The Arkansas Graveler offers riders a unique way to enjoy all the state has to offer.

By Kai Caddy | Photography Courtesy Ozark Collective

Hey, you know what would be a great way to see a lot of the natural beauty Arkansas has to offer in just one week? Riding a bike from the University of Arkansas to Arkansas State University.

You know what would make it more fun? Live music every night, meals prepared by a well-known chef, beer tents, Onyx coffee, recreational opportunities in the towns you stop in and, how about someone to transport your luggage to the next stop each day?

Well, you’re in luck, because June 23-29, you can do all that thanks to the Arkansas Graveler.

Working with the Ozark Foundation, event director Scotti Moody has put together a six-day, 340-mile gravel festival from Fayetteville to Jonesboro.

“I know every mile of this route, I created it from scratch with the help of a lot of people who have ridden the roads of Arkansas, and it’s epic,” Moody said. “I’m kind of liking the phrase gravel festival because it really is not a race. It’s something built so that you can sink into the reason that you ride a bike to begin with. It’s fun, it’s beautiful. It’s something you do with your friends, it’s made to be an experience to remember. It’s kind of like an adult summer camp.”

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has partnered with the gravel festival to offer outdoor recreation opportunities along the way — bass fishing, a catfish derby, skeet shooting, archery, to name a few. There will be a craft day when the group stops in Mountain View at the Ozark Folk Center.

And every night, participants will be entertained by live music at sunset.

Breakfast, dinner and rest stop meals will be provided by chef Biju Thomas, a celebrity chef and author in the cycling and endurance sports world. Thomas has fed some of the world’s best athletes — WorldTour cycling pros and Olympians.

If you want to be a part of all this and not ride your bike — that’s available as well. Just sign up as a non-rider participant.

“It’s fun, it’s beautiful. It’s kind of like an adult summer camp.”

“A lot of times, there’s a whole village that supports a cyclist,” Moody said. “We have this non-rider participant category, to where if somebody is doing the ride, but they want to bring their spouse or significant other or best friend and that person doesn’t ride, we want to have a spot for that person to still be able to come enjoy all the the venues, the music, the food and the outdoor recreational activities that the Game and Fish Commission are putting on. And so it’s basically an all-inclusive ticket for a person that just doesn’t want to peddle to come do it.”

Moody said her crew is assembling key highlights for each host community so that a non-riding participant can scope out things to do in the host cities as they wait for the riders to make it to camp each day.

There’s also an option for riders who just want in on the first day of fun. The Mini Graveler will allow riders to experience the first day of the festival and the 59-mile ride from Fayetteville to Oark and Byrd’s Adventure Center along the Mulberry River.

Day two will take riders 55 miles from Oark to Jasper and Horeshoe Canyon Ranch. Day three is expected to be the most challenging day of the ride, a 61-mile day from Jasper to Marshall with nearly 7,000 feet of climbing. Camp that night will be at the Kenda Drive-In Theater. Next up, a 45-mile ride to the Ozark Folk Center park in Mountain View. On day five, riders will bid the Ozarks farewell as they roll into Cave City after a 48-mile ride. Finally, riders will enjoy the least amount of elevation and the most miles on the 76-mile ride to Jonesboro and finish line festivities.

“Knowing that we were going to bookend the ride with universities, there were lots of ways to go across the state,” Moody said. “But definitely no easy ways, I’ll put it that way. No matter which way I looked — climbing is inevitable. And so what dictated the routes for the first year were a couple of things, definitely the terrain itself, but also the hospitality of the host cities and the amenities that some of these hosts have for accommodating a group of our size. I wanted everyone to feel really welcomed, and the host communities that we’ve selected are going to provide that. They are so excited that we’re coming.”

“Many of those athletes, they don’t want to be filming stuff,” Jess said. “They want to focus on their training, and they want to focus on winning races. I would argue that content creators like myself — and there are a handful of us now doing this — help more people get into the sport, help it feel more approachable and less intimidating.

“All of those dollars are feeding the industry and therefore helping there still be race teams and funding all that stuff and getting more people excited about mountain biking. And so it’s like an ecosystem. I think, the more that we can help on that marketing side of getting people into this and helping people feel welcome.”

Not only do her videos bring people into the sport, she’s also been able to put some money into the hands of other local creators who help with her bigger projects.

“Now if I’m working with larger brands that have a bigger budget, I will hire people,” Jess said. “I can only get so far with my tripod and my phone. And, generally, if it’s stuff that’s for myself, that’s fine. But if it’s bigger brands that have a bigger budget, I will budget in hiring a videographer to come help. I have no problem with hiring people.”

In a collaboration with the Northwest Arkansas chapter of People for Bikes, Jess “prepped for work” all while riding with her hands off the handlebars.

There was no way she could shoot those scenes by herself, so she turned to local Anderson Ta of Benton Drones. Ta rode a one wheel alongside Jess and shot it all on a gimbal.

“That was definitely a challenging filming experience, but also one of the most fun,” Jess said. “Because we were laughing the whole day trying not to crash into each other. It was super fun. I love being able to also help other creators and pay them to do what they’re good at.”

So, what’s the one video that still stands out to Jess a year and a half into this new career? The one that got it all started: How to Afford a High End Mountain Bike, starring that fixer upper they bought in Bella Vista.

“Our house needs a lot of work. We just got so excited to move here and mountain bike all the time that we just didn’t really have time to fix it,” she said. “I think it’s funny — I’m going to make this funny video about how people can afford a high end mountain bike by literally deprioritizing everything else in your life. So I was showing scenes of how we haven’t finished our floors and how we don’t have curtains — we have a sheet. And instead of curtain ties, we use chip clips.

“And I remember making it and there was a moment I thought, ‘Man, I’m not gonna post this, this isn’t funny, people aren’t gonna find this funny.’ And then I was like, whatever, I’ll post it. And that was my first video that ever went viral.”

That video was posted Feb. 24, 2022 and has over 70,000 likes. Closing in on two years later, how’s the house looking?

“We have curtains now. But we have towel curtains in our bedroom,” Jess said. “So, one room at a time. It’s definitely not done. But, you know, the house will be there.”

And so will Jess, providing you with a good belly laugh and some motivation to hit the trails. 

“I’ve tried to break it up into days where hopefully everyone is getting a bite-size piece of riding that they can handle.”

Bobby Finster, a Cave City-based cyclist who runs the Rural Innovation Group, says Cave City is excited to show off its hospitality.

“All the businesses and everybody are super excited about it,” Finster said. “We’re excited to show all the riders some Southern hospitality. That’s what we’re about. With us being right in the foothills and the gateway to the Delta, it’s going to be a refreshing exit of the Ozarks on into the Arkansas Delta. And we look forward to having everyone.”

Moody’s goal with the daily rides was to balance climbing and mileage to give riders about the same amount of time on their bikes per day.

“I’ve tried to break it up into days where hopefully everyone is getting a bite-size piece of riding that they can handle,” she said.

The Graveler teamed with Northwest Arkansas nonprofit City Sessions to book the music talent.

The lineup includes Smokey & the Mirror on June 23, Will Gunselman on June 24, The Juice on June 25, Sons of Otis Malone on June 26, Keith Johnson on June 27, and Carver Commodore will wrap things up at Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro on June 28.

Moody says the event will change routes from year to year to showcase more of Arkansas’s rural communities.

Registration for the Graveler opened Jan. 1. The full Graveler is limited to 300 riders, the mini-graveler has 100 slots and the non-rider participant category is limited to 75. There are waitlists for each category as well. More information about registration and the ride can be found at arkansasgraveler.com.

There’s also a 20-week training plan written by Moody available as an add-on to registration to help prep for the effort. Moody says building consistency is key.

“There’s a big difference between when you log a long, one-day-a-week 60-mile ride, or you break it up and you do four days a week, shorter rides, there’s just something that the body assimilates, and this is a six-day challenge,” she said. “So it’s very important that your body learns, ‘I get on my bike day-after-day for successive days.’ And this training plan is really meant for somebody that’s an intermediate cyclist who’s maybe never taken on a multiday endurance challenge before and wants to know how to train for that while still juggling full-time work or kids and your real life.

“These are challenging routes. I’m not going to sugarcoat the fact that Arkansas is a very hilly place. We don’t have mountains but we have successive choppy hills that will break your rhythm for miles. So that’s what we’re up against. And that’s the beauty of it. It’s like riding ribbons the whole way.”