706 North Railroad Ave.

Opelika, Alabama

8:00 am Central Time

Our newest event in the Gravel Roll world is the Opelika Okey Dokey (say Ohkee-Dohkee).

Opelika means "Big Swamp" in the Creek language, and you'll ride past dozens of creeks and over bridges seemingly lost to time and space. But don't worry, there's none of the loose stuff here, just hard red dirt interspersed with a sprinkling of gravel across miles and miles of twisting and rolling terrain.

You'll ride through endless timberland and spooky hollows and be rewarded with occasional views of the Fall Line as it stretches across the landscape. Look closely and you may even discover another Appalachiosaurus hiding in plain sight in the road berms.

If you are looking to put some finishing touches on your Unbound training this is the perfect course. While Unbound will lack the curving roads, the short and recurring undulations of the Okey Dokey mimic much of what you will experience in Kansas.

While the courses are visible we will confirm them about two weeks out. It's not that we are trying to keep it a big secret but often times we are refining the route, or there are washouts, controlled burns (which you think they'd post that...) or even timber being pulled which we don't always get notified about. If you have specific questions feel free to reach out to us.

Short: 34.4 mi - 2,155’ Elevation 8 am Central Time Start!

Intermediate: 65.2 mi - 4,304’ Elevation 8 am Central Time Start!

Long: 103.6 mi - 6,384’ Elevation 8 am Central Time Start!

Date: May 9th, 2026

Race Location: Opelika, AL

Start and Finish Line: In front of John Emerald Distilling Company

706 N Railroad Ave Opelika, AL 36801

Start Time: 8:00 AM Central Time!

Get ready for some fun. Our races will maximize your smiles-per-mile with a timed-segment race format.

Rather than just embracing the sufferfest of other races, we’re leaning into equal parts mash those pedals and party on two wheels. Ride with friends across each transfer stage, then drop the hammer through the finish of each timed segment. Regroup at the finish and ride together to the next segment.

Minimally, the Short course usually has one timed-segment, Intermediate course two timed-segments, and Long course will have three, covering up to 30-40% of the course distance. Segments starts and finishes are marked on the RideWithGPS routes linked above.

Medical support: We manage our own team of on-course medical support in order to reduce the load on rural EMS resources.

Fully-stocked aid stations: Each course will have 2-4 aid stations fully stocked with fresh fruit, soft drinks, sports hydration, snacks…charcuterie boards, small cheeses, PB&Js, cookies, happy dogs and on occasion Gravel Mom and Gravel Dad!

Mechanical and SAG support: Our roving support vehicles carry mechanical assistance in addition to medical support. We have 2-3 vehicles scattered throughout the courses in addition to the Golden-Cross staff vehicles and local EMS and LEO. No matter what happens on-course, we’ve got you covered. Your safety is our number one priority.

Raffle Ticket: Every registration receives a raffle ticket. Our post race raffles are some of the best in the industry, we do three raffles throughout the day and give away thousands of dollars in products from your favorite cycling brands like FSA-Vision and more! In fact, you can go to the FSAproshop.com right now and use code FSAGRAVELROLL26 to get 30% off just about anything. Take that as a token of thanks for reading this far.

Drink Tokens: For our 21+ Rollers there is two tokens or tickets that can be redeemed for alcoholic bevvies during our Aprés hangout.

Timed-segment race format: Our races include up to 5 timed segments on long courses, challenging riders over our favorite course sections. We’ve developed a new system when it comes to timing that utilizes a custom API with Webscorer.com to display results in realtime on our website and see people’s location on course.

Update 4/26/2024:

Please click here to find our special hotel rates. Final booking is about two weeks out to get these rates, so don’t delay.

We have been notified that Chewacla State Park camping is fully booked. We are working on additional options for camping as quickly as possible.