High Country Winning Bikes

Photography courtesy of the riders

This year’s Arkansas High Country race featured the full 1,012-mile loop, the 430-mile Central Loop and the 250-mile Ozark Odyssey.

Thanks to our friends at bikepacking.com, we’re sharing some of this year’s winning rigs below. To see more High Country bikes from this year’s race visit bikepacking.com/bikes/2024-arkansas-high-country-race-rigs.

Meaghan Hackinen
Kelowna, British Columbia
Overall Winner, Full loop

BIKE: My trusty 2018 Salsa Cutthroat Force. The bike features Maxxis Ikon 2.2-inch tires, a 1×11 drivetrain with a 32-tooth chainring, and Light Bicycle wheels. I’ve added a Redshift ShockStop Stem to help cushion the bumps and washboard.

BAGS: My Apidura Backcountry bag setup consists of a saddle pack, long top tube pack, downtube pack, food pouch and full frame pack with hydration bladder. I’m also carrying Apidura’s tiny packable backpack that expands to 13 liters for those longer stretches between resupply.

GEAR HIGHLIGHTS: Gremlin bell dangling from my seatpost bag to bring me good luck.

Tanner Frady
Oklahoma CitySinglespeed
Winner, Full Loop

BIKE: I rode clockwise on a new-to-me stainless steel Otso Fenrir. The cockpit features 50cm Ritchey Beacon drop bars and Profile Design’s T2 aero bars. My gearing is 36×19. Hubs are an Industry Nine 1×1 in the rear and a SON dynamo hub up front powering a Sinewave Beacon for light and charging electronics. (There are) 29×2.25-inch Vittoria Mezcal tires on RaceFace ARC30 rims.

BAGS: Custom frame bag, full top tube bag, handlebar bag and “Lebarski” stem bags all made by my friend Zach of South City Stitchworks. Oveja Negra Gearjammer housing my sleep kit. I also used a Camelbak hydration pack with extra pockets.

GEAR HIGHLIGHTS: My sleep kit consists of a Mountain Laurel bivy, Klymit Inertia X pad and a 40-degree Sea to Summit down sleeping bag. Mini bluetooth speaker. Nitecore 10,000mah cache battery. Gremlin bell from Doom to ward off evil spirits.

Jesse Davis
Manteo, North Carolina
Men’s Winner, Full Loop

BIKE: Kona Raijin set up with drop bars and a Fox 34 Stepcast fork. The drivetrain is Rival/GX AXS with some blips under the aerobars. The wheels are generic carbon rims laced to an Industry Nine hub in the back and a Son Dynamo up front.

BAGS: Ortlieb small roll on the bars and a small Revelate Designs Spinelock on the seat. Tailfin medium stem bag and an Apidura cargo bag for fixin’s.

GEAR HIGHLIGHTS: I’m running the kLite array to keep electronics topped off. The sleep kit will be puffy pants and a jacket with a SOL bivy. A Black Diamond hydration vest for cargo purposes.

Thomas Miller
Austin, Texas
Winner, Ozark Odyssey

BIKE: My Giant Revolt Advanced, with a Shimano GRX Limited mechanical drivetrain. The wheels are a White Industries/Sapim Laser/Light Bicycle AR25 build, wrapped with 700x45mm Silk Shield Maxxis Ramblers. Shimano XTR pedals, Wolf Tooth Ti bottle cages, a Pro Stealth Curved Saddle and $30 Amazon aero bars round things out.

BAGS: I’ve been using the Leadout Racelite frame and top tube bag, paired with a PNW seat post bag. For extra hydration, I have a 2-liter USWE backpack with an additional pocket for snacks.

GEAR HIGHLIGHTS: I’ll be using a Garmin 530, as well as a Bryton S800 GPS unit. My Garmin has a habit of forgetting to alert me to turns, so my Bryton will stay on breadcrumbs to ensure that I remain on course.

Natalie Peet
Bentonville
Women’s Winner, Central Loop

BIKE: Chumba Yaupon Ti, this is the bike that Alexandera Houchin set the Tour Divide single speed record on. She loaned it to me for this race season.

BAGS: A full-length top tube and feed bag from my friend Sam at Buckhorn Bags here in Fayetteville. Accompanied by a cheetah print and black frame bag from Dispersed.

GEAR HIGHLIGHTS: An emergency bivy for shelter and a Doom gremlin bell to ward off evil spirits.

Matt Porter
Bella Vista
Overall Winner, Central Loop

BIKE: An Otso Waheela C frame with Enve wheels wrapped in Pirelli Cinturato 50mm rubber. I am running a SRAM X0 derailleur, Red crank and brakes, and wireless blips on the TT bars. Navigation from the Coros Dura bike computer. Lighting from Exposure, Toro headlight and a small head torch.

BAGS: South City Stitchworks Custom top tube bag, 3/4 frame bag, 3-liter saddle bag.

GEAR HIGHLIGHTS: The bags are absolute perfection. Never thought I would say that a battery is my kit highlight, but my Nitecore 10,000mAh battery bank is amazing.