BorderLands Gravel

BorderLands Gravel is built with the support of people and organizations throughout Cochise County, and we’re grateful to have Cochise College as one of our local partners.

This year, Cochise College is helping fuel the adventure by providing Clif Bars for every racer.

It may seem like a small detail, but this is a big deal when you’re putting in miles on remote gravel roads across the Arizona borderlands.

More importantly, we love seeing a local institution step up to support an event that brings riders from across Arizona and beyond to experience Douglas and Cochise County.

Thank you, Cochise College, for supporting our racers and being part of BorderLands Gravel.

Not all gravel is created equal.

Around Douglas, “gravel” can mean fast hardpack one mile, washboard the next, loose rock after that, and increasingly raw primitive road as you push deeper into the borderlands.

Geronimo Trail Road definitely isn’t a manicured gravel path. And that’s part of what makes riding here so good.

Grava de Clase Mundial.

With USA Cycling adding gravel to the collegiate racing landscape, college cyclists have a new discipline to train for, race, and represent their schools in.

Consider BorderLands Gravel your fall proving ground.

Arizona gravel racers, this one is for you.

One day.
One race.
One chance to become an Arizona Gravel Champion.

The Arizona Gravel Championship comes to Borderlands Gravel in Douglas this fall.

You show up. You race. We crown the champions.

Oh, and anyone can win, whether you live in AZ or not.

Register: https://bit.ly/48ojCpE

BorderLands Gravel doesn’t happen in isolation.

It takes a lot of people, organizations, agencies, businesses, and communities working together to bring a gravel race to this corner of Arizona.

Today, we want to give a special shoutout to our partners at Cochise County - Government.

This race gives us an opportunity to showcase something much bigger than a rad course or a festive finish line. It allows us to introduce riders to the wide-open landscapes, remote gravel roads, history, culture, and communities that make Cochise County such a remarkable place to explore.

We’re proud to have Cochise County as part of what we’re building.

Because ultimately, BorderLands Gravel is about putting this entire corner of Arizona on the gravel map.

Douglas isn’t your typical cycling destination.

That’s exactly why BorderLands Gravel belongs here.

This is a working border town in the far southeastern corner of Arizona. A place shaped by ranching, mining, the railroad, generations of cross-border connection, and a history that stretches long before there was a line separating the United States and Mexico.

It has rough edges.
It also has character.
That’s part of the experience.

BorderLands Gravel comes with rough edges.

Out here, the landscape and gravel roads are raw. The roads are hella remote. There are long stretches where it feels like you have the entire desert to yourself.

There’s a certain ruggedness to the borderlands region and racing out here.

And that’s the point.

Collegiate cycling has long meant road racing, mountain biking, cyclocross, track, and BMX.

Now add gravel to the list.

USA Cycling held its inaugural Collegiate Gravel National Championships in Turkey, Texas, in March 2026, officially bringing one of cycling’s fastest-growing disciplines into the collegiate racing landscape.

For college cyclists across Arizona and around the country, that creates a new question: How do you prepare for collegiate gravel in the spring?

BorderLands Gravel would like to offer one possible answer.

Come race in the Arizona borderlands this fall.

Collegiate Gravel Is Here. BorderLands Gravel Wants College Cyclists to Come Test Themselves. — BorderLands Gravel Collegiate gravel racing is here. Discover why BorderLands Gravel in Douglas, Arizona, is an ideal off-season challenge for college cyclists and cycling teams.

How much of the Arizona-Sonora borderlands do you want to take on this fall?

LONG COURSE | 90.7 MILES
The big one. A full day of rugged gravel, wide-open desert, remote roads, and crosses into New Mexico.

MEDIUM COURSE | 58.8 MILES
Plenty of miles to make it an adventure, with a little less commitment than the Long Course. A great option for riders ready to push themselves and experience some serious borderlands gravel.

SHORT COURSE | 37.1 MILES
Shorter does not mean boring. Get a taste of the terrain, scenery, and experience that make riding along the border wall a unique experience.

Three distances. One collective borderlands adventure.

Nov. 14 | Register: https://bit.ly/48ojCpE

From the very beginning, Art Car World has been an instrumental partner in helping bring Borderlands Gravel to life.

And so has the person behind it, Harrod Blank.

Harrod has brought an incredible amount of creativity, energy, and imagination to Douglas. Through Art Car World, he has created something wonderfully unexpected in the middle of the Arizona borderlands and helped add to the creative spirit that makes this community such an interesting place to visit.

Yes, come for the gravel. But take some time to explore Douglas, meet the people who call it home, and discover places like Art Car World that you probably won’t find anywhere else.

We’re grateful to Harrod and Art Car World for believing in Borderlands Gravel from the beginning and for continuing to be such an important part of what we’re building here.