Arkadelphia to host mountain biking national championships

Editor’s note: The event featured in this article occurred in 2017 and 2018, but you’ll find other great happenings on our Events page.

More good news for mountain biking in Arkansas. It has been announced that the 2017 and 2018 USA Cycling Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships will be in Arkadelphia.

The championships, which as of now are scheduled to take place in the spring, will be on a single-track course around DeGray Lake on the Iron Mountain Trail System.

Mountain bikers will have a preview of this style of race at the upcoming Iron Mountain Mountain Bike Marathon May 7, which is part of the Arkansas Mountain Biking Marathon Series. The race includes a 50 mile (on 2 laps) endurance race and a 25 mile (one lap) tour option.

The races are being put on by local racing event company DLT Events, which is run by Fred Phillips, who lives in Arkadelphia. Along with mountain biking events, the company puts on road cycling races, triathlons and other events.

“We here in Arkansas and DLT Events are excited to host such a prestigious event for USA Cycling,” said Phillips about the national championships via a news release.  “The Iron Mountain Trail System and DeGray Lake in Arkadelphia is a system that was designed and built to host national caliber events. We look forward to sharing our community and venue with American cyclists from all over the country.”

In other news, the trail system will also be used this year as part of the USA Triathlon Off-Road Triathlon National Championships which will be held on May 1.