This project series focuses on showing off the gorgeous gravel roads of Kansas. After moving from the Western North Carolina area I found that I missed the hills and hidden valleys of the mountains. I didn’t know that I would find a whole new world of sprawling gravel miles here in Kansas. It’s taken me lots of time to learn all the local roads, and I definitely wish I had a resource like this in my jersey pocket on a couple few rides.
This map series would be best used by gravel road explorers, overnight bikepackers, or just locals who want to show off the roads of Northeast Kansas to visiting friends
My most recent addition has been the Strava segments being displayed on the maps. For now, I’d like to just show the location, direction, and length of these segments. A special focus on particularly inspiring bits of roads, or just segments which have seen a lot of rider attempts were included. In all these segments I have taken down the KOM/QOM times and stored them. Perhaps I’ll add them in in some way a bit later — I’m thinking of adding a table into the map which would highlight the segment leaders at the times I create the maps. This would then be updated with each year (if the leaders are dethroned, that is)
The plan for the immediate future is to set about getting a pre-order list together where folks could get ahold of fresh prints of these maps for their overnighter or gravel adventuring needs. Ideally, these maps could be found at local bike and outdoors shops in the long run. For now, I’ll need to get this map in the hands of a few folks who I know will just love it. The reactions to these maps so far have been very good, but it seems to be tricky to keep the price point I would prefer to offer these maps for.
Admittedly, I very much wish to create custom map representations of some of the routes on Bikepacking.com. Something like the “No Place Like Oz” Route (here). That idea excites me quite a bit.
I just know that a tight focus on local roads with enough added detail will make the maps re-usable and useful for cyclists in the area. Providing a minimum viable product and proper price structuring will be the step immediately after the first maps are fully polished. For now, I’ll continue to clean up the products and keep adding features.
The key element of these maps and what makes them special is their scale: close enough to avoid redundancy from the already prestigious Adventure Cycling routes. A tighter scope and the addition of local eateries and Strava segments is something I think many folks will enjoy in Lawrence, KS.