Jim Cummins

Jan 20

Promoter, Innovator, Industry Leader

In the early 2000s, gravel riding was a popular training ground for mountain bikers, particularly in the Midwest, where rural farm roads are plentiful. For most riders however, gravel cycling was a means to an end… a great place to train. No more, no less. It took dedicated gravel events and riders seeking a new adventure to push gravel forward and advance it from a training venue to its own discipline within the sport.

It was through the mountain bike scene that Jim Cummins met the man he’d begin to forge his gravel legacy with –– 2023 GCHOF Inductee, Joel Dyke.

“Joel was the tall dude with the big grin in the single speed class that everybody loved,” Jim said. “He drove up to Iowa to compete in the first TransIowa in 2005 and came home raving about what a great time he had.

“I said, ‘somebody should put on a race like that here in Kansas.’ Next thing I knew, Joel and I were brainstorming and planning what that event might look like.”

In 2006, the duo hosted the first Dirty Kanza 200. And while just 34 riders toed the line of that first event, each went home with glowing stories of an unforgettable experience. The scene was more akin to a celebration than a competition –– a distinct difference from the vibe at typical road and mountain bike events of the time.

Thanks to its unique pairing of challenge and camaraderie, the event quickly became a staple of the early gravel calendar. By 2010, it had grown enough to have a wait list for riders wanting one of the 200 available entries.

Late in 2010, Joel ended his involvement in the event to focus on other endeavors, and Jim experienced a career change that required a move to Pennsylvania. Faced with the prospect of finding a new partner to help him on the ground in Kansas, or letting the event die, Jim called 2022 GCHOF Inductee, Kristi Mohn. A successful Emporia business owner, Kristi had been serving as the event’s volunteer coordinator and community liaison.

With the support he needed in place in the form of Kristi and Tim Mohn, Jim managed the DK200 remotely for several years. By the end of 2013 however, the event’s massive growth and increasing workload made remote management untenable. As a result, Jim made the tough decision to leave his successful 30-year career and move back to Emporia to make the DK his sole focus.

Around the same time, 2025 GCHOF Inductee, LeLan Dains, an Emporia native, moved back to the area and began working part-time on the DK promotions team.

“That quickly grew into a full-time position,” Jim said. “Later, he’d become a part owner in the business.”

When asked how he felt about the event’s explosive growth in his time at the helm, Jim said he and his team worked hard to manage and control the growth by setting strict field limits. But still, it was a wild ride at times.

“I would often joke that it felt very similar to walking my 100-pound golden retriever,” Jim said. “I’d hold onto the leash for dear life while I got dragged down the sidewalk.”

After selling the event in 2018, Jim parted ways with the event he co-founded in 2020, and the event name changed to Unbound Gravel.

Even with the field limits Jim and the DK team set each year, the event scaled from 34 participants in 2006, to 2,500 in 2018 –– remarkable growth by any standards. In some years prior to the lottery entry system being implemented, the event sold out in less than three hours.

The DK was also one of the first gravel events to host riders from other countries. In fact, 2026 GCHOF inductee, Paul Errington, was the event’s first international participant in 2012.

Today, Unbound Gravel is the largest gravel cycling event in the world. Each year, Unbound brings thousands of participants, families and supporters from all over the world to Emporia. The positive economic impact of the event is easy to see in the downtown area, as the empty storefronts of 2006 have been replaced with thriving businesses. Throughout the spring, summer and fall, the Emporia area is now a destination for gravel cyclists seeking adventure.

For countless riders, the DK/Unbound was their first gravel experience, and it’s helped to usher in a new generation of riders to the cycling world. Jim is proud of this fact, as his goal with the event was to focus on celebrating every athlete toeing the line.

“Many of today’s gravel events seem to focus on the riders at the pointed end of the peloton,” Jim said. “The focus of the DK was always about the journeyman athlete.

“I’m very proud of the fact that every year, I was at the finishing line giving out finisher’s awards and hugs, right up to 3:00 a.m., when the last finisher crossed the line.”

For Jim, the Dirty Kanza was the fulfillment of a decades old promise.

“My father was a coach,” Jim said. “I was supposed to be a basketball player.

“When I was in 2nd grade, I watched ABC’s Wide World of Sports. The featured event that Saturday was the Barstow-to-Vegas desert motorcycle race. That day, I sat in front of that old black and white TV and was mesmerized.

“I didn’t know it at the time, and only came to realize it later, but as I watched that race, I had an epiphany. I would race two wheels on the dirt… and would one day become a race promoter.

“When I moved back to Emporia and became a full-time race promoter, it was the culmination of a promise God made to me nearly 50 years previously.”