Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame 2023; Photo Dump

Your Corporate Overlords drive an SUV.

I took a bunch of images while on my trip to the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame ceremonies and I thought I might go ahead and share those with you all today. 

These do not all have a direct connection to the GCHoF thing, but as you all know, UNBOUND week has several satellite events attached to it now and the GCHoF thing is one of those. 

In this photo dump I may or may not have some commentary for each image. There was a lot to take in and what impresses me more than anything else about UNBOUND is how large and overwhelming it has become. 

No longer is it a place to "meet your gravel family" because, truthfully, you could easily never see someone that is there due to the vast amount of people coming into the area for the week. Yes, I said the week. 

That's the other thing. This event is not a Friday-Saturday thing anymore. I saw more people on bicycles and wandering around that were out-of-towners than I ever have on a Wednesday before an event. Even Tuesday, when we arrived, you could easily find out-of-towners on bicycles cruising around. So, this event has major impact, not only economically, but in terms of the local residents as well. I'll have more to say about that in my final take on UNBOUND coming soon. For now, the images.....

There is something about the Flint Hills that hits differently.

Mrs. Guitar Ted and I ate at Casa Rojas on Tuesday evening. While the service was its usual top-tier and beyond reproach, the quality of the food wasn't up to snuff. This was a big disappointment for us. I remember this place having excellent Mexican cuisine in the past, but now it is just average fare. 

Some women's wind jackets that looked like something a rock star would wear. As seen in Merchant Cycles.

The Shimano vans were easy to spot. This is one of two that were there plus they had a "team car" as well.

I'm on the right just ahead of the rider in the foreground. Image by Jeff Kerkove.

Image by Jeff Kerkove

The efforts put forth to document every sweat bead shed at UNBOUND is amazing.

Image by Phyllis Stevenson

I ended my time in Emporia with my appearance for a recording of the "Gravel Family Podcast" in front of Merchant Cycles on Thursday morning. Normally I do not EVER get interviewed, so this was a fun change of pace. 

Sofia Gibson and Jason Strobehn do a great job of putting the show together and had some great questions lined up for me. I'll try to make sure I get a link thrown up here whenever that show is ready to go. I think they had six guests planned for recording so it may take a bit for this to show up. But I'll try to share it here when it does. 

I'll have an essay about the whole Emporia scene at Unbound coming out soon. Stay tuned.....