Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders came to Lake Wilson Park in Fayetteville today to announce a 336-mile gravel grinding event taking place over 6 days in June of 2024. State and local officials came out to celebrate the announcement.
The event will connect the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville with Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. Founded by the Ozark Foundation, cyclists will ride from Fayetteville on June 23, 2024, to Oark, Jasper, Marshall, Mountain View, Cave City, and end in Jonesboro on June 29. This is challenging terrain given that the route runs through the heart of the Ozark Mountains over much of the same area that the Arkansas High Country Route and Ozark Grinder routes pass.
“Arkansas Graveler will showcase and celebrate the best of Arkansas — its natural beauty and culture — in a most unique and magnificent way,” Michael Spivey, executive director of the Ozark Foundation, said in a news release. “What’s more is that the route will present an incredibly epic challenge for cyclists from around the world.”
Organizers are anticipating approximately 400 cyclists from across the country to participate. By injecting this many people into each of these communities along the route is expected to provide an economic boost.
Arkansas is already becoming a respected destination for gravel cycling. Events like the Arkansas High Country Race, the Little Rock Dirty Fondo, the Big Sugar Classic, the Birdeye Gravel Festival, and The Rule of 3 are already attracting competitive riders from across the country. Even one of the state’s oldest road bike events, the Joe Weber Arky 100 is adding a gravel course for 2023.
“Cycling, especially on unpaved surfaces, presents an outstanding way to grow the tourism and outdoor economy in some of Arkansas’ more rural counties,” Shea Lewis, director secretary of the Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, said. “Our hope is that participants in the Arkansas Graveler event will grow to share our affinity for Arkansas and return to explore unpaved cycling options in other parts of our state and enjoy other recreational and cultural offerings.”
Scotti Lechuga, a former professional cyclist and co-founder of Leborne Coaching of Bentonville, is the Arkansas Graveler’s event director. Scotti also won the Arkansas High Country Race in 2021. Lechuga described the event as a “gravel festival.”
Lechuga gave us some details on the ride.
- The route is about 50/50 paved and gravel — “Trust me, people will be happy about that! Arkansas is not an easy state for gravel riding. Some of the climbs on this route will crush souls. We’ll encourage people to take their time and will have ample rest stops on the route, as well as vehicles to support struggling riders. The paved sections are still very rural.”
- “There is over 24,000ft of elevation gain! Yikes! It’s a huge ride. Daily ride distances will vary based on the difficulty of the terrain. For example, one of our most challenging climbing days around the Newton County and Searcy County area is much shorter in mileage than the Delta farmland day rolling East towards Jonesboro.”
- The ride will happen, rain or shine — we have indoor backup plans for overnighting in our host communities. Each host city has a plan to get a roof over everyone’s heads in case of inclement weather. In terms of weather on the course, we expect to ride, rain or shine unless it’s severe, and at that point, we will implement start delays or pickups to keep people safe.
- “Gravel or mountain bikes are welcome but a gravel bike is best suited for this ride. I would die on a road bike, and I expect anyone else would, so it’s important for us to set the tone that it’s not just for “any” bike — people would be incredibly uncomfortable if they are under-biked. On our website, I’ve written some brief details on what bike and tire are best, and we’ll be pumping out some content to this effect throughout the fall. E-bikes will be encouraged, and we plan to have charging available for those who do want to register and ride e-bikes — remember, this is NOT a race! We really want participants to TOUR and enjoy Arkansas to the fullest.”
- “Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is partnering with us to program off-the-bike activities after each day’s ride is complete. While these are still in the works, we expect them to include floating and fishing (Mulberry and Buffalo Rivers), skeet shooting, and archery are also possibilities. We will have other options based on the location that will be announced when details get finalized. While the route is fairly set, the programming is in the works. Live music will happen EVERY night on route! For the inaugural year, we are hiring mostly Arkansas-based talent. It’ll be grassroots, Ozark folk vibes for the most part.”
- The other big difference is we plan to provide locally sourced, family-style dinners and breakfasts for all our participants. Feeding people in a moving festival format is no small feat, and we have partnered with a reputable event chef who is extremely talented and experienced in this department. We’ll be releasing more details on that soon. We’ll also provide a shuttle service back to the start location (from Jonesboro to Fayetteville) at the event’s culmination, and this service is included in people’s entry fee.
“The event ties together many of the rural communities I’ve ridden through and love,” she said. “I’m excited to reveal how amazing our gravel is, but more so, the homegrown hospitality of Arkansas as we showcase our unique locally sourced cuisine, outdoor recreation, and entertainment.”
For those riders who are a little less adventurous or just can’t take 6 days off, there is a “Mini Graveler” allowing riders to just take part in the first day of the ride.
The mileage breakdown looks like this:
* Some extra gravel cred for each town along the way.
- Day 1 — Fayetteville (UofA) to Oark (55 miles)
- *Oark used to be home to a great gravel ride, Pig Trail Gravel.
- Day 2 — Oark to Jasper (56 miles)
- *If you’ve ever ridden the “Jasper Disaster” route, you know the Ozark hills are no joke.
- Day 3 — Jasper to Marshall (55 miles)
- *If you ever have the opportunity, ride the Chocolate Roll Gravel ride near Marshall.
- Day 4 — Marshall to Mountain View (51 miles)
- *The Mountain View Epic mountain bike race once used about 20 miles of incredible gravel in the area.
- Day 5 — Mountain View to Cave City (49 miles)
- *The Cave City area is home to some great gravel including The Sandtown Shuffle.
- Day 6 — Cave City to Jonesboro (ASU) (70 miles)
- *Riding Crowley’s Ridge south of Jonesboro is an unexpected blessing.
Route map and elevation profile.Registration will open on January 1, 2024. More information on the route and amenities are available at https://www.arkansasgraveler.com/
One Response
Really looks like a great event – but the middle of summer in Arkansas – it will either be miserable or dangerous. Wish this was in the fall or spring, U would get a lot more riders.