The Gravel Biking Corridor of Fame (GCHOF) in the present day introduced its fourth class of inductees: Ted King, LeLan Dains, John Hobbs and Amanda Nauman-Sheek.
These 4 gravel specialists have been nominated by the general public and chosen by a gaggle of greater than 60 electors made up of previous Corridor of Fame inductees, GCHOF board members, impartial athletes, promoters, business professionals, and followers of the game.
Jason Strohbehn, director of the GCHOF, commented that every inductee has made an “indelible mark on gravel biking, inspiring numerous riders and embodying the adventurous spirit that defines the game. Their ardour, dedication, and achievements function a testomony to the transformative energy of two wheels.”
The Gravel Biking Corridor of Fame was launched forward of the 2022 Unbound Gravel occasion in Emporia, Kansas, to acknowledge and have fun those that discover, endure, overcome, and encourage within the sport of gravel biking.
The category of 2025 will be a part of a powerful record of earlier inductees, together with the likes of Alison Tetrick, Yuri Hauswald, Dan Hughes, Kristi Mohn, Rebecca Rusch, Bobby Wintle, Selene Yeager and Nick Legan — lots of whom you possibly can examine in our article about gravel’s pioneers and legends.
Meet the 2025 Gravel Biking Corridor of Fame Inductees:
Ted King
Ted King and Mark Cavendish at first of stage two of the 2013 Tour de France.
(Picture credit score: Getty Photos)
Ted King was the primary to indicate his fellow WorldTour riders that gravel might function a viable off-ramp from elite highway racing when he retired from Cannondale-Garmin in 2015 and went on to win Unbound Gravel the next yr. King gained the race once more in 2018 and took the inaugural victory at SBT GRVL in 2019.
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King is credited for elevating the bar for the professionalism required to win huge gravel occasions. Along with Unbound and SBT GRVL, his gravel racing palmares additionally contains wins at Grinduro, Rasputitsa, Vermont Overland, and UnPAved, amongst others.
Competitors apart, King is recognised for his contributions to the gravel group.
“By means of his real interactions with riders and racers of all talents, King is a continuing supply of positivity and encouragement,” the organisation said.
“He freely shares the teachings he’s realized on his YouTube channel and on his podcasts, and his humility, sincerity and professionalism function a powerful instance for aspiring cyclists to emulate.”
LeLan Dains
(Picture credit score: LeLan Dains)
LeLan Dains has lengthy been on a mission to showcase the most effective gravel using the center of America has to supply.
The Emporia, Kansas native is a former co-owner of the famed Unbound Gravel and is praised for rising the occasion into the prestigious, world-class race it’s in the present day.
Dains was additionally one of many leaders in the creation of the Nice Plains Gravel Route, a virtually 4,000-mile community of gravel paths spanning six states. He now spearheads the Gravel Kansas initiative, a venture that empowers riders to discover the 98,000 miles of unpaved Kansas roads and the communities surrounding them.
He is additionally a founding member of the Gravel Biking Corridor of Fame, and continues to reveal his dedication to preserving the wealthy historical past and legacy of gravel biking.
Amanda Nauman Sheek
(Picture credit score: Amanda Nauman)
Amanda Nauman Sheek is a celebrated gravel bicycle owner and a two-time champion of Unbound Gravel, together with a legendary victory throughout the infamous “mud yr” of 2015.
Past Unbound, Sheek has loved success at a number of the largest occasions on the gravel calendar, together with Mid-South, Unbound XL and Belgian Waffle Journey California.
Along with her on-the-bike achievements, Sheek is recognised as a thought chief within the sport. She co-hosts the long-running podcast Groadio and is the co-organiser of Mammoth Tuff gravel occasion that’s now a part of the UCI Gravel World Collection.
John Hobbs
(Picture credit score: John Hobbs)
John Hobbs was an early visionary within the sport. Way back to the mid-Eighties, Hobbs was internet hosting formal “tough highway rides” within the southern Flint Hills of Kansas.
His rides finally developed into the Kansas Loss of life Journey, an occasion that ran for 22 years and was recognized for being rougher than most mountain bike races. The experience would entice as many as 600 riders per yr, demonstrating a rising need for roads much less travelled.
It was, the truth is, the success of this Kansas Loss of life Journey that impressed a gaggle in Emporia to create Unbound Gravel in 2005.
The brand new inductees will formally be inducted into the Gravel Biking Corridor of Fame throughout a ceremony to be held Could 29, 2025, in Emporia, Kansas.