Tarmac.
Gravel.
Singletrack.
100 mile solo or
three-person team.
50 mile solo or
three-person team.
This day could
be legend.
You’ll need pride, courage,
and legs, without question.
The road begins to rise, with acute ebb and flow.
You hide in the front group like stowaway cargo.
But the miles tick away, and the rowdy gravel begins to rebel.
Now alone, welcome to your own personal journey in hell.
Recover, take stock, fuel up, drink, and have a snack.
But keep it together as you begin the last 14 miles of singletrack.
Focus through tunnel vision, within this cave of pain you reside.
Around a bend the finish line, as you cross it, teary-eyed.
Fatigued, you press save on your dusty computer display.
A hug, a beer, a laugh, and you conquered the day.
The Course
Northwest Arkansas has some of the best road riding in the United States. If you’ve ever ventured into the backroads, you’ll find gravel roads unrivaled anywhere else on earth. Have you ridden the singletrack? It’s world-famous.
We thought we’d take these three paragons of NWA and wrap them into a brutally beautiful, challenging, and uncommon course. You’ll ride out of Bentonville on rolling, mixed terrain. The road will pitch up and descend, over and over, and you’ll feel fresh as your mind plays tricks on you. Tarmac to gravel and back, then a quick dip into some primo Bella Vista singletrack. Pop out, and your front wheel points towards southern Missouri as you speed along the tree-lined rural roads…
As the pavement slowly runs its course over the passing miles, the bulk of gravel arrives. Open farm fields. Tree canopy cover. Smooth hardpack. Chossy, chunky, sharp, pebble wrestling. Sometimes sidewalls tear, choose your rubber wisely. We like to joke that the SRAM AXS Mullet build with the 10/50 cassette in the back was custom-tuned to the steep pitchy gravel climbs here. The terrain is relentless. Sometimes single lane, sometimes double track. You’ll never settle into a rhythm, and it’ll hurt…
Somewhere around mile 75 (give or take), you’ll feel like you should be done and finished. But that’s when the meat and potatoes start. You’re staring down the barrel of multiple singletrack sectors to get your bonking body to the finish. If you were to ride these rippers with fresh legs on a good day, you’d be reveling in heavenly shred. But you’re 75 miles into hell, and these trails won’t relent. You’ll need that 10/50, trust us. Keep it together, cause the descents are a riot if you’re of a right mind. No matter how cratered your body feels at this point, you’ll find a smile on your face. Lean, climb, descend, steer, and oh yeah, choose your equipment wisely (see that flint stone in the photo above?). Just as you’re about to quit, you’ll glimpse the finish. And you’ll be proud of you. And everyone else will be too. A hug, a beer, a laugh, and you conquered the day.
This is the Rule Of Three.