Unbound 2023 Gravel Race Recap featuring Mud, Rain, Gravel and Cinematic Landscapes 4K
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 มิ.ย. 2023
- This is the story about the time I went to Emporia, Kansas to ride 206 miles on gravel roads in a race called Unbound, the premier gravel race that attracts pros and amateurs and even nobody’s (like myself) from all over the world.
How did I do it? Reframing negative circumstances into positive advantages. (the perks of being an optimist)
Bike Setup: Canyon Grizl CF SLX 8 with front suspension
Pedals: Crankbrother Flats
WTB Venture Tires 700x50mm Tires (didn't flat!)
Kit: Eliel El Capitan EFT 2023 Jersey; Del Dios Bibs
Water: USWE Hydration Pack
POC Helmet
Fanny Pack: Cotopaxi
STORY & FRAME OF MIND
The amount of times I heard people say that I’m mentally strong for completing this race is insane - it seems like everyone saw this as an exceptionally challenging year with the weather and mud. But this was my first Unbound, and my first time to ride gravel for more than 90 miles, so my expectations were way off compared to all the Unbound veterans out there.
Unfair Advantage #1: The Mud
From Mile 11 - 14 we were walking because the mud was too thick to ride through.
The Upside:
- I wore flat shoes: I know 0 about running but people around me said I had running shoes on. Dope.
- Another Upside: when I got back on my bicycle at mile 14, I’ve never been happier to push those pedals, and later in the race around mile 175 we had another mile of walking, but I was ready for it mentally.
- Final upside: I got to make a ton of jokes.
The Downside: I never trained to deal with the mud. Didn’t practice any walking.
Unfair Advantage #2: it stormed so hard for 30 minutes when I was 100 miles in.
Upside
- The rain cooled me down quickly, cleaned all the mud and cow poop off me and the bike, and it was my first time to ride through a storm. Also, the headwind was no longer miserable.
- After the storm ended and I knew it wasn’t going to happen again, I was about 110 miles in, it was 3:30pm, and something incredible happened that I’ve never experience before:
- I was reborn on the bicycle. The only way I can explain it is that new life ran through me as if I were invincible. I even told the people I was riding with that my fear now was that I’d finish and people would see it as no big deal: “Obviously you finished, it was the easiest race ever”.
- My fear up until this point was that I’d hit a mile marker and thing “oh crap, I can only do 30 more miles at the most and then I’d be in a bad head space just aiming for like 150, or 175.
- After mile 110, I had no doubt I’d finish. No doubt at all.
One thing I hear my favorite cyclist talk about all the time is to think about future you: I didn’t like the idea of thinking about future me saying “I tried really hard, and 100 or 150 miles is still a ton, but i just went too hard” no. It had to be the whole thing in my mind.
But I can say that just 3 years ago I could barely ride 3 miles on a bicycle - which brings me to say this about Unbound: if a nobody like me can complete this race, anybody can do it. There is 0 things special about my genetics, 0 things that give me the upper hand physically. I trained intentionally for 5 months to prepare for this race, made dietary decisions in preparation for this race, and what I discovered is that racing Unbound was the most fun I’ve ever had on a bicycle.
#unbound #gravelbikes #gravelracing @TheVCAdventures @Veloworthy #mud #mudbikes #cycling #gravelbikes #gravelracing #adventure #motivation #health #unbound #bikeracing #tourdefrance2023
@CanyonBicycles @elielcycling8831 @GearForGood @irctireusa-bike1825
Congratulations! Great job & I love the humor! 😂🤙🏼🤙🏼🚵🏼
Incredible my friend! I'm so happy to see this.
you made me cry. Congratulations!
You need to do the 350 (xl) next year with me so we can crack jokes the whole way. I always say I’ll never be the fastest but you have a hard time finding someone having more fun than me. I think you are a rival in that department. If you’re in the area again I’d be amped to ride with ya, I live 15 min from E town. Great content!
Congrats on finishing!! I thoroughly enjoyed this vid! You did a great job capturing your journey. Superb editing too!! (I just started using Davinci Resolve a few years ago and have been struggling with color grading.) I just added this video to my indoor trainer playlist. Cheers!
Congrats what a great accomplishment! I finished the 100 this year and I tell everyone Unbound will change you forever!
100% agreed. TMI : I got to work Monday morning and broke down emotionally.
@@plantstrongcycling 100% Congrats Again!
Congratulations! Love you humor.
Thank you so much!
ha ha ha those one liners were awesome....and the look on that guys face :). "Those Who Dance Are Considered Insane by Those Who Can’t Hear the Music"....more power to your elbow dude!
what you heard was just the tip of the iceberg
Great ride dude 🤘🤘
F'n awesome dude! 🤙 Can't wait for next year's video. 💯🌋💯🕗🌞
Cheers to you and all. I have come to believe that most can turn cranks for hours. The hardest part is being able to maintain position on the bike, i.e. bum, back, shoulders, hands, etc. don't hurt. Again, great ride. I enjoyed the video.
Amazing attitude. Loved the video. Congratulations
I love the fact that you never doubted you would finish and your heart! My first race was in 2012 and I too never doubted I would finish. It took me over 19 hours but got it done. Good job Plant Strong and I'm sure you will be in the 2024 race!
Congrats on your success in Unbound, too! I was grateful to have never doubted, and I'm also going to humbly say that at any point during the race I knew that I could have been within 5 minutes of getting to a spot mentally where I did doubt. So every time I told the people around I'm I feel awesome, I knew that I may be saying something very different in 5 minutes.
Great vid. Congrats and thanks for sharing. I rode with flats too!
Did you get lots of questions about it?😂
So proud of you!
Love it man ❤🎉
Encouraged and inspired : )
You have a very nice sense of humor and great, positive attitude towards challenges,
no doubt! Great video as well, photography, storytelling and editing, brilliant for a one man show on the road. Keep it up and I sincerely wish you go on having a great time cycling! 👌🏻
Thanks so much!
Good Job 👏👏👏
Awesome! I’m also relatively new to the sport (just pre covid) and just completed my first 165 km gravel race here is Sweden. Keep it up! I’m also transitioning to full plant based. 👌😊
Congrats on your big ride! Transition to a plantbased diet is definitely worth it - how far along are you on that journey?
@@plantstrongcycling I would say I’m over 90% vegan now… still cheating with cheese now an then but I will stop that too now. Feels amazing! 😁
Great attitude! Your footage is so good because it really picks up the topography well. Most super wide cameras make everything look flat. Nice work!
As a roadie I really just dont see how this is fun but, I do love watching the vids and appreciate the gravel scene!
I was in the same boat right at a year ago. Had a quick honey moon phase with gravel, then a few mishaps, reconsidered my future 😂
Randomly signed up for Unbound because I want to live a more interesting life and got in somehow. Sold the road bike to buy the canyon.
All the to say this - there are many things I miss about road
1) predictable terrain
2) consistent and faster speeds
3) mapping routes without hesitancy
But in gravel you gain
1) more adventure
2) more rewarding journeys
3) ease of higher wattage outputs
4) community (in my area)
@@plantstrongcycling You sold your road bike???? Dude you can never have enough bikes (I have 6 lol.)
@@IowaNinersFan I agree with you. My wife disagrees. 😅
You definitely had the right mentality to finish this race! I was also making stupid jokes to random strangers while trekking through the mud lol.
Were you accepted? 😂
@@plantstrongcycling For the most part I think. I'm sure most just ignored me...
@@frankhammond9909hopefully they’ll either look back and be thankful you were carrying the team OR they’re still bitter that they had a bad attitude about it and a sucky day 😂😂😂
Nice work , congratulations. You should try Ironman next , you have the attitude and spirit for it 🎉🍻
I could barely walk those 5 miles, there’s no way I’m going to run 😂😂
Fantastic video! Massive props for persevering and finishing that beast. Not sure what camera set up you have or what you did in post production but the ride footage looked like something out of a movie. Freaking outstanding work!
Congratulations on your accomplishment. I just bought my gravel bike a month ago and trying gravel cycling. Have been on it riding a few miles on gravel while incorporating it into my daily bike commuting to work. Next month I plan on doing a 57-mile gravel course on RAGBRAI. It's not a race but you know how things go once you sit on that saddle - it's on lol. One of my neighbors did Unbound this year for the first time (50 or 100 mile course) and he loved it. Wants me to join him next year so we'll see when I get back from RAGBRAI. When the going gets tough, put your head down, pedal hard and fast and picture that finish line. Love the video.
Good choice on the gravel bike! Using it to commute is awesome, and hit up a good training program if you get into Unbound and sign up for the 200! Let me know how the race goes next month
Great video - and awesome first time finish. I found it interesting you quoted the Vegan Cyclist about not quitting- while he quit the 350 and posted about how the race organizers were at fault, etc. Later in other videos we learn he had a ton of money riding on a podium finish and his state-of-the-art drive train wasn’t really up to the task …
Did you make it in for 2024???
Thanks! I will say that I felt incredibly lucky and fortunate that my bike didn't break during or after the event. I had 2 friends there from my part of Arkansas: 1 was scheduled to reach his 1,000 miles at Unbound but had to DNF. The other guy did finish, but then after had to get his carbon frame repaired and I think his crank later had to get replaced.
Which video did VC talk about that in? I must have missed that info. I was definitely cheering for him and hoping he was going to win!
@@geoffreydoyle4034 Yes! In for 200 again! What about you?
@@plantstrongcyclingyes - going for #4
Trying to watch as many of these as I can to see what the signage (if any) they had this year directing the 100/200 split. I inadvertantly ended up doing the 100 because of my malfunctioning Wahoo and, unlike last year, there was apparently no one directing traffic to each course. I actually wonder if any got caught the other way! What a brutal wake up call that'd be!
I saw a sign right after the first water oasis. I may have footage of it, too.
Found it - it's at the end of this short clip: th-cam.com/video/k8vDwfpQQLU/w-d-xo.html
Nice unbound video, but the colors look way too saturated?
Thanks! I tried to capture the feeling and heart of the ride. Too much saturation? Perhaps. I like it tho!
What shoes and pedals did you use?
Shoes were Altra Olympus
Pedals: Crank Brothers Stamp maybe? They don’t say and I bought them from the bike store in Emporia the day before the race when it was crazy in there. One of the managers pulled a set of his bike I believe and was going to let me borrow them but I insisted he sell them to me just in case the bike was swallowed by the mud
Another Vegan Cyclist TH-camr!
And he’s no a whiner!