Minimum maintenance roads, ‘gut kick’ climbs, oil rigs and open range cattle – A detailed look at what the Unbound Gravel 200 course has in store

“Beautiful and remote” are how the first winner of Unbound Gravel 200, Dan Hughes, described riding a bicycle in Kansas as he waxes lyrical about the low-maintenance roads that entwine farmland, unique prairieland and a few midwest towns in the Flint Hills of the central US, making the off-road 200-mile race so unpredictable and, sometimes, volatile.

Hughes may be partial to Kansas since it is his home state, but he did win the 200-mile, one-day behemoth four times, adding second place a couple of times and a DNF as well. The course under the tyres and the climate conditions around the rider and machine favour no one, they don’t care whether you are a champion or not.