Shawn McKinney

Best recon shot day 3 along Open Range road, west of Matfield Green ...

It does "look" cool, would like to try one out ... granfondo-cycling.com/scott-32-inch-…

All that was great, but the truly wonderful moment happened after the ride. Invited to join a group of locals celebrating memorial day in Matfield Green. Of course I did.

Been doing some recon in the Flint Hills the past couple of days. The weather has been perfect and the roads are great shape and the scenery stunning. Even had a stretch today of hero gravel.

@guitarted1961 Gonna outfit my bike with a squirrel catcher.

@ABikeMonkey Squirrels gonna squirrel.

The squirrels done gone loco today. About four of them tried to run out in front over a short segment. Not sure they weren't ganging up. That little dance they do. Gave the last one a piece of my mind.

@kellymnyc The overnight, Eureka to Florence, is mysterious. Need to recon it.

@ABikeMonkey it appears innocuous at first glance but is, in reality, vast, complex, daunting, difficult, and dangerous

2026 Unbound Race day schedule ...

@kellymnyc We're going with your forecast

@ABikeMonkey saturday looks good. high 76 deg, 3 mph wind

Not watching the extended weather forecast at Unbound. First, it's inaccurate. Second, there's nothing to be done about it. You ain't riding on Kansas mud so forget about swapping tires.

The Unbound routes are out. You might think that anxiety creeps up as we realize what we got ourselves into. Questioning life choices, regretting the hubris of our youth. Well, you'd be wrong, it's showtime baby! ridewithgps.com/routes/53483351

@guitarted1961 This is way COOL!!! Looking forward to hearing the stories.

Announcing my partnership with the Bicycle ride Across Nebraska. g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/2026/05/bran-i… #BRANgravel

The song goes like this: Dear deer deer deer de deer dee do not do de deer de do. No, no, no deer, don't do de deer de do. And then it repeats a bunch. When that gets too hard because of tongue twisters, swap it with B. You could just get a deer whistle but what fun with that be?

From Friday's allnighter. It provides opportunity to test gear. Focused on lighting (no pun intended). Also helps get the mind right. By far the most nerve-racking part's the deer crossings. Singing a deer song in high traffic areas keeps them from jumping into our path.

@JillianKozyra Yeah, I'm trying to forget about that year ;-)

@ABikeMonkey funny, i view 2023 as the mud year!

Official Unbound routes not out. We know Madison's one of the checkpoints. Scuttlebutt has Council Grove and Matfield Green as the others. A southwest course is predicted (by me) for the first time since the mud year, 2015. I started riding it in '16 so it'll be new ground.

@kellymnyc Right? It's calling out to us ... ridewithgps.com/collections/35…

@ABikeMonkey we're signing up next year bro

Speaking of adventurers, a small group start May 11th for a 35 day, 3500 mile jaunt across "The Great Plains Gravel Route" ... bikepackingroots.org/2026/04/great-…

We supported my brother Timothy around the course in 2014 (also southwest). He crushed it, one-and-done, beating the Sun in the first year they handed out that award. Passing thru Cottonwood Falls (pictured).