all the way back to Missouri.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so actually I did the actually volunteering in Florida.
Speaker 2:So I was like in Missouri, and then I literally packed my car and it was like literally on my drive to Florida, so I hadn't even like made it there yet. And so good timing on her end, Cause she was like you're not going to know anybody, you have a new job. Like this is a way for you to also just like get out into the community you're moving to. I was like all right. And so I remember driving to that classroom and I always like to say this because I think it's important for us all to understand like at the time, I don't think I was truly believe that I was doing it in a sense of to give back to these kids fully. I think I was also serving my ego. It felt good to go give back, and so sometimes the bridge to doing great things in life is serving yourself at first and then being humbled in that process, and so that's what happened to me. I walked into this classroom, 12 beautiful kids and I've never met them, they don't know my name Walk into the classroom and they come rushing me and they're hugging me and like we're so glad you're here, we're going to do this today, we're going to do that. And and I remember looking at the teacher and I was like I I got, I forgot something in my car because I just felt this rush of emotion coming through me and I went back to my car and I just cried and it was, um, one of the best moments of my life because it it was a trajectory shift.
Speaker 2:It's what I call now in the organization miracle moments. It's these moments where your entire perception and trajectory of life can shift, and mine shifted dramatically that day because it was the first time I had felt authentic love, like somebody showing up and not needing to know who you are or how you're going to serve them or what you do for work. It was just I'm glad you're here and that you're on this earth and that you're breathing, and we're just, we just love you for that. And so that was the first lesson these individuals ever gave me was how to show up in the world, and I think I'm still working on that. It becomes a little more natural to them at times, but I'm. It's a process of learning from them constantly. And so there's that moment that I realized this is my purpose, this is a way for me to give back, this is a way for me to serve my self-growth, serve their growth and honestly bridge opportunities that I believe we should all have access to.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, I love that story.
Speaker 2:Thanks.
Speaker 1:Well, so after that point, were you beforehand already involved in Outdoor Rec and all of the things that the program serves and is about?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I don't believe in coincidences, especially not anymore in life. I feel like everything happens for a reason and I know sometimes as humans we want things to be the lessons to come quicker. Sometimes, you know, hindsight is 20, 20, sometimes it's five years down the road and like, ah, that's why that happened is you know, I went to school.
Speaker 2:So in high school I broke my back playing football, had to relearn how to walk took me almost a year and a half. So I went through like PT, like really intense rehab, and again in that process I think I fell in love with anatomy and like the biomechanics of like coming back from something like that. And so I went into school like learning exercise, physiology, kinesiology, anatomy and just kind of fell in love with the biomechanics of the body. And then I really fell in love with the psychology of it, like when you're all of a sudden you're an elite athlete and then you're bedridden for eight months, like how do you function, like mentally, and overcome that. And so that was kind of my background going into this.
Speaker 2:And so after the classroom, volunteering, I ended up actually helping train these kids at a gym with another for-profit at the time that worked with these individuals and just did it for free, like in the gym, just wanted a way to give back to these kids and challenge them in the gym. And so, yeah, my background was definitely working with individuals through rehab after surgery and elite athletes. I worked with a lot of mountain climbers, like mountain bikers, things like that, to do these crazy adventures. So, yeah, it's funny how it all kind of starts stacking into having the skill sets to actually do what we're doing today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So the biking part is the part that you're launching here in Bentonville soon. You recently came into the community.
Speaker 2:You said a couple years ago yeah, the first time was two years ago, 2023.
Speaker 1:Okay, so what brought you to Bentonville and why did you choose to plant yourself?
Speaker 2:here. It's probably a lot due to your all's work at Visit Bentonville. I think you guys have promoted the town as this adventurous city. Yeah.
Speaker 1:The non-viking capital of the world.
Speaker 2:So there you go. Exactly I think some Google searches of what are the cultures and the communities that are going to be most ready to dive into saying Right, because it's easy to go to somebody that lives a life of adventure and be like, hey, don't you think these other kids deserve that feeling as well? And it's really like that's the only thing you have to say and people are like yeah, because they understand what it feels like to connect with nature, to be outdoors, to like move, and so I don't really have to like educate them on those things yeah, because the community is already bought in our whole community is obsessed with not liking exactly so it was like I don't, wouldn't it be cool to see these kids on the trail as well?
Speaker 2:And so everybody was like, absolutely Like, Kohler opened their doors. They actually gave us the Kohler grow preserve completely for free the last two years to run the camp, and so they've been extremely helpful in helping make that happen. So, yeah, that was um. And then last year you want me to roll into this? Yeah, totally.
Speaker 2:I'm a rambler so you may have to just cut me off sometimes. But yeah, last year we ran the camp again and one of the fathers, jason Minton, who's now the community lead, he was like hey, like I can't let you guys leave again. Like every time you guys come here, like we want to continue this program, like your approach is just so different. The way you look at our kids is different, the way you push our kids is different. Like you're not just giving them an experience, you're actually giving them tools to learn a skill to do this for the rest of their lives. You're not just giving the experience of writing, you're giving them the tools to become a writer. And he said it perfectly. I mean, that is the whole entire foundation of why we started biking in the first place.
Speaker 2:Was, you know, when you look at this, there's some crazy statistics out there, which is I became obsessed with those, which is another reason why I moved this mission. But you know these individuals, you know, when you look at biking, they say, on average, 14% of kids with exceptionalities ride a two-wheel bike around the nation. So I think you know, as humans, right, we look at one singular data point and it does create an assumption. Right, psychologically, our brains are going to go okay, I received this information. The assumption now is this must be a hard activity for these kids, or a lot of these kids don't ride a two wheel bike. And then maybe the next layer of assumption is well, maybe it's because it's too hard for them. And then maybe the next assumption is well, maybe it's like almost impossible, right, and you start to kind of create these, which is natural, really dramatic instances.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's kind of a dramatic data, point right.
Speaker 2:It's like, okay, well, there's over 17 million kids in the nation. Only 14% can ride a two wheel bike. This must be like really hard for them. And so it kind of creates this, yeah, this lack of belief system, maybe within parents, doctors, parents, doctors, society generally. So I looked at that data point. I was like, okay, well, let's give people another data point so then we can actually assume differently, Because the current assumption is attached to the identity of the individual. That's too hard for them.
Speaker 2:And so through three years of breaking down how we teach biking, we now have a 92% success rate in five days in our five-day camp on how we teach, and then 92% ride a two-wheel bike after just five days.
Speaker 2:And so when people look at 14 and then 92% now they go okay, it's no longer an assumption on the individual, it's now an assumption on the process.
Speaker 2:Right Now they go, oh, okay, so over here, 92% can ride a two-wheel bike Over here, which is probably how you and I learned to ride a bike, which is your parents Maybe get a slight downhill to pick up some speed and you just kind of fall a lot until you're like I don't want to fall anymore, and you just that's how you learn, you just fall way too many times and so I was like, hey, look like a lot of these kids are older, so it's like falling is also harder, Like when you're six, you can just smack the concrete and you kind of like bounce, you know, when you start getting older, just you know those fears are bigger because it's been longer period of time, et cetera.
Speaker 2:So, anyways, I just wanted people to see that, um, with a different process, a different belief system, it's solid different style of coaching, like micro steps along the way, like breaking down the process which we trademarked, called our hidden potential process. You know there is a, an outcome that they can reach. It's just the approach looks different, the process looks different, but it doesn't mean they can't achieve the same things we can.
Speaker 1:Wow. So yeah, walk us through that process. What does the camp look like?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So first day is mind to body connection. So it's actually half the day is just body movements, even though the kids are like we want to get on the bike, I want the bikes over there, but it's reminding them that, hey, I'm your coach, right? So, like, I want you to trust me. So there's this.
Speaker 2:There is a lot of our development that is teaching coaches how to coach, not just instruct. I think there's a huge difference. Right, it's one thing to teach skills. It's another thing to invest in someone's character and help them overcome fears, work through challenges, obstacles, things like that. And so there's a lot of that. There's a lot of micros, buildups to kind of like cause.
Speaker 2:Most of the kids are like right, if you ask, what are you afraid of? I'm afraid of falling, right, of course, I would be afraid of falling too. I'm bouncing on these two inch and a half tires going downhill on concrete or grass, like it's. It can be scary. So the first day is mind to body connection. The second day is called bike to body connection, which is like now, we're going to get them in tune with the bike. So I'll even break down this movement. So in the English language, you and I assume a lot when we talk just from enough societal like interactions, we can assume and actually be on the same page, even though it was never directly said. So if I, you and I went outside and I said, hey, jump on your bike and get ready, there's no instruction with that, but you're probably going to grab your bike, pull it out of the bike rack, you know, swing your leg over the seat, put your helmet?
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2:Actually, yes, there, you held on first, then swing your leg over, right, you're going to be holding the brakes your bike doesn't roll out from underneath you and then you're going to sit on the seat, you're going to rotate your pedals so that your pedal is kind of in this ready position or so you can push the pedal hard and get going. You're going to do all these things purely from the statement of, hey, get ready to take off on your bike. So really it's going. I think this is just an application for all of us, as we're teaching these individuals any skill, right? It's the process we're going to develop across the board with a multitude of things.
Speaker 2:But, staying on the topic of biking, so we teach them what's called ready position, and so in that position, that's what I just asked you to do, right? And so that's really six steps. I'm going to go hey, I want you to have two hands on the handlebars. You're going to pull the rear brake, which is your right brake. You're going to swing your leg over and then you're going to do on, which is sitting on the bike seat. You're going to do level pedals, which is then rotating your pedals, and then you're going to cues, right.
Speaker 2:How do I then make it? I guess inclusive where, outside of this camp now, their parents can say a cue that will trigger them doing those seven steps, which is ready position. So then we compress all of those cues and I go all right, athletes, now that you understand the exact steps and we've worked through all those steps individually, now when I say ready position, I just want you to go through those steps in that order and you'll see it, it just clicks. So it's just finding ways to further break down the process, to give them the ability to process, learn and then stack.
Speaker 1:Wow, and what's so cool is you have a whole team that's trained on that, that lives here in our community.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, we have 11 coaches now. That and I'm so impressed. It's really cool. Like this is a big, monumental moment coming to this community because it's it's the first time we've launched a community without myself, sean, like somebody on our internal team that was one of the founding members of AFA.
Speaker 2:This is completely volunteer driven. Like this is a seven person leadership team that is giving their time to this community to serve these kids. It's a 11-person coaching team that and our coaching certification process is intense. Like I had to write out four manuals. Each manual is almost over 100 pages. Like these are books.
Speaker 2:And then we built out a digital certification process and it has 200 videos in the certification. Like you go through and you watch, and so it's an intense certification and these coaches gave their time, went through the process, passed all the tests, did the in-person training, and so they're ready and so even in the winter they have a barn, so it allows us to kind of run this camp literally year round and get these parents together, build community, build friendships. And then we're working with a couple other partners, like Kohler is going to help with the blast here, which is like the one where they start learning on trail etiquette. So we're going to work with Kohler whenever they get to that stage of their development within biking, to take them to Kohler learn how to ride on trail. Then we have a few other partners that we're actually finalizing today for this podcast. So I guess, until those are finalized, I won't mention all those partners yet. But yeah, it's been beautiful to see the community come together.
Speaker 1:And the fact that you have so much support from not only the community but also these businesses and you have opportunity for partnerships.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's a win-win because ultimately I come from the corporate world. That was my. I chased that ladder for a while too, Climbing this ladder, thinking there's happiness at the top of it, and then you just realize there's actually just more ladder. The ladder actually is never ending. And so I do have an understanding when I approach partners of like hey, you are a for profit. Like I'm not going to guilt you into, it is your job to support nonprofits. Right, I go to them and I'm like hey, like I want to give you content, I want to be able to give you like true community integration, to show that like your brand does actually care. Like how can I serve the for profit in that process?
Speaker 2:And so, yeah, it builds beautiful partnerships beyond just hey, give us some equipment because we're a nonprofit you know, approaching it like a partnership in a sense that how can I also serve you so you can grow your business, because you do have to make a profit or your business goes under.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so how many other year-long camps, where are they located? Do you guys offer?
Speaker 2:Yeah, great question. So in Sarasota, florida, which is where we were originally founded, all of our programs run there. So we have rock climbing, we have experienced outdoors, which is a backpacking program where we actually teach the survival skills like how to make a fire, how do you pitch your tent, how do you set up a campsite, and then we take those kids on a week-long backpacking adventure. And then we have the biking program, and then we have what's called our gravel and giving program, which is, once you go through the adventure biking tiers, if the kids really love the sport, right, and they love this new process of like a growth mindset, which is like I want the next thing and the next thing, which most of them do, right, we all thrive off of achieving that feeling.
Speaker 2:That's a feeling you can't give in life. You know you have to achieve that feeling, and so most of them want to then go on and do their first ever bike race, and so gravel and giving is giving them the opportunity to train for six to eight months to take on their first gravel race. And actually tomorrow I head to Lincoln for our five-year anniversary. Yeah, thank you. We have eight kids doing a gravel race. We got three doing a 75 mile race and the rest doing a 31 mile or 35 mile race. So it's like, guys, these aren't just things that are impressive because of you know they're doing it.
Speaker 2:It's impressive period, exactly, and that was our approach with the organization. I want people to see these things and go. Could I do that? Because that's, that's that's allows a shift of perception.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so are you going to do the gravel program here?
Speaker 2:That's the goal, okay Are you going?
Speaker 2:to do the gravel program here. That's the goal. Okay, yeah, so the goal next year we're starting to discuss doing some just nature walks that kind of introduces people into like hey, here's an easy entry point. Right, we're doing these with Kohler. We're going to take different areas that they own and just do nature walks. It allows 50 to 100 families at a time to come and just get together so they don't feel so isolated. And then our goal next year is to launch potentially experience the outdoors, which is the backpacking program. But we're definitely going to launch gravel and giving, just because, you know, we've kind of perfected that process and so it just feels like it matches really well with our community too.
Speaker 2:Exactly you have Big Sugar here. You have like the rule of three. You have so many awesome races around here as well. It just allows the community to be even more embedded in these kids' process and their growth.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's amazing. I love it. So for our listeners that are pumped and want to get their kids involved. They want to volunteer or they just want to support. How can they learn more?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a great question. I mean if you want to volunteer or coach. So if you go to our website, it says Join the Movement. If you go there, you'll see an application for coaches or volunteers. Fill that out. You'll be able to pick the city as where you want to volunteer directly, and we'll set up a call with you. We'll walk you through that process and, yeah, once you're involved, I promise you it's something that will definitely change your life.
Speaker 2:If you're a parent and you're like I really want my kid to be a part of this, or you have a sibling that has an exceptionality, or you just know somebody in your life that you're close to has an exceptionality, you want to be a part of this. You can apply now. We do already have the finalized set of families for this first camp. Just again to give our internal team, or this team here in Bentonville you don't want to overwhelm them at first. Hey, here's 50 families. Good luck Giving them an entry point that allows them to feel again empowered and build momentum on their skills as well.
Speaker 2:But for parents, the biggest thing I always say, though, is you know, I just like to be very honest up front is this isn't a drop your kid off and, yeah, they're just going to.
Speaker 2:Kind of experience riding a bike like this is the parents actually have to be involved. We teach the parents the process as well so that they can also further invest with their kids outside of the camp so they can actually ride bikes with their kid, and so it's as much challenging for the parent as is the athlete. And I can say that confidently now, just because you know and I'm not projecting this onto every parent, but just through a lot of experiences a lot of parents have been told a long list of things their kids will never do. One of those things is normally ride a bike, just because of the multi-processing and all the things that go with it. And then here I come along, here our team comes along going, no, they can and right. That can be conflicting and I know at times it can feel like, yeah, but I want to believe my kid can do this.
Speaker 1:But I've also had to been told otherwise forever, yeah, and.
Speaker 2:I've had to put a lot of things in the graveyard that like, maybe, yeah, and I've had to put a lot of things in the graveyard that like, maybe I've had to.
Speaker 2:I've already gone through the process of learning to accept that maybe I'll never do that, and now I have to dig that up and potentially, you know, like Be disappointed this again. And so I think there is a lot of emotional growth that parents go through and I can't ever be able to say like, oh, I get it, I don't even have kids, let alone kids with exceptionality. So it's like, sure, through a lot of experience and conversations I can try to relate the best I can, but ultimately I'll never fully understand what it's like to be a parent of child with exceptionality and feel like you're constantly fighting for the next thing for them. And I just always tell parents like, hey, I want you to approach this relationship, that you don't have to fight with us, that I want you to work with us and I want us to be partners in this process of helping your child grow, not just through biking but through life.
Speaker 1:Right Because then, like the aftermath of it, 92% success rate is amazing. Yeah, and it changes their life forever.
Speaker 2:For sure. And it shows them that like, oh, there is like this process of learning tools and now like, right, forever, they have the tool of riding a bike. Right, it's not, I can only ride a bike if I'm on this type of bike or if I'm with this person, or if I'm on this specific trail. It's like no, like now you, you can go explore the world and you can go where you want to go, and, sure you may, you're probably going to fall at some point. Still, you're going to like, try as you continue to advance in the sport, like that's just natural with adventure and growth. But what's great is, through our process, you know, we teach them what it's, what it looks like to get back up.
Speaker 1:So after this first initial camp, do you have any other dates on the books that they can be thinking about?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we're going to do this kind of first cohort I guess you could call it, and then they're going to run, they're going to work every Sunday for eight weeks and then after the end of that eight weeks it feels like enough time where the coaches will feel confident with those kids.
Speaker 2:Those kids will probably be pretty far in the process of like learning all the advanced skills of turning sharp, using both breaks, like all of those more advanced skills to become even more independent.
Speaker 2:And then that's a good, good time for us to then onboard another 12 to 15 families. And so that's kind of how it's going to work, because then it allows those athletes to go into a more higher tier, which requires a little less, you know, individual coaching, and then allows those coaches to then individualize their training for these new athletes and then be able to just give cone drills to the you know more higher tier athletes that were in the first cohort and then have their parents kind of help direct those cone drills and those things like that. And so, yeah, we're going to keep building it pretty much every quarter, kind of running a camp, and then eventually it's just like which is why we ended up going with Thayden Rick. Hey, we need a place with a big enough grass field that, as this thing grows we don't, you know, we don't have external variables be the limited, you know, barrier to growing it.
Speaker 1:And I mean it's literally a campus for students, so what better way than to have these students go onto another campus?
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, and having those students volunteer and be involved like that's something we're working on with them. There's like a volunteer program where their race team can actually help teach these kids.
Speaker 1:And, yeah, maybe one of them will walk out crying like you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's why I always share it, cause I'm like guys, like there's some intense emotions along this process, like just process them, let them go, like it's, it's a beautiful feeling.
Speaker 1:So yeah, well, I'm excited to see what you guys do here. Thank you for joining us on our podcast. For anyone listening, what's your website?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's relatively easy. So, wwwadventureforallorg. And again, if you want to just get a taste of it, on September 13th, which is the Saturday, that'll be kind of a celebration day, so that's when the kids are most of them are riding the two wheel bike at the end of the camp and we set up like a little finish line. They get to cross the finish line and, you know, we just play music, we're probably gonna have food, like. So if you're just kind of curious as a parent, you maybe just want to come out and just feel what it's like to be a part of this community and this movement. Um, you know, feel free just to come out and experience it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, amazing Cool. If you guys want to learn anything else about Bentonville, you know.