Unbound Gravel XL 2021

I put my name into the lottery for The Unbound XL as soon as I read about it, not really looking into the details of the race. I just knew that after 2020, I needed a challenge to get my mental well-being and focus back on track.

I got the news that I had made it into the race in February. That's when I thought it might be a good idea to look at the details. The 'fine print' revealed a 36 Hour cut-off, which to a steady-as-she-goes rider like me was going to be a tough ask. Time to figure out a plan of attack.

WINTER TRAINING

I'm no stranger to bike races or multi-day endurance events. I cut my teeth at the Fat Pursuit with two 200 mile finishes. I've completed the 200-mile distance back when it was still known as the Dirty Kanza. I finished the ITI 350 in 2019 and I was one of a handful of racers that made it into the ‘700 Club' at the ITI 1000 in 2020.

Some might look at my resume and think that the XL shouldn't be that different. It was different. I'd never cycled 350 miles in one go. I'd never ridden a bike for more than 36 hours straight at the required tempo. In fact, the most I'd ridden non-stop was technically less than half of the distance that I just signed up for…this was going to be different, very different.

I started my training by pedaling my fat bike as much as I could over the remainder of the winter months. As a resident of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, I'm lucky to have hundreds of miles of trails and dirt roads available to ride year-round. In the gym, I focused on my base; getting my engine in as strong a shape as possible.

I follow the 80/20 training protocol prescribed by Dr. Stephen Siler, exercise physiologist and one of the world's leading minds in the science of cycling. 80% of my time training, which accounts for nearly all of my time spent on the bike, is in Zone 2, a low intensity push where my heart rate is around 60% of its max. The remaining 20% of my time training is spent in Zones 4 and 5. This high intensity training is primarily accomplished in the gym during interval strength, agility and cardio sessions.

I am a "likes to do cool shit" type of adventurer-athlete and this training ethos works for me and my body. Constant hard intervals that numerous protocols call for do not suit this 50 year-old former professional rugby player.

SPRING TRAINING

The roads and trails never really dry out until May around Steamboat Springs, so I took a few trips west to get longer rides in, whenever I could. My longest ride going into the XL was 106 miles which, before the game day, had me worried. I felt strong in the gym and had bumped up things a little as the date got closer. You're welcome if you trained with me.

I was also lucky to have my mate, Andreas, to ride with during the months leading up to the race. He was signed up for the Unbound Gravel 200 and had the same incentive that I did to ride when the conditions were less than ideal. We were usually able to convince a PJ to join us for several of our expeditions, but he and I were the only ones that had Unbound looming on the calendar.

THE TAPER

Despite my focus on training, I was still feeling a little ill prepared and quite frankly nervous. After being pulled off the course of the ITI 1000 in March 2020 due to weather conditions and COVID-19 cutting the race short, the last thing that I wanted was another DNF.

I decided about two weeks before the start that my best bet to finish was to focus on the greatest taper possible: organic whole-food nutrition,  recovery massages and visits to the chiropractor, and only a few mellow rides leading up to the start. No sessions in the gym and no high intensity training. Honestly, I think that this tactical taper was probably the difference between my XL finish and a DNF. My tank just kept on giving when I thought that I may start to stumble; I found a way to keep on moving forward.

PRE-GAME DAY CHANGE-UPS

My nutrition for the race was planned out weeks before the big day, but there's nothing like talking to the creator of Skratch Labs for half an hour at the Unbound Gravel Expo the day before the race... I now had a new hydration plan.

I also decided to put on a new seat post two days before the start of the race and would be wearing new, week-old shoes to boot. Going against prescribed conventions of what not to do before a race, I wasn't too bothered. There is only one person to blame in a solo event (…the race director).

THE COURSE

The XL takes place in the Flint Hills of Kansas. The region, historically known as Bluestem Pastures or Blue Stem Hills, lies in eastern Kansas and north-central Oklahoma and is named for the abundant residual flint eroded from the bedrock that lies near or at the surface.

According to Jeff MacGregor, an award-winning journalist and author, "this might be the most beautiful place in America". In a November 2018 article written for Smithsonian, MacGregor wrote: "Walk awhile up and down these Kansas hills, where the tallgrass prairie rolls out deep green on every side, the land rising and falling to a faraway horizon, out to the silent edge of a high, hot sky, the big bluestem and the wild alfalfa and the switchgrass and the Indian grass and the buffalo grass waving and swaying in the wind, gathering in the streambeds where the Eastern red cedar and the cottonwood shadow the springs and seeps, until even your own footsteps sound far away and that abiding green reaches for you and finally, gratefully, you feel yourself dissolving into the immensity of the world."

While I didn't come up with anything as poetic during my time spent on the bike riding through those same hills, it was in a word: beautiful. The course itself was mapped out with technology. Riders had to rely solely on their Garmin to get to the finish line. There were no event signs marking turns from roads to dirt paths or grass trails to gravel. No streamers on single-track, no flagging, just you and your GPS. And, there were no aid stations either. This was a self-service event. There were multiple service stations on the course which is where riders could stop to stock up on snacks and sugary drinks to get them through. I also love whenever I mention this ride. They always tell me at least Kansas is flat. 19k of climbing is not flat.

MY BIKE

I was riding a Salsa Cutthroat with a 1-11 drive train 36 oval at the front 11-46 on the back donned with ENVE carbon wheels and Panaracer GravelKing SK+ 50mm tires. This bike was built up for the long haul not for speed. but this trail was something else. Spoiler alert, after only 40 miles in, I was plugging a hole in my first flat of the race.

GAME DAY - THE START

The start of the XL was pretty uneventful. I hung out at the back of the pack and started off at a manageable pace. I didn't want to get caught up in someone else's race. The next 350+ miles were mine to tick off, as long as I could do so within the next 36 hours. My plan, as always, is do what you have to do to get to the finish line on time, in one piece and don't be a dick.

The temps were in the mid-80s and the heat got my attention. I chatted with a few riders as we all headed into the unknown. I tried not to focus on the 10mph average pace that I needed to sustain for a full day and a half in order to finish before the cut-off.

GOING INTO THE NIGHT

The XL starts at 3:00 PM. That means that you are riding for less than 6 hours before the sun, that giant ball of energy and light disappears. Riding a bike for 36 hours and doing half of it in the dark is not easy. I decided that I was going to use caffeine gum to help me stay focused through the night. My strategy was to drip feed by chewing a new piece of gum every 30 minutes, each piece containing 40 mgs of the good stuff. It worked, that is until I dropped my bag of synthetic energy into the night.

Good thing it was almost sunrise.

SUNRISE ON SATURDAY

The sunrise was spectacular and brought my energy back. A few hours later the mercury started cranking back up again. Eat drink pedal repeat. I felt good and was in good spirits. My tempo seemed good as riders came and went through the morning. The reality of this one again showed its face when I hit the 250 mile marker with still 100+ to go and the clock says you have 12 hours to do it in. I got to ride intermittently with a couple of gentlemen which kept up my speed. Joe was on a single speed and Tyler was on a bike with only a front brake working, so any "wah-wah-poor-me" moments didn't hold any water. I'm afraid every cliche in the book can go through your head but only one thing mattered, I couldn't let up.

FUELING

Skratch Labs kept me together when the heat came on in more ways than one, and that last minute change to the hydration plan was clutch. I carried with me enough calories for the whole ride, averaging an intake of 250 calories an hour. I'm pretty fat-adapted, so I can run pretty lean if necessary.

Throughout the race I ate numerous sandwiches with cheese and salami, peanut butter and honey as well. I consumed 3 trail butter pouches which were 800 calories each and picked up a few things at the four service station stops. It was a bit difficult to find anything that I wanted to eat at those to be honest. It was more of a break and have a chat with anyone within range; sometimes tricky when people were in there own little caves and then some funny talker is asking how they are holding up. I did get plenty of hollow stares with "leave-me-alone" looks. When I arrived at the finish, I still had at least 4,000 calories on board. I certainly wasn't going to die of hunger out there. I could picture Jay P shaking his head as I unloaded my bike with all the "stuff" I still had on board.

THE LAST CHECKPOINT

The last checkpoint that I came to was approximately 310 miles into the race.I had a good pull the last 30 miles solo and caught up with a number of riders. Then my tire lost air 1/2 a mile from the store. I was so close and yet still so far from the finish. When I pulled in, several riders were eating pizza outside of the service station. I thought, now there's something that will get me through the last 45 miles! Pizza!

I had plenty of calories on me, but that's what I'd been eating for hours. I wanted pizza. PIZZA! Now we're talking! I went inside only to find out that there was NO MORE PIZZA! How about a fruit cup and some more water? Awesome.

Now full of pizza, the group of riders headed off before I gathered my pizza-less composure and left the service station with 45 miles or so to go on my own. It was dark again and it seemed like my Garmin was playing tricks on me, or was it just the lack of sleep and the 310 miles that I had just ridden?

The GPS was telling me to turn on a road that wasn't there. I have seen things during an ultra event before, but this was more like not seeing things. I decided to ignore the apparent glitch in the GPS and continue going down the road that I was already riding. The same road as the service station. The only road that I could see (in the dark).

Yet, something wasn't right. So, I turned around and went back to the spot where the GPS told me to turn. There it was, the faintest goat track heading off into a pasture. Surely not, I thought. But, the GPS indicated that I was on the right track and that it was 1.6 miles to the next turn. Am I lost? Is there a 'real' trail running parallel somewhere I should be on or am I lost? For f@#$ sake, did I get lost on the last stretch?! REALLY? NO PIZZA and now I'm LOST?

Even though I didn't see any lights ahead, I just kept going. I decided to trust my Garmin and go the 1.6 miles. That might not seem very far, but when you are only riding slow on a goat track, that's nearly 30 minutes of panic and not knowing if you are actually on course. Finally, I saw lights in the distance and came upon a car in the field. There, in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere was a film crew filming me riding down the trail. They were cheering me on and confirmed that I was in fact on the right track. Thank God.

CATCHING UP TO THE 200 MILERS

I was able to pick-up my pace and tick-off the miles again once I knew that I wasn't lost. And, it wasn't too long after that when I intersected with the 200 miler riders. I was starting to feel a little bit better about my chances of making the cut-off and crossing the finish line in under 36 hours. And then, with about 20 miles to go, heading down a steep, fast descent, my rear tire went on me. Really?

I stopped as fast as I could so as not to ruin my wheel. I had to put in a tube in order to fix it, which proved to be more difficult than it sounds given my inability to think logically at this point. I eventually got it in and started moving again. I had one tube left and 20 miles to go. I'm now on edge, praying to see the lights of Emporia. I started to count down the miles.

15 Miles, 14 Miles, 13 Miles, 12 Miles, 11 Miles, 10 Miles and BOOM! Tire loses air, AGAIN!

I stop and take a few seconds to calm down, focus on breathing and do my best not to freak out. I start to put in my final tube and within seconds I'm being eaten alive by mosquitos coming from every direction. They're in my ears, eyes, mouth and biting my legs and arms. Was it my lights attracting them? I couldn't fix my tire without the lights. I tried moving them around so that I could still see but maybe the mosquitos would just leave me alone.

Unbound XL really wanted me to remember every piece of it.

THE FINISH

While I was fixing the flat and serving as meal of the day for what seemed to be all of the mosquitos in Kansas, a 200 mile rider pulled up to check on me. I filled him in on the fun and he decided to hang out for moral support. Once the flat was fixed, he then gave me some company for the ride home. The last 10 miles of a 358 mile ride.

As with almost any ultra-event, it was an emotional finish. All of the training, all of the sacrifices made by everyone around me so that I could even show up to the starting line, let alone get to the finish line.

The UB XL is not a feel-good finisher medal type event. If you finish that sucker, you are going to have to put it all out there – at least that is what I had to do.

FINAL METRICS

Distance: 358 Miles (570 km for the rest of the world)

Total elapsed time: 34 Hours 32 Minutes

Moving Time: 30 Hours 39 Minutes

Average Moving Speed: 11.7 MPH

Total Vertical Climbed: 19,291 FT

110 riders started 46 finished

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