Unbound Gravel 2023

[bthomas515]

Originally Posted by BRad704

As an armchair Unbound follower who's never been there... that line on the left looks perfectly rideable IMO.

I don't know exactly where this pic was taken, but all my family lives in Kansas that area and I've ridden a decent amount out there. One thing is that their farm land has mud on top of mud on top of mud, if that makes sense. Where I'm at in GA, hard red clay lies right under any ground so once that initial top layer is gone you can still ride. So while the ground may look rideable, when its saturated then its still super soft for a few inches. They probably just couldn't get traction to move and were spinning tires.

[GParkes]

I did Mid South this year. I have a friend that lives in OKC who did it as well and prepared me mentally for the possibility of all kinds of weather. I left New York with three different kit set ups; cold and wet (muddy), hot and dry, and somewhere in between. I knew going into it that the conditions could be miserable with mud and I'd have to deal with it. Fortunately, not the case this year.

My point being is that everyone who gets in to Unbound should know full well that it's not going to be perfect, and in fact possibly miserable. Don't sign up if your expectations don't include dealing with adversity. The pros, they got paid by their sponsors. Deal with it.

As for overlapping finishes, that should be addressed. It's also likely the only thing they can control.

Just saying.

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by BRad704

As an armchair Unbound follower who's never been there... that line on the left looks perfectly rideable IMO.

If you're referencing the grassy line where people are walking, I agree - so long as your drivetrain isn't already packed up with mud.

Anyone else think Swenson's unreleased new Stigmata looks an awful lot like a highball with drop bars? There are some differences, I don't think they are actually the same, but that's a tall axle to crown, pretty slack HTA, short HT for a gravel bike.

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by BRad704

As an armchair Unbound follower who's never been there... that line on the left looks perfectly rideable IMO.

Based on the fact that everyone is walking their bike, I'd say it probably wasn't rideable.

[Jaybee]

Based on limited IG reports, most of the lead men's elite group got through by riding the grass line. So maybe it was rideable, but maybe you also need Russell Finsterwald's bike handling and power to get through it.

[spoonrobot]

Reports seem to indicate the grass was slow, slippery, and with a lot of mud and divots. Probably rideable but also probably enough to cause suffering later - this was mile 11-14/15 of a 200/100 mile race. One of my riders was saying he ended up walking for 45 minutes but it felt like almost no time at all, so probably race excitement made it seem not so bad for some.

And once everyone in front was walking it was too rude to try to make people move to go by at 10mph doing 6w/kg in the soft grass. #midwestmentality

"Ope just gonna squeeze by you guys here..." x 4000 - I'd rather walk.

[lavi]

Course looks like it was a nightmare....but I'm a powder puff.

[spoonrobot]

Here's the women's field going into the mud:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CtBw1hyMU9C/

And then later, just a traffic jam. If the first mass of riders isn't riding it's real hard to filter through everyone else.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CtBwGu0s_Cr/

[spoonrobot]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

Anyone else think Swenson's unreleased new Stigmata looks an awful lot like a highball with drop bars? There are some differences, I don't think they are actually the same, but that's a tall axle to crown, pretty slack HTA, short HT for a gravel bike.

Looks like it's optimized for both short travel front suspension and a dropper. Swenson has been dropping comments here and there thinking about using one bike for the whole grand prix - which wouldn't be too far off with the right fork/dropper/tires.

[AngryScientist]

This event seems to take everything I like about gravel riding and replace it with everything I don't like about it.

[rice rocket]

RE: the walking, pushing through was not the right answer if you planned to be able to use your bike for more than one race.

Someone posted this on another forum. He was the 5th place finisher in the XL.

[sasquatch16v]

probably an unpopular opinion....

who else is sick of Keegan winning? No doubt an insanely strong rider and a force to be reckoned with...but he lacks a certain panache, style or whacky character that I wish the #1 "gravel" rider would have...

Like Lachlan for example.

[cmb5286]

Originally Posted by sasquatch16v

probably an unpopular opinion....

who else is sick of Keegan winning? No doubt an insanely strong rider and a force to be reckoned with...but he lacks a certain panache, style or whacky character that I wish the #1 "gravel" rider would have...

Like Lachlan for example.

I second this, but I have a tendency to do this ie Tom Brady and the Patriots, Max V and Red Bull, etc. No doubt he has the talent, but it's a bit bland.

[bthomas515]

Originally Posted by rice rocket

RE: the walking, pushing through was not the right answer if you planned to be able to use your bike for more than one race.

Someone posted this on another forum. He was the 5th place finisher in the XL.

This is a link to his “I’m about to ride xl” photo. Looks like he set himself up for serious rub with how close that tire looks to the frame

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs_do6GO...c4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

[sasquatch16v]

Originally Posted by cmb5286

I second this, but I have a tendency to do this ie Tom Brady and the Patriots, Max V and Red Bull, etc. No doubt he has the talent, but it's a bit bland.

Ok, I feel validated that at least I'm not the only one!

at least it seems like Finsty is capable of putting up a good fight, maybe things will get more interesting...