Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – May 31, 2025 – Thrill seekers and cycling enthusiasts came together for a weekend of camaraderie and friendly competition as part of the first annual Skirmish Delta Gravel Festival.
The event, organized by All Sports Productions, brought in over 200 cyclists from 15 different states and offered four different courses for beginning to advanced gravel cyclists, ranging from the 24-mile “Having Fun” Skirmish to the 100-mile full Skirmish.
Craig Rickert, Executive Director of the Jonesboro Advertising and Promotion Commission, said the event has been a long time coming.
“We have been working on this event for about eight months,” Rickert said. “It has involved a lot of things, including getting sponsors lined up and just the logistics of pulling off an event of this size. When your event covers over one hundred miles and three different counties, there’s a lot of volunteers and officials that need to be brought in to make it happen as well as it has.”
Local businesses like Gearhead Outfitters and clubs like the Jonesboro Ridge Riders served as inspiration for the event, as gravel cycling grows in popularity.
“The inspiration for this event came from Jonesboro’s growing love of cycling,” Rickert said. “It’s been very cool to see so many people get involved in this sport because gravel cycling is such a growing sport in outdoor recreation. We knew it was Jonesboro’s time to get in and be a part of it.”
Starting in Jonesboro and traveling to Harrisburg and back, cyclists got to experience firsthand the beauty of Crowley’s Ridge and the Arkansas Delta, making the rides an unforgettable experience.
“Most gravel cycling races involve big-time climbs and falls that are very challenging, or they’re completely flat,” Rickert said. “This one, because of our Delta farmland and Crowley’s Ridge, is set up for a very unique course that gives the best of both worlds.”
Misty Buchanon traveled all the way from Kentucky for the event and was the first woman to complete the 43-mile race, coming in second place overall. She said she found out about the event through her husband, who recently competed in the Highlands Gravel Classic in Fayetteville.
“My husband and one of his other friends did the Highlands Gravel race in Fayetteville this spring,” she said. “They found this festival online, looking for something else to do. They like the gravel, so they were gonna come. I said, ‘If you’re coming, I’m coming too.’”
Buchanon said that cycling is a freeing experience and a good change of pace from other outdoor sports like running marathons, another activity she enjoys.
“I just love it, I absolutely love it. That freedom of riding a bike down a hill—you can’t bottle that,” she said.
Addy Laferney, a member of the Jonesboro Ridge Riders, shared that her favorite part of the event was the encouraging community of cyclists.
“All of the people who do this are super nice,” she said. “They cheer you on and support you no matter what. It’s a really great community.”
In addition to the competition races, there was also a family-friendly ride Saturday morning, leaving from downtown Jonesboro to the Arkansas State University campus and back. Members of the public and cyclists alike could enjoy live music, local vendors, and bounce houses on Main Street.
The event is planned to become a staple for Jonesboro festivals and will happen again next year.
“I want people to be excited from the beginning about the Skirmish,” Rickert said. “This is an event for everybody, not just those who like to ride bikes and hit the gravel. This is for all of us.”
See the results here.
