Unbound Gravel has grown into one of the biggest one day gravel events in the World. Based out of the city of Emporia in the prairies of Kansas, this place is booming with over 4000 athletes early June each year. Having raced the signature 200 mile event 4 times, with 3 of them ending in flat tire misfortunes, and last year the engine was empty after winning the 24HR World Champs in Italy the weekend before, I needed a change. Thus I signed up for the 350 mile, self supported Unbound XL! The winning time is typically around 24 hours so it should fit right into my wheelhouse.
Heading to Kansas with my teammate Becca, we were taken under the care of Marco and the crew from Velo+ as we prepared for the big weekend ahead. Friday morning we drove our Uhaul rental van 2 hours down the highway to Emporia where the XL race started at 3 pm that afternoon. We had good conditions to start in as 200 of us took off into the Flint hills but a few hours later the rains began.
The lead group was leaned down to 20 riders after a few hours, when we suddenly began hitting “B” roads which were basically unrideable mud pits. The mud in Kansas in like cement and would quickly jam up the bikes so the wheels wouldn’t spin. We had paint sticks to try and clear the mess, but it was rather hopeless, so we would just walk or rider our bikes in the tall grass beside the road instead. It was a constant game of yo-yo between mud pits, but eventually a solid group of 5 of us gained a large gap midway through the race. 3 of them riders were European, and they seemed to be having the most trouble in the mud, while Ted King and myself were both having a bit better luck, with our bikes holding up. Ted was riding very strong, being a x Tour de France pro, he was the most powerful rider in the group but the distance of the race could potentially play against him.
Around Mile 170, we hit a long mud section, the other riders quickly jammed up their bikes and had to walk but I was finding some lines and soon gapped everyone. Out in front of the XL 350 mile race at the midway point all systems were a go! But damn did that horrendous Kansas Mud ever stop those aspirations in a heart beat.
The lead was short lived as the mud jammed up the drivetrain so bad it snapped the derailleur hanger, sending the derailleur straight into the spokes. Had the backup hanger on the bike as Ted King and another 2 riders came past. One of them, a German rider, Sebastian pulled up beside me to use the light to try and fix his broken bike.
Taking time to clean off the drivetrain, I soon had the pieces back together and started rolling again, only to have the new hanger also break. Only packing one spare hanger, I was now screwed.
Tried making the bike single speed, but the chain jumped up in the cogs and snapped after a few minutes, then the walk started.
The German and I walked together through the night for 18 km. It was a nice wander through America with a full moon and coyotes howling in the distance. We actually stayed in 5/6th positions for close to 2 hours doing this as everyone else was also walking through hanious mud. The only guy riding it was Logan Kasper . He’s smarter then us and showed up to the gravel race on a mountain bike. He would go on to win by nearly 2 hours. Well deserved and well played Logan 👏.
After 297 km of racing (over 20-22 km total walking), I unfortunately had to pull the pin after calculating it wasn’t possible to walk my bike the last 250km+ to the finish before cutoff.
Huge shout out to Marco and the crew at Velo+ KC for the amazing support as always 🙏.
Thank you Russ and Aaron who responded to my SOS Instagram message and drove out to get my sorry ass from wherever I was in those damn Flint hills.
The rest of the day was actually pretty rad getting to hang out with friends in the 200 mile feed-zones supporting my Kona Adventure teammates Kerry and Becca. Being on the other side of the tape was an interesting experience.
Racing in Kansas usually ends poorly but feeling healthy and strong enough to be in contention to win was great.
Over and out from 🇺🇸.
Pictures: Bruce Buckley