This weekend, while my household was enjoying the Winter Olympics, the question came up. What Winter Olympic event would you want to magically become a top competitor in? When it was my turn, the answer leapt out without hesitation. The biathlon. I have always been drawn to endurance sports, and the combination of cross-country skiing with the calm precision of rifle shooting has always intrigued me. It is a sport built on opposites. Your heart is pounding from a hard ski effort one moment. The next moment, you must slow your breathing, settle your hands, and fire at a target no bigger than a cookie. Watching it reminded me of something I have wanted to see in Arkansas for a long time. A version of the biathlon made for our trails. The mountain bike biathlon.
What Makes Olympic Biathlon So Compelling
Biathlon is one of the most demanding sports in the Winter Olympics. Athletes ski looped courses on skinny skis, attacking climbs and descents at full speed. At set points on the course they pull into a shooting range. They must stop, drop into either a prone or standing shooting position, and try to hit five small targets at fifty meters. Miss a shot and you pay for it. Athletes either tack on penalty time or ride a short penalty loop for each miss. That combination makes the sport a mental puzzle. Push too hard on the ski and your breathing becomes too wild to shoot well. Take your time and you fall behind. The best biathletes learn to transition in a heartbeat from full gas to laser focus. That contrast is what hooked me. It is the same blend of grit and control that makes a long day on the bike so satisfying.
Mountain Bike Biathlon Is Already a Real Thing
The fun part is that a summer version of biathlon already exists. When the snow melts, biathlon clubs and adventurous race organizers have invented warm weather biathlons that use running or mountain biking in place of skiing. In a mountain bike biathlon, racers ride a short loop of singletrack, then stop at a shooting station to fire at targets with a .22 caliber rifle. After shooting, they hop back on the bike for another lap. Missed shots send riders into a penalty loop or add time. It is the same test of settling your heart rate under stress, just without the skis.
Events like this have taken shape across the country. In Colorado, riders race through high desert terrain before stopping at a shooting range on each lap. On the West Coast, summer biathlons have included mountain bike events for adults and kids alike. Montana hosts a long running mountain bike biathlon in the woods of West Yellowstone. Even Texas has held a bike and shooting event in the Hill Country. These races follow a simple structure. Ride hard. Shoot five shots. Pay a penalty if you miss. Repeat. Most summer events keep the rifles at the shooting station instead of asking riders to carry them on their backs. Many clubs let beginners borrow rifles after a short safety briefing. The goal is fun, challenge, and a chance to try something totally new.
Arkansas Has Already Dipped a Toe into the Idea
Believe it or not, Arkansas has already seen hints of this hybrid sport. A few years back, the Slaughter Pen Jam in Bentonville included a playful archery mountain bike biathlon as a side competition. Riders did a lap, then took shots with a bow before heading out again. It was a crowd favorite. On the more intense end of the spectrum, an event near Paris, Arkansas called Uphill Both Ways offered a hiking and shooting challenge. Participants hiked a rugged course with multiple shooting stages along the way. That version was more tactical than Olympic inspired, but it proved something important. Arkansans will show up for a race that mixes endurance, skill, and marksmanship.
Why a Mountain Bike Biathlon Belongs in Arkansas
Arkansas is a perfect match for this sport because it blends two passions that are already strong in our state. We have built a national reputation for mountain biking. Our trail systems in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Hot Springs, central Arkansas, Devil’s Den, and all across the Ouachitas and Ozarks have become bucket list destinations. At the same time, Arkansas has a long and deep heritage of shooting sports. We have public and private ranges, youth marksmanship programs, hunters and gun enthusiasts, and an outdoor culture that understands firearms safety.
A mountain bike biathlon needs three things. Trails, a shooting facility, and people who are excited to try something different. Arkansas has all three.
Trail Systems That Could Host a Bike Biathlon
A few places immediately stand out.
- Hobbs State Park Conservation Area. Hobbs is a dream setting for this kind of race. It has flowing singletrack in the Monument Trails system plus a public rifle range on site. A course could start at the range parking area, loop through the forest, and return to the range for the shooting portion.
- Camp Robinson. The National Guard training base in North Little Rock has one of the most popular mountain bike trail systems in central Arkansas. The base also has multiple shooting ranges built with safety in mind. With the right partnership, an event could use a mix of trails and a controlled shooting area.
- Private gun clubs. Arkansas has many clubs and complexes that could support the shooting portion while laying out a mountain bike course on their land or nearby open space. Because summer biathlons use low recoil .22 rifles, safety setup is more straightforward than in big bore events.
- State parks or Forest Service lands. Mount Magazine, Pinnacle Mountain, and areas around Beaver Lake have the combination of terrain and facilities to build a race with only minimal setup.
What the Event Might Look Like
Racers would complete several laps on a marked bike course. After each lap they would pull into a shooting lane, take five shots, and then head out again. Rifles could stay at the shooting station, already set up and supervised by trained range officers. New shooters could borrow club owned rifles and learn as they go. Miss a target and you jump onto a short penalty loop. Hit all five and you are back on course with a clean run. Spectators would gather near the shooting range to watch the targets flip and cheer riders through their penalty laps. Clinics for beginners and kids could offer safe introductions with air rifles or laser rifles while the main race unfolds.
In other words, it would be a perfect outdoor festival atmosphere.
Ready, Aim, Ride
The more I watch the biathlon on TV, the more I imagine what it would feel like to do a version of it on Arkansas dirt. Picture it. You grind up a climb at Hobbs or Camp Robinson, roll into the range breathing hard, steady your hands, and try to knock down all five targets. Your friends are watching. Someone heckles you for missing. You take off for another lap, determined to clean the next round. It sounds like a blast.
Arkansas built its outdoor identity by embracing bold, fun, slightly odd ideas. A mountain bike biathlon fits that identity perfectly. We have the trails. We have the ranges. We have the people. Now we just need someone to put it on the calendar.
Lead image: Competitors at a summer biathlon event in Colorado pause at the shooting range to take aim with .22 caliber rifles in between mountain biking laps from Nordic Ski Pro.
This article was originally published on ArkansasOutside.com, your trusted source for outdoor news and updates in The Natural State. Unless otherwise credited, all photos included in this piece are the property of Arkansas Outside, LLC. We take pride in sharing the beauty and adventures of Arkansas through our lens—thank you for supporting our work!
