Unbound XL 2024

Recapping a 26 hour and 47 minute  ride is challenging. A lot can happen in that time. It's taken me a while to get this done. The recovery from Unbound has been a little rough. My legs have been in pain, bad enough to disturb my sleep. I am getting better but it will take some time. I want to ride, and I am looking forward to getting back at it. 

2024 @unboundgravel XL was a fun ride. It was very different from the 2023 ride. The roads were chunkier. There were more hills. It was dry, and it was 99% mud free. 

I was nervous before the race. I had done this before, but ultra gravel is a hard game to play. I knew I was in for some challenges. 

I rode to the expo, got my picture taken on the tractor. Ate a hotdog. Then lined up in the middle of the riders. I fumbled with my helmet during the national anthem, dropped my phone, and almost forgot to activate my tracker. Luckily, a friend came up alongside me. It's great knowing some of the other riders. We chatted and it helped calm the nerves.

The race start is an awesome experience. The race organizers made an announcement to please land all drones, and a helicopter flew in. It was low and circled overhead as it recorded the race start. Thousands of people lined the street and cheered us on. We were neutralized for a few miles. I tried to better position myself as the herd rolled out. 

When we hit the gravel the game was on. Pace ramped up quickly. But, it seemed much more controlled than last year. Many seemed to be riding harder than they could sustain. Inevitably, I saw a crash up ahead. The riders involved were moving again before I got to it. My pace for the first 100 was ambitious. I had great riders to work with, and we picked up more as they dropped from the faster groups. 

Around mile 70, another rider and I discussed our stop plans. We were both going to skip the stops at mile 75 and 85. We both had to pee, took a quick nature break at mile 80, and set up for the night. We lost the majority of our group. My pace became more conservative as the sun set. I didn't need to turn on my lights until after 9:00pm.

I rode carefully in the night. The terrain was tough and I didn't want to have any problems. I made some new friends, and found some friends from last year. We talked about riding slow, but found ourselves pushing it up some of the hills. At my first stop, I bought water, two redbull, and some gummy worms. I mixed my Skratch high carb, drank a Redbull and took one with me to drink along the way. 

The night passed without any major problems. My stomach didn't feel good, and I didn't eat as much as I should have. My helmet light died at about 4:30am, far sooner than expected. This made me a little mad, and I pushed my pace up. My caffeine taper worked and I was able to stay awake all night. 

I wake up early almost every day. When the birds started chirping and the sky started to get light I was ready to go. It was a new day, and felt like a new ride. I could see the roads and the rocks, and was able to ramp up my pace. The riders I was working with didn't feel the same, I was mostly on my own. 

My next stop was at mile 216. I bought a slice of breakfast pizza, a sausage egg and cheese sandwich, a mountain dew and water. The food wasn't good and I didn't enjoy it. I ate it anyway, I needed the fuel. I left the stop on my own hoping to chase down the riders ahead. 

It started to get very hot throughout the day. I was able to leap frog some other riders, but mostly rode by myself. At mile 276 was a water stop. At this stop I had cold artisanal well water, cokes, pickles and half of a grass fed burger. It was a nice stop, and the burger was my favorite food on the ride. I mixed my Skratch and departed with one other rider. 

It became very hot and I drank my whole backpack before the next stop at mile 296. The race had a detour because of a rodeo parade, and they replaced the Casey's with their own rest stop. The volunteers at this stop were very encouraging. I drank 2 cokes, mixed my Skratch, and stuffed ice into my sleeves and jersey. Cooling down helped me to get my power back up again for a bit. Only 60 miles to go. 

The ice melted and I got hot again, my power dropped. At mile 320 the XL route overlaps with everyone else. I saw a rider on a bright orange checkpoint and tried to chase him down but could not close the gap. I had to stop at an aid station, got some cold water, and got some dumped on me. Cooling down helped, I was able to chase the checkpoint rider, but couldn't catch him. I passed many riders struggling on their way to the end. Only a few passed me. I was taking turns with a guy, but wanted more cold water and stopped to refill a bottle one last time. I got going again, pushing harder than I thought I could. I smashed a few of the last hills, and was caught by an elite 200 rider. We took turns for a bit. In the end I did a sprint finish with a peak over 1100 watts. 

I chugged a bottle of cold water after finishing and was very happy to see Bree there waiting for me. 

There was only one section of mud this year. It was less than 2 miles long. I knew how to handle it. Get off the bike and walk. I tried running but twisted my knee and gave up with that idea. Some riders were stopped and cleaning their bikes. I carried on, only stopping once at the end of the mud to clean up. 

The challenge of this year's north course is the chunky rocky terrain. It's rough and demanding. There were rocks of all sizes and the wrong choices could be catastrophic. One section, called Little Egypt, had EMTs stationed and ready. It's the flint hills and some of the rocks are sharp. I was happy with my tire choice, Rene Herse manastash ridge 44mm endurance case. I had one small puncture, and had to use a Stans dart. I repaired the tire and aired it up in less than a minute. 

The course had fantastic scenery. Green rolling hills, and tons of cows. The cows are very curious and would line up along the fences to spectate. I mooed at them but did not get any responses. We rode through an active cattle pen, and there was a cow on the road. Also plenty of cow poop. 

We had a few water crossings. One was bigger and I crossed it in the night. Rumor was that it was slick with algae. I slowed, and dipped my front wheel in carefully. It was fine, traction was good. Only my right foot got wet.

Unbound XL is a very challenging ride. But, I had fun, and I am excited to do it again. Next year, I would like to improve my ability to stick with a group. Having friends to ride with makes it easier, and more fun. I met some amazingly cool people out there. Everyone I have met riding these events is cool, and I am happy having had the chance to ride with them. 

 Thank you, Bree for being there and supporting me. Thank you to all those who volunteer at events, this wouldn't be possible without your contribution, thank you. And, thank you to all the spectators who shouted encouragement as I passed, I needed it.  @Gravelworlds gang on hotdog hill, you are fantastic people, I smashed that hill because of you.