RxTx Grand Depart January 3, 2027

An epic adventure in ultra endurance cycling!

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A message from our Race Director Tyler Reynolds shown above competing in the Texas Showdown ride series.

There is so much more to Texas than what meets the eye. Over the last six years, I have enjoyed exploring Texas’ many diverse regions and cultures. The life to be found here rivals my experiences around the world, and I’ll bet a brisket dinner that this land will stay with you forever.

I am pleased to present you with RxTx. Should you dare to sign up and show up, RxTx promises to be equal parts challenging and rewarding.

This will be a logistical nightmare. There will be every riding condition imaginable. There will be all types of road, gravel, and single-track. A rider should expect incredible winds, biblical rains, and flooding. They should also expect overbearing sunshine, water scarcity, and extreme remoteness with 150+ miles between resupplies. It will be oppressively hot. It will be freezing cold. There will be alligator filled swamps, piney forests, rolling hills, lonely endless deserts, jagged mountains...and it’ll be uphill in both directions too!

There does not exist a bike that will be the perfect choice for this…

In addition to the above, there will also be unique beauty. Watching the trees go by in the forests will inspire. Longhorns are the best listeners as you pass through hill country. West Texas desert sunsets will feel like they were designed just for you when you need company the most. The rural towns and people will offer hospitality that will reaffirm your faith in humanity. And the food!! Pfffft good thing you’ll be hungry!

Sign up is by application only, and spots are limited. To inquire about participating in our historic grand depart, please email me at Tyler@xTexas.org for our official application questionnaire.

 P.S. There is no way I am not coming to my own party. I’ll be racing with you!

-Tyler Reynolds

The RxTx Rules

This event will follow traditional ultra solo rules. Failure to comply with the rules will result in disqualification and an unrecognized attempt in terms of a leaderboard.

Should a participant decide to willingly deviate from the rules and continue the route on their own terms, they are required to submit written notice to the xTexas Trail Association. The effort will be celebrated but an official completion time will not be recognized.

    • Solo, unsupported, under your own power, without the systemic help of others.

    • This means no teams. Riders should carry all their own gear and have their own strategy.

    • No pacers.

    • Family and friends who are not actively participating in RxTx shall not visit participants.

    • Riders may not book accommodations ahead of the event but can book lodgings during the event as needed.

    • Riders may not mail supply caches ahead of the event.

    • Riders may not enter a vehicle for any reason whatsoever. Not even a parked one for shade or climate control.

    • Riders must follow all rules and obey proper check in procedures for all state parks and national parks and forests on the route.

    • It is advised to purchase an annual Texas State Park Pass ahead of time, as well as a pass for the Sam Houston National Forest, Big Bend National Park, and Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

    • A rider should expect media teams present at any part of the race and are encouraged to interact.

    • Under no condition is the rider allowed to accept help or supplies from the media team.

    • No asshole rule. Respect all communities, cultures, and laws.

    • Respect all private property. There will be no trespassing.

  • Finish times and positions will be captured via spot trackers

The RxTx Route

Gravel, dirt, trail, paved road, piney woods, up and down hill country, and vast deserts. The RxTx will closely follow the full xTexas Trail route with cycling specific modifications. It’s got something for everyone and then some. Saddle up!

Note: The full route is mapped out on Ride with GPS - however - it will be edited and distributed before the Grand Depart.

Think you have what it takes?

The xTexas Trail Association is hosting the RxTx (pronounced RexTex) inaugural ultra endurance cycling Grand Depart on 1/3/27 starting from the Louisiana border at the southern end of the Toledo Bend Reservoir.

The ride will follow the full 1,500-mile xTexas Trail route rambling through the heart of rural Texas over a two-week period. The inaugural Grand Depart will be limited to 30 qualified riders chosen from an official application process.

This will be an unsupported effort.

To apply, send a note to our Ride Director Tyler Reynolds: Tyler@xTexas.org

The application deadline is Friday, December 4th by midnight.

Become a RxTx Partner!

Please see our interest form at the bottom of this page to become a partner in this groundbreaking inaugural event!

Sign up for RxTx only update!

Please see our sign up form at the bottom of this page!

RxTx Media Releases & Images

COMING SOON!

Media contact: Melissa Balmer Email: Melissa@ xTexas.org. Cell (360) 265-2883 (please text first with your outlet name and contact ).

The full xTexas Trail Route

Meet the RxTx Team

Promotional Partner Patrick Farnsworth - Bikes or Death Podcast/Texas Showdown Creator

Patrick Farnsworth is the host of the Bikes or Death Podcast and the creator of the Texas Showdown Series.

Patrick has been an avid cyclist and outdoorsman since his days in the Boy Scouts. Bikes or Death and the Texas Showdown Series are simply an extension of his love for cycling and the great outdoors.

Patrick and his family call College Station, Texas home, but you can often find him rambling down some remote gravel road in east Texas or hitting the MTB trails of northwest Arkansas.

We are honored to have him as part of the storytelling team for the inaugural RxTx Grand Depart.

Videographer/Photographer Team Aaron Arnzen & Monica Foltz - Mixed Soil Media

Arnzen and Monica are the founders of Mixed Soil Media, a grassroots mixed-media collaborative capturing and distributing stories about sport, culture, and community. Rooted in a deep appreciation for both human-powered endurance pursuits and mixed-media journalism, they specialize in connecting faces to places with intimate, timely event coverage.

With a diverse background in multi-sport exploration and ultra-distance racing, both Aaron & Monica prioritize storytelling in a way that elevates ‘place’ as the catalyst between faces and the experiences being shared along the way. Based in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, you can find them somewhere between the undulating trails and spring-fed rivers of the greater Ozarks

Are you an organization, brand, or community along the trail that would like to be a promotional partner for the inaugural RxTx event? Please fill out the following details and we’ll email you the partnership perks and benefits deck.

All promotional partners will be celebrated on our RxTx website, in our email newsletter, and social media, traditional media outreach.

Yes, the xTexas Trail Association is a registered 501c3 non-profit.

Thanks for your interest!

Deadline for interest: Friday, December 4th, 2026.

Tyler ReynoldS - RxTx Ride Director

Tyler is one of the newest Board Members of the xTexas Trail Association. He is currently the Market Lead for five Trek stores in the Houston area and a veteran of the United States Coast Guard.

While serving in the Coast Guard he began training for what he thought would be his ultimate ultra distance event, the Tenzing Hilary Everest Marathon, starting at 19k feet elevation. He was wrong. Once he discovered ultra distance cycling he reinvented his entire life around bikes and learning how to ride ever greater distances. This includes ditching a promising energy career to develop a career in the bike industry with Trek.

In 2024 he attempted the Arizona Trail Race and wasn’t happy with the results. He went back to the drawing board, reinvented his riding approach from the ground up, and has enjoyed very strong finishes since.

In 2025 he became the first and only person to ever complete all three of the Texas Showdown Series races in a single calendar year, and enjoyed 1st and 2nd place finishes at each. He also enjoyed first place victory at the Ouachita Triple Crown in Arkansas. All of this on a single speed bike.

Tyler likes to say that cycling is a metaphor for life. Every life decision he’s made since taking up cycling has been in line with allowing him to ride a bike and share it with others. Bikes have allowed him to see the world’s cultures and taught him lessons that can be applied to every obstacle he navigates.

In Tyler’s words, xTx and RxTx are projects that have the capacity to make a positive impact on millions of people for generations to come. Creating RxTx to share the love, communities, lessons, and mental and physical health benefits that come from riding bikes in Texas will be more rewarding than any race victory he can ever dream of.

Promotional Partner Interest Form

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