As I walked around the venue, the grinding of coffee beans was very much a part of the cacophony of the clicking of freehubs, indistinguishable chatter of cycling enthusiasts, and jumble of music. At times, the air felt thick with the aromatic smell of freshly ground beans being tamped down into perfectly weighed espresso pucks.

The elite women’s race at Unbound Gravel is one for the history books. From the women’s-only start, which was separated from the amateurs by 25 minutes, to the nine-women sprint finish that determined the race, everything about the 16th edition of the Kansas gravel race was unprecedented.

For Greg Van Avermaet, Unbound Gravel isn’t about building new sponsorships, earning more results, or developing his career. The 39-year-old has done all of that.

After a 17-year WorldTour campaign, which includes an Olympic gold medal and a win at Paris Roubaix, what more can you ask for?

If you’ve ever been to a gravel race in Northern California, you’ve most likely seen or chatted with Salifu. Sali, as he is affectionately known by his friends, is a mainstay in the Northern California gravel community. With his warm and welcoming demeanor and infectious smile, Sali is always willing to lend a helping hand or a steady wheel to follow. And while Sali is embraced by his community as a local legend, his trajectory to gravel racing is far from average.

Bags are packed. Your bike is tuned and equipment is dialed. You’ve been training all year for the Unbound Gravel 200-mile race, logging countless miles on the bike and hours upon hours of chamois time. The gravel roads through Kansas’ Flint Hills are calling your name. And you’re ready to tackle what is considered the world’s premier gravel event.

This paper explores the effects of maize processing on the carbonization and preservation of maize kernels in the archaeological record. The shift to processing maize with lime (known as hominy production in the Eastern Woodlands and nixtamalization in Mesoamerica) in ancient times had the effect of making maize more nutritious through increasing the availability of calcium, niacin, dietary fiber, and essential amino acids. Less understood is how this process of cooking maize in a lime solution affects the archaeological preservation of maize...