The Long Way Across

The bridge at the top of this page is a long one. From where you start, you can't quite see the other side. You just know it's there, and you keep going.

That's about where we are this week.

It has been four days since we shared breakfast in Arkansas City. The trailers are home. The tents have been dried out, folded and counted. The coolers are clean, mostly. Our team is tired in the way you only get after a week like that one, and a few of us are still catching up on sleep.

Then there are the photos and videos. Thousands of them, from every aid station, every camp and every long table across the Delta. We're going through them one at a time, because every one of them is somebody's moment, and we want to get them right. As soon as they're ready, they'll be on the website for y'all to find yourselves in. We know you're waiting. We are too.

Three editions in, here is what we've learned: the week is the part everyone sees, and yet most of the Graveler happens the rest of the year.

It happens in the thank-you notes to Jonesboro, Marianna, Helena, Stuttgart and Arkansas City, in the conversations with our sponsors, and in the conversations with the folks in each town about what worked and what we can do better. It happens in reading every message you've sent us since Sunday. It happens on roads none of us have ridden yet, which someone has to go find.

So no, the 2026 Graveler being over doesn't mean we're done. It's quite the opposite. We're just getting started.

A bridge like that one doesn't get crossed in a hurry. You keep pedaling, you keep an eye on the people around you, and eventually the other side comes into view. That's the road we're on now, and we're glad to be on it with y'all.

Until the photos are up, and the next Field Note is written, come find us in the Arkansas Graveler Strava club, follow us on Instagram (@arkansas_graveler), and on Facebook (@arkansasgraveler). A lot of you are already there, posting rides and finding each other again. That's where the next stretch of this road starts and we want to share it with you.

More soon, Gravelers.