Unbound 2024 - Victory Despite Disaster
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มิ.ย. 2024
- Unbound Gravel is a formidable 200 mile race held in the flint hills of Kansas every summer. The grueling terrain, unpredictable weather, and huge distance asks a lot from every rider who steps up to the starting line. This is the story of my struggle and ultimate success at finishing one of the hardest gravel races in the world.
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I think I know which crossing with the drop you saw the guy go over his handlebars. I approached it with nobody in front of me and saw that drop off the cement a few feet away. I just bunny hopped the gap at the last second. That should have been marked or maybe even filled in. We did not need conditions that could have harmed riders. Good job! I saw a couple riders stop the first few miles. I went out too hard and struggled with cramping in the back half. I would not use a race day chain. I would use a chain for the last few rides and into the race, but I would never use anything on race day that was not tested on previous rides.
So the gapped crossing was marked with a simple "Caution" sign before it, but it the fall off after the culvert was not easily seen. I agree it should have been filled with gravel before the race.
I agree with you on the race day chain. It was a dumb idea and a costly mistake. I'm just glad I was able to still pedal and get the race done.
Congratulations on your finish. Great job working through your challenges. On a previous year, I made it to mile 131 before an asthma attack that landed me in a ditch. The weather was good, the bike was good. It didn’t matter when I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to continue to the next check point but my riding partner wisely talked me out of it and he even called my wife who threatened me if I didn’t call for help. That’s what we do. Kudos for your determination to conquer the 200 miles. I still think about trying it again but the remote nature of the route complicates my back-up plan to get help should I need assistance pretty quickly. I’ve even done a full Ironman with the comfort knowing that I wouldn’t be to removed from medical assistance. That has to be part of my race planning. You did a great job.
Great work buddy..!!! It's all well and good to watch Lachlan Morton win on GCN replays.... BUT I truly enjoy watching absolute legends like yourself smash through real world problems and finish. That is determination. Hope to visit from Australia and ride one day. Thanks for the insight.
glad you didn’t give up. nice job
Start slow, and in the last group. Make the first 70 miles super easy pedaling at goal pace while drafting. Many others go out way too hard. That will bring you up to good groups when it matters at mile 120+ and feeling fresh. I started in last, finished in 13 hours, and held pretty much the same pace start to finish
So good! Thank you for sharing.
Congrats on pushing through. I finished around the same time as you and had the same problems. Mile 150-200 was the worst, although the course profile says it is the easiest, and I could barely pedal. I was on track for a beat the sun finish and slowly saw my averages drop off - the last 10 miles took me the same time as the section through Little Egypt - which shows how slow I was rolling on the flats. In hindsight, I took in too much nutrition and too little water, just like you. I could barely sleep that night with all that unused sugar working itself through my body. Lesson learnt.
Congratulations on completing the race despite all the trouble. Are you going to try again next year?
Thanks for sharing your experience. Congrats on sticking it out and getting it done!
Well done man! Unbound looks proper brutal. Good on you for finishing AND smiling! Cheers
Well done man! That's one hell of a challenge you took on, and beat. Thanks for sharing your experience 👍
Heroic
Woo hoo! We are so proud of you, Kyle love Elizabeth, Aaron, and Lily
Strong! Inspiring to see you dig so deep and get it done.
Wow 😁 Congratulations 🚴♂️😎
I know the feeling with stomach problems. Great effort and great film!
Congratulations on finishing. Looking forward to a video on what you would do different with your fueling.
Well Done!
bringing back some memories man. glad you had an epic experience!! flashbacks to how my 2022 played out being overcast early then hot hot hot later.
i learned (both years) that you show up with a plan, but you have to adapt and just deal with what the day gives you. kudos to you for getting through all the lows so you could feel that high at the end!!!
Next time we'll be riding together 🤘
High five to you. Severe challenges did not stop you.
Chapeau! 👏180km is hard, but 200 miles on gravel boards! 💪
Congratulations. I did the 100. I give you guys who did the 200 a lot of credit. 💪👍
So glad the race didn't make you bleed your own blood! Love you babe 💕 So proud of you!
Congrats on finishing. I’m glad I’m not the only one that forgot to cut a new chain before putting it on the bike!😅
Race brain is real.
Liked your video…and subscribed!
Great job! And glad you didn’t lose any blood! Haha.
Way to gut it out brother
Nice ride man! Looked pretty tough. I just bought a Lynskey GR300 and I’m loving it.
Nice! I'm convinced there's probably no better deal on a Ti Gravel bike right now. Enjoy it and see you out there!
@@KyleTheCyclist Agreed!
Great video! Was that your son calling you his "special little boy"? lol. Sons are so funny teasing their dads. Anyway, yeah, if you try to fuel in the heat as much as you did on training rides that weren't quite as hot or as hard, you're going to get sick. Happens all the time. So if the temp is high and it's a race, drink more and fuel less. People overfuel too because they want more energy because it's a race... so you can see how so many people get sick on race day when they were fine during training. The winning times on hot days are slower than cool days for a reason. The people that go a little slower so they can stay cool and not get sick do better. Cool video and subscribed!
Oh yeah that was definitely my kid being funny. Thanks for all the tips. I still have much to learn about fuel and hydration. Believe me when I say it, there were many miles of introspection on how I could have done things better! Thanks for the sub!
Nice. But what was your time?
On your fueling - I would have thought that’d be sorted before ? Did you trial it ?
Yeah definitely did practice fueling. I had run into stomach problems before but it was manageable. I had never gone beyond 130 miles with my fuel. Miles 130-180 in the heat and being dehydrated was just kinda uncharted territory for me. Learned a lot about how to screw up and what doesn't work for me at this event. I'm just happy I finished! Maybe next year I'll do better! Thanks for watching.
how do you not take your “raceday chain” out for a test ride beforehand?
For real.
I rode it around the block and everything seemed fine. Maybe it was nerves. Like I said, it was stupid. I learned.
First time using those carb mixes?
No, I had used this same mix in a few other races. The longest before this was 130 miles and I got nauseous but not quite this bad. I was stubborn and believed the problem was just me. I think I just pushed it to the limit. Maltodextrin + Dehydration is not my friend. I've been using SiS Beta Fuel but now I'm thinking of switching to Skratch Labs Super High Carb Mix.
@@KyleTheCyclist I use the Skratch carb mix and it's easy to drink and gentle on my stomach. I used it last Saturday at Unbound as well. Highly recommend. Way to get it done. I'm still working on my race edit 😎🤘
@@KyleTheCyclist good to know. I've been using SIS Beta Fuel and so far, so good. I'll make sure I keep my hydration up when using it by the sounds of things.
@@streddaz I wanna be clear, I don't think Beta Fuel is a bad product, I just think it's not compatible with me. The SiS Isotonic Gels were the only thing I could get down and they worked very well. I will probably continue to use them.
@@KyleTheCyclist that’s cool. Sometimes if you have too much high carb, no matter what it is, it can upset your stomach.
So “tt” bars were allowed?
Aero bars are only prohibited for the Elite division.
@@KyleTheCyclist They are banned for the pro riders since they are too dangerous while it's obvious the pro's have better skills, so that's strange. They should be banned for all riders as it's dangerous for yourself and other riders and it's 'cheating' as well as it makes a big difference.