How Unbound Gravel went viral

Lauren De Crescenzo (Cinch Rise) uses the aerobars in front of a group during 2022 Unbound Gravel 200
Lauren De Crescenzo (Cinch Rise) uses the aerobars in front of a group during 2022 Unbound Gravel 200 (Image credit: Snowy Mountain Photography)

Emporia, Kansas, sits in the heartland of the United States. A small, vibrant college town where a student at Emporia State University is credited with creating the sport of disc golf and making the hamlet the ‘disc golf capital of the world’.

But the community also expanded its fame over the past 17 years in the world of cycling and has become the centrepiece for gravel riding and racing. Everyone now not only knows where Emporia is located geographically but continues to build its stature historically as the home for Unbound Gravel. Paying homage to the nearby Kansas City Chiefs NFL team, three-time Super Bowl winners, locals are proud to call the hometown race the ‘Super Bowl’ of gravel.

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Jackie Tyson
North American Production editor

Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).