Trail Wizards

The Walton Family Formula for Singletrack Expansion
 

I’M SITTING IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT OF MY 2007 SUBARU Impreza–the one with a foot-sized dent on the rear hatch from when the dang thing wouldn’t latch properly. My kid’s in gymnastics for the next 45 minutes, so this is my office du jour. There’s lukewarm coffee next to my notepad, and I’m waiting for Steuart Walton’s telephone call.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not well versed in interviewing bazillionaires, or interacting with them in general for that matter. Part of me expects a parallel universe in which Steuart calls from the driver’s seat of a hovercraft, or whatever bazillionaires drive these days. But when I answer the phone, he’s apologizing about the leaf-blower running in the background. He’s calling from the trails.

Brothers Steuart and Tom Walton are grandsons of Walmart founder Sam Walton, and their shared passion for mountain biking has led the Walton Family Foundation to contribute $13 million toward trails in Northwest Arkansas. Remember when you were a kid (or, like last week) and you played that game: “What would you do if you had a zillion dollars?” Well, these guys can actually answer that question. And it turns out what they’d do is create a living lab for trail advocacy.

Tom’s first-ride story is one that many of us can relate to–rolling out too close to dusk on a borrowed bike while struggling to follow an experienced rider’s lead. “I went over the handlebars three or four times trying to stay on his wheel,” Tom says. “I thought, ‘This is insane!’” He was hooked.