This is a bike event in a park with friends. There are others like it. Everyone's invited, the vibe is queer bike summer camp. There will be an expo, there will be on and off-bike education opportunities, there will be bike riding, there will be a trail run, there can be swimming, there will be a scavenger hunt. You can choose to do all of these things or none.

The gale force winds of a recession are blowing. We can feel them and so can you. This is cheaper, scrappier, and hopefully just as fun. We're trying something different and hope you're open to something different to.

This is a fundraiser for All Bikes Welcome and our Bikepacking gear library in Fayetteville.

It’s also an earnest attempt to build an event that doesn’t exist yet exist here in Arkansas. There are many variations of this style of event in other places. Some center the alt-bike culture of steel frames and plush rubber, some are fighting to defend our public lands from being strip mined out of existence, others are a celebration of bikes without the competition. These are our friends and these are our touchstones.

Our event is a lightning rod here in the south for folks near and far in search of kindred spirits. It is open to all but unapologetically queer and exists to empower people on the margins to explore the wonderful sport of riding bikes with your friends.

This is a low stakes opportunity to start exploring the wide world of grassroots events and routes on offer here in Arkansas and beyond. A chance to make a friend. An opportunity to leave with a new skill and a spark.

Grit exists to empower everyone to seek out challenges, adventures, and friendship through the outdoors.

We’re building a world together even if it's only ours for a moment.

Lake Leatherwood is a beautiful 1,600 acre park with 25 miles of Downhill and XC Mountain bike trails.

Amenities include showers, fishing, swimming, a playground for the young at heart and of age, electric hookups, water, and more!

You'll have a chance to ride the surrounding trails and gravel roads of Eureka Springs on our Sunday rides!

Check out the trail map here!

A campsite is included in your ticket!

We have rented out (almost) the entire park! There will be large fields to camp in addition to designated sites that are first come first serve!

Check out the map here!

We'll have food trucks on-site through the weekend and a community meal on Saturday.

More details to come here!

Lake Leatherwood is a mountain bike park and the trails there are best experienced on a mountain bike.

That said, our shortest distance rides on Sunday are designed to be quite accessible and could be ridden on a hybrid or something with at-least ~36mm tires.

We'll have mountain bikes available to demo for those interested in trying out something different!

Your favorite bike snacks, a camp stove and food, camping gear for a couple nights under the stars, repair kit for your bicycle, a donation for our gear library (we'll trade for a raffle ticket!), your friend who's curious about bikes.

Move through this weekend with intention, respect, deference, and care for the people who are possibly showing up to a bike event for the first time.

Set a standard for what our community can be. Make people want to attend another group ride, bikepacking event, or race after this.

In the evergreen words of mountain guide and chaplain Lucas Novak “The more room there is for the many of us, the more room there is for the entirety of us.” Let’s become more whole by inviting others that have long been absent from this sport into our communities and our lives.