The Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame has added four more names to its prestigious list of inductees.
The 2026 Hall of Fame class was enshrined Wednesday evening inside the Emporia Granada Theatre. Among the inductees was Unbound Gravel, then the Dirty Kanza, co-creator and longtime promoter Jim Cummins. Cummins, alongside 2023 Hall of Fame inductee Joel Dyke, hosted the first Dirty Kanza 200 in 2006, laying the foundation for what would eventually grow into the Super Bowl of gravel racing.
Cummins would step away from the event back in 2020 after selling the event to Lifetime in 2018. Cummins says Wednesday’s induction was a full-circle moment in terms of his cycling career, but far from the end of his journey.
Also inducted Wednesday was Unbound’s first international competitor, Paul Erington of Newcastle, England. Errington says his involvement in Unbound, then the DK, started with a 2011 riders report by fellow hall of famer Corey Godfrey regarding his experience at the TransIowa race that year. Errington says that particular experience was not an option at the time so the DK was the “logical choice” to begin his foray into the world of gravel.
That said, Errington admits his first experience wasn’t his fondest, but it didn’t stop him.
After taking part in the DK, Errington took the concept back home to the UK and created its first gravel event, the Gravel Reiver, which launched in 2016. Errington says this, in addition to the thousands of international riders that have participated in Unground over the years, illustrates Unbound’s and Emporia’s undeniable impact on the global cycling scene.
Former Unbound XL 350 women’s champion Kristen Legan also took her place in the hall of fame Wednesday. Beginning her gravel cycling career in 2012, Legan has spent much of her career advocating for women cyclists, including riding the Reve Tour in 2012 to advocate for the return of a Women’s Tour de France.
Legan says she was so excited to be standing on that stage Wednesday evening, calling it a great night to “celebrate a lot of great people, and the community that’s brought us here.”
Legan would first come to Emporia for the 2013 DK200 at the encouragement of her husband and 2024 Hall of Fame inductee Nick Legan. Kristen Legan called it a life-changing experience.
Rounding out this year’s hall of fame class was para-athlete and former world champion Megan Fisher, whose career has focused heavily on promoting inclusion for para and able-bodied athletes alike. Not only is Fisher the first para-cyclist to be inducted into the Gravel Hall of Fame, but any cycling hall of fame and she called the honor truly humbling.
Fisher adds Wednesday’s induction was not only about her and her fellow inductees, but all of the individuals who helped elevate them throughout their careers.
Wednesday’s hall of fame induction was just the latest of what is shaping up to be another busy weekend of activities, starting with the opening of the All Things Gravel Expo Thursday followed by the official check-in activities on Friday morning. The Unbound series of races will begin Friday afternoon with the launch of the XL 350 ride on Commercial Street with all other race distances launching Saturday morning. We have the full schedule available here.
KVOE will once again be on site for Friday’s check-in activities at the Lyon County History Center with a two-hour Talk of Emporia beginning just after 10 am. For more information visit Unboundgravel.com. If you would like to rewatch Wednesday’s induction ceremony in its entirety, you can do so by clicking here.
