The Rule Of Three: Blending Gravel & Grit

We sit down with Rule of Three co-founders Andy Chasteen and Lauren Pickman to unpack how a simple Bentonville idea became a sold-out fixture blending gravel, pavement, and singletrack into a single unforgettable ride. From the early spark to the first-year surge of 700 riders, the story charts the beloved community-driven race.

The experience spans a full week of cycling culture. We preview the Rapha Clubhouse opening, the Send It South music vibe at the Momentary, and  spotlight community partners who turn aid stations into destinations—Thaden Cycling’s quesadillas, Bearded Goat’s treats, and more. Spots sell out quickly, but the waitlist is open and volunteers are the heartbeat of race day. Whether you’re racing, cheering, or lending a hand, you’ll find a place in this story. 

A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.  

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Transcript

Meet The Creators Of Rule Of Three

Nat Ross 0:07

Welcome back to the bike edition of Visit Bentonville's Podcast. I'm your host, Nat Ross. Today we've got Andy Chasteen and Lauren Pickman. We're going to talk about the exciting event coming up, Rule of Three. Welcome back to the bike edition of Visit Bentonville's Podcast. This is a New American Town. I'm your host, Nat Ross. Today we've got two special guests. We've got Andy Chasteen and Lauren Pickman in the studio. So a little bit of context here. There is a big event coming up, and it's the talk of the town. And it's also more than the talk of the town. It's basically creating a new peaked interest in cycling. So let's talk about the event and dive right into it. So Andy Lauren, the event that we're going to talk about and learn quite a bit about today from you two is the brainchild of the rule of three. You guys founded it, started it, and have been putting it on for a while. Rule of three is a bike race, and it's an intriguing bike race at that. So, Andy, fill us in on the rule of three.

Andy 1:12

First of all, thanks for uh having us, Nat. We're happy to be on here. Rule of three. I guess if you're local, you probably know what the rule of three is, but um it's really kind of this mixture of gravel pavement and uh mountain bike racing all in one. And when I say race, I say that very lightly. Um it's really just a good day on the bike, a good time. I think if we were gonna start somewhere, we would have to start um in the beginning, and that would be what would that be, Lauren? 2018, 19?

Lauren 1:41

2019.

Andy 1:42

2019. So Lauren's husband and I, Sam, we were riding prototype Allied Able gravel bikes on the almost finished tunnel vision trail one day and got this wild idea to put on an event that would be like this mixture of gravel and mountain bike trails and and some you know pavement mixed in. And we sat on it for quite a few years just because we were busy and had a lot of things going on. But it eventually to make a very, very long story short, it eventually kind of turned into the Rule of Three. And Lauren and I partnered up to co-found this event back in would that have been 2021?

Lauren 2:22

2020.

Andy 2:23

2020. I'm way off. She's got all the good information she's gonna be able to do. We're diving in the archives.

Lauren 2:28

I might need to fact check that.

What The Race Actually Is

Andy 2:30

You should have asked her these questions. But uh anyways, yeah. So that that's kind of like that's kind of how it all kind of kind of came about. And you know, the first year that we we were gonna put it on, you know, it was during the COVID era, and we really thought that it would be like this super small, intimate event with uh, you know, maybe two 200 of our friends, right? And that would be a good launching point for the event to grow and be sustainable for the future. But what we end up having 700 people the first year or something like that. So it kind of like blew up on us immediately, and we kind of thought we had something special. And and I guess the rest is history. We sell out super quick every year. We keep it very limited on uh riderships. We only allow sixteen hundred people in. We don't want it to get bigger than that. Because it kind of keeps an uh an intimate I guess feel I mean, uh it's still big, but like it keeps it to where you feel at least you feel like you could know everyone there, even if you might not, you know what I mean? So that's it. Yeah, that's what that's what we do. And uh it's super fun.

Nat Ross 3:27

So, Lauren, let's talk about the three disciplines because it's intriguing, and I think um for a lot of people, they're curious about what bike to use, uh, what the race is. What does it mean to participate in rule of three?

Lauren 3:39

Yeah, I think the the main question I always get when I start to explain it is okay, wait, so do you switch bikes during the race? And the answer is no, you have to actually choose one bike, which is tricky because now this is our sixth year coming up. And one of the beautiful things about living here in Northwest Arkansas is we have an infinite amount of routes, trails, roads, gravel that we get to play around with. So every year we have a new route that you get to explore. And so with that, some years we'll have a lot of single track, and some years we'll have a lot less single track. And so the route uh will kind of dictate the bike that you choose. Now, with the longer distance of 115, typically everyone's uh riding a gravel bike with pretty, pretty wide tires. The 60 mile, the middle distance, you typically can go either way. Um, but again, it really just depends on the route. Um and we like to kind of wait to the last second to reveal what the course is going to be like. And so, yeah, it's an extremely challenging ride because you're adding the single track in there, um, especially if you're on your gravel bike. So, what might take someone, let's just say six hours to do a hundred-mile gravel ride, this is probably gonna add on another two hours, let's say. So it's a lot, um it takes a lot longer and it's a lot more physical on your body. Um, so you pretty much can be guaranteed to pass when you finish the race, you're going to be completely cratered no matter what distance that you choose.

Andy 5:27

So I can imagine Nat knows that. I've seen videos of Nat cramping up in a mid mid-event.

Lauren 5:34

Yeah, I think Nat, you've done it every year. So you could probably talk about that too.

Nat Ross 5:38

Yeah, I think I think the community just absolutely can't wait for this time of year. Um, you already see people out training. There's also an element that you can do, a community style with your buds and your people. Um and and what talk about the relay or that element instead of just the solo pursuit.

Andy 5:54

Yeah, we have a team category, which actually I think is the coolest category that we offer. You know, it's it it allows it's a three-person team, and you basically, you know, you ride the whole course together all day. You have to start together, you have to finish together, you have checkpoints along the way that are kind of fun and quirky. Sometimes you have to go swimming to get a rock out of the bottom of a creek, or you have to uh ride a little kid's bike, or you have to push a watermelon with your head for however many yards. And so some, you know, that's a pretty fun, you know, aspect of the event as well. I think it's the coolest part, but we do offer that as well as a category. And that's in the 115 and the 60 mile categories as well.

One Bike, Three Terrains

Nat Ross 6:34

So, Lauren, for those coming in from out of town, um, what type of facilities are there? Can people camp? And on top of that, what does the weekend look like? Because it's a it's more than a weekend. Um, rule of three, when it is in town, you can tell.

Lauren 6:47

Yeah, that's right. We always say come early, stay late. We have a calendar of events for the entire week. And this year, we're gonna kick it off with the grand opening of the brand new Rafa Clubhouse that weekend in Bentonville. And that's gonna be really fun. So we'll start with things the Saturday prior to the race day. So race day is May 16th. Um, and we'll have really fun things for you to do every single day up until the day after the race on Sunday. So you really could come for over a week and just have unlimited fun.

Nat Ross 7:22

Aaron Powell What type of community groups are involved, like who maybe see at a checkpoint out there kind of when you're rolling out and maybe need help or or want to see a familiar face?

Lauren 7:33

Yeah, we have a ton of community support doing these aid stations and checkpoints. For instance, one of the best aid stations is with Thaden Cycling. The Thaden School is an amazing school here in Bentonville, and their cycling team puts on a really killer aid station. Last year they had Quesadillas. Uh, we have Bearded Goat sponsors a checkpoint with donuts. I'm just gonna say that. I I urge you to sign up for the race and find out for yourself what you're gonna do with donuts. Um, and we have Pellet Forward doing an aid station, and they're a nonprofit here in town getting more bikes for people in need. We just have a plethora of community sponsors wanting to support this race, and that's what it's really about. We try to partner with community nonprofits, partners, anyone who really wants to support the growth of cycling in our town and in general.

Distances, Routes, And Timing

Nat Ross 8:31

Aaron Powell Well, it's exploding. And uh Andy, one of the secret sauce elements that you bring to the table is uh you've been an event promoter for many, many years or decades, and and multiple disciplines. So um you're no stranger to sold-out events and no stranger to events that go on and are a big community piece. But um when you guys put together the rule of three, you kind of were saying it it's been growing and it's doing something that you didn't quite anticipate in the beginning. But what's the most rewarding part for you, Andy, since your job's related to the bike quite a bit and you're on the bike a lot, including this weekend when you just went for a mad long distance ride. What does at the end of the day and the end of the weekend, what gets you excited to put this on again year after year?

Andy 9:19

Well, first of all, I like to tell people I'm not an event promoter. That's just something that I like to do on the side for uh maybe a hobby. Lauren is actually the muscle behind the event. I I mean I had to say that, but like I think what really is rewarding for me is just seeing the look on the people's faces when they come through and then just getting feedback saying that was the best day I've ever had on the bike and the worst day I've ever had on the bike all at once. And I I think that's the most rewarding part of putting on a cool event that is very community centered and driven is that everyone who kind of shows up every year gets to feel like they own a little piece of the event. And I think that's the core of why I want to be involved in this event. So I I'm I I guess in a nutshell, that's really the the the uh the reward for me for sure.

Team Category And Quirky Checkpoints

Lauren 10:05

I feel the same way. You know, everyone is going through something in their lives, and you tend to forget about that. You're like, oh, this a bike race is coming up. But really, it's an opportunity for someone to forget about what's going on in their life for that day. It's an opportunity for people to come up with a training plan and kind of show up for themselves and show themselves what they're able to accomplish with some hard work and determination. And again, like what Andy said, people crossing the finish line, them telling you their story after, often with tears. It's you know, we're putting on a really fun event for our town and for our friends, but it is amazing to hear the stories of how this fun event that we love to put on is really impacting people's lives. It's really touching and really rewarding.

Nat Ross 11:03

Um Another thing too is you guys are putting more people on single track, whether you know it or not. You can tell by Strava, you can see by the routes, and and you're doing it on drop bars, different platforms. And it single track riding for a lot of folks has been intimidating, but you seem to have opened up the doors in the gateway.

Andy 11:20

Yeah, I mean, I I think, you know, not all, but uh a lot of the gravel, let's say, gravel event space. A lot of those folks are coming from like maybe road racing or fondos or whatever the case may be. And so it can be pretty intimidating if you're not a mountain biker having to ride, you know, 15 miles of single track in a hundred and fifteen mile day. But we do we do a lot of training rides. We do rule of 399, which is a cool little, hey, get your feet wet, practice your single track. And it's really cool to see people open up and take a few chances on the single track, whereas maybe they would have never done it before, and you know, which is really cool for sure.

Nat Ross 11:59

Um elaborate on rule of 399 and then let's go into uh the festival component too that ends at the momentary, but back to rule 399.

Andy 12:08

Yeah, Lauren, do you want you want to talk about it or do you want me to?

Lauren 12:11

What does 399 mean to you, Andy?

Come Early, Stay Late: Event Week

Andy 12:16

Rule of 399 originated as a is what we called rule of free. And it was a free event that we put on. But what we what it kind of evolved into this uh a fundraiser for pedal it forward. And three dollars and ninety-nine cents is essentially what you pay to do this event. You sign up for I think the registration is like $43, something like that, in change. And then if you show up on game day and you check in, you get your registration back minus $3.99, which is the bike reg fee, right? Um so that's that's how it's all worked out. But if you don't show up on the day of the event, uh that money goes directly to Peddle Forward. And then a lot of people will show up and they'll check in and say, Hey, I want you to give that $40 whatever dollars to peddle it forward anyways. And so what it does is it ends up being this huge fundraiser uh for our friends at Peddle It Forward, which they have an awesome mandate here in Northwest Arkansas of getting people in need on bikes, which I think that's amazing. And so it's basically a community ride in the middle of the winter time to get people on their bikes to get kind of get you like uh kickstarted into the season, right? Um and then we have pizza and beer and all kinds of fun stuff at the f at the finish. And then this year we changed our date of $3999 to coincide with Send It South Festival, which is the winter mountain bike music festival um at the momentary. So we've got it that morning and then Send It South happens that afternoon and even so we wanted to kind of change our date to where people could be free to to partake in Send It South as well, because we'll be there. That's for sure.

Lauren 13:52

Especially people coming in from out of town. It gives them amazing uh events and uh music to listen to all weekend long.

Nat Ross 13:59

Oh man, you guys, you don't stop like the elevation and the experience for this. Um there is uh we have a couple minutes left. I want to talk about the Hazel Valley rally because you guys do you prep people for rule of three and you give them a platform to get into shape. So where is that event? Can they stay in town? Um, how easy is it to get back and forth?

Community Aid Stations And Partners

Lauren 14:17

This one is located in the Boston Mountains in Fayetteville. Um and so you can actually camp there in Hazel Valley or you can stay at a hotel. Um and yeah, this event we took over, it's been happening since 2010, I believe. And we took it over, I believe 2022. And it's an event that people have been doing for a long time. The course is all gravel, beautiful views, really hard climbing and descents. It's a challenging day. But again, it's a huge cycling community comes out for this one, about 500 people. And then afterwards we have barbecue, drinks, uh, we just have a great time with friends and making new friends. Um and so definitely one not to miss if you're in northwest Arkansas in April.

Nat Ross 15:08

Love it. Um back to Rule of Three, Andy. Chasing Payson now. It's an integrated element that you've incorporated this year. So um, and you can tell me um in the audience a little bit about Payson and his idea when he approached you guys. And then Lauren, let's uh finish up with what Chase and Payson looks like after Andy tells us what that piece is and how it incorporates into Rule Three.

Andy 15:31

Well, I would be happy to tell you all about that event, except for that I know nothing about it other than that it's happening and Lauren has been running the whole thing. So I'm gonna back off and let the expert talk about it. Is that okay? Yeah.

Lauren 15:44

So Chase and Payson. Payson is sponsored by Allied Cycleworks, and Allied is is from Northwest Arkansas. So Chase and Payson happened two years ago, and this is a Red Bull-sponsored event, and they had it at Kohler Mountain Bike Preserve. And if you're not from here and you come to town, please check out Kohler. It's beautiful. Mountain bike trails, greenway. But the event itself is really fun, and I we thought it would be really great to incorporate that event during the week of Rule of Three, kind of fits with our vibe and the week of really fun events. So this one, it'll be on Thursday, uh, the Thursday leading up to Rule of Three. And Red Bull will be sponsoring it. It'll be starting from downtown. And essentially, everyone's welcome, and everyone will start behind Payson and follow him slowly around a short loop, and he'll slowly go faster and faster. And he'll just really try to hold on for as long as possible. Um, and then afterwards, we'll head to the hub bike lounge for some drinks and food. Um, and so I think it'll be a really unique way to kind of come into town and do a shakeout ride with Payson a pro and everyone else coming into town to do this event.

Why It’s Rewarding For Organizers

Nat Ross 17:08

Shaking up the shakeup ride, the the shakeout. Um, there still will be a shakeout ride for those folks that may not want to partake in that. And then can you uh tell us where to go to register um for next year's event? Because this shouldn't already sold out. But if people want to come, where do they learn more about rule of three?

Andy 17:25

Well you can find it, you can find all that information on our website, rule of three.bike, and that's uh three is actually spelled out, not the number. So rule of three.bike. And we actually do have the wait list open. Okay. Um so we are sold out, but inevitably an a larger events have some sort of attrition, right? Before the event starts, people get hurt while they're training, or they get sick, or maybe they got family obligations or whatever the case may be. And so we do end up letting every year, you know, a couple hundred people in off the wait list, just replacing people who can't make it. Makes sense. So I would suggest if you are interested, jump on the wait list. And if not, better luck next year, I guess. Or come and volunteer for us. Oh, yes.

Lauren 18:05

Um, and you can volunteer by going to Bike Reg. There's uh a volunteer registration link. And it's free to join to be a volunteer, and then you get amazing swag.

Andy 18:15

Love it. That's right. Love it. So volunteers have a pretty good time. At least it seems like it, because they're all dressed up in costume.

Nat Ross 18:21

Well, especially at the end of the day, even if the weather is uh cold or wet, everybody is at the end of the day coming together. The community. Having a big party, finish line party for sure. Great. Well, Lauren, um, we know you got a lot of work to do. It's a lot of planning um and and a big event coming up. But Andy, thanks for having both of you on the show. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, we're excited. Ready to explore Bitonville? Check out visitbittenville.com for dining guides, event calendars, and trip planning tools. Follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter. Links are in the show notes. Thanks for listening to A New American Town. I'm your host, Natt Ross.