NOTE: Images from Unbound's Instagram page unless otherwise noted. A shorter version of this posted on my Substack a couple of days ago. All opinions are Guitar Ted's
Well, they cooked up another tasty dirt/mud fest for Unbound this year. With this being the "20th anniversary*" of an event run on gravel at this time of year in Emporia, the organizers wanted something special.
Dan Hughes, himself a winner of the Dirty Kanza 200, the event which inaugurated this 20 year run, said in an interview that this year's course was an amalgam of all the "favorite roads" from past DK200's and Unbound events. So, instead of a "North" or "South" course, they ran a course which encompassed Emporia from the North, West, And South. It was to be a celebration of the best that the Flint Hills had to offer in a gravel event.
The only thing beyond the organizer's control, of course, was the weather. Apparently the need to amp-up things further was in the cards as rain fell overnight before the race and rain was falling at times during the 200. This made the dreaded mud come to life and yes- there were DNF's and even some minor injuries.
Old gravel folk will smile and nod their heads in an understanding way. This was part and parcel to the gravel experience, and for some, a requisite part of having a "great race experience". But as money, fame, careers, and sponsorship has infiltrated this style of racing, some have an opposing attitude when it comes to the mud and weather.
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| A rider tries wrenching his bars into plane after a crash. |
One of the comments, ironically left two days prior to the event, on Unbound's Instagram account, by a person going by"german_belgian_waffle" reads: "When is unbound finally going to realize they have outgrown their ability to safely hold this during severe weather months? With all the tents, campers, lack of hotels and basements… it is one severe weather event from catastrophe due to the vast area the event covers. Have it two weekends before nebraska gravel worlds in early august. The mudpit and tornado/hail alley is a mess that does not need to be dealt with anymore. Its too great of an event to trash so many competitors bikes"
Another commenter on Facebook commenting on a post by Unbound said "Not real racing"
Now, longtime readers of this blog will know how I, as a race event director, would have answered this. I would have replied, "Well, perhaps this event is not for you."
And I still feel a lot of people just do not understand how American gravel racing came to be. Weather was part of the adventure and broken bikes and parts were also seen as a probable outcome of submitting oneself to trying to overcome such challenges. I have personally witnessed people walking miles, scootering unpedalable bikes, and making repairs until they just couldn't continue. One media source had a post on "X" saying the XL winner, Robert Gemperle, was "..forced to walk 21K" (Gemperle's estimate, not likely the reality)
I would say he chose to walk (approximately, maybe...) 21K. And it is a good thing he did, because he won .So.....there is that.
But again, money, fame, career, and sponsorship backing come with different expectations. One Pro rider, knocked out by another rider running into him while he was walking a minimum maintenance road, had a deep look of frustration, but to his credit, he did not publicly take the other rider to task for essentially ruining his day. But he did say the past two weeks seemed like a huge waste of time due to the incident and the consequences of that crash.
I think we, as outsiders looking in, really have no say in this matter. This - of course - won't stop the negativity. As for myself, I do not think there is any way to "sanitize" gravel to the point where wild cards like unruly weather, poor road conditions, and just bad circumstances would be eliminated. Certainly just changing Unbound's date, or even location, guarantees nothing. That is basically a very poor argument against what we saw over the weekend.
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| Scott 32"er (Image from Cameron Jones Instagram) |
Scott Bikes brought two 32"ers to Unbound with Cameron Jones on one for the 200 and Robert Gemperle on another in the XL, which he won in a little over 21 hours.
I didn't note any big 32"er news officially, but there was a bike shown from Mosaic with WTB tires on it. They looked like Resolutes, and if so, these would be gravel specific tires. Again, this plays into my notions that 32"ers will eventually become a gravel dominate wheel size despite their being on MTB bikes first.
There was an old maxim used in the automobile world that went: "Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday". While I do not think the bicycling world will be taken over by 32" wheels, it certainly doesn't hurt that a 32"er figured heavily at the front of the 200 and that a 32"er won the XL. The Cameron Jones ridden Scott 32"er bagged a top ten result in the 200. Scott couldn't have hoped for much better. Yes - Scott said this was not going to be a bike they put into production. Companies say a lot of things. Take Specialized, Yeti, or Giant, all who said 29"ers were a fad and that their respective companies wouldn't offer them for sale.
Yeah.....right.
So, let's say Scott is true to their words. It doesn't mean they won't ever do a 32"er. It will float the boats of all the others who do/will offer a 32"er as winning races and showing great results does affect sales. So, we will see, Scott. We will see.....
Also of note: Joe Meiser of QBP/Salsa Cycles finished the 200 on his Fargo 32"er. Specialized's new Crux v5 bike, debuting at Unbound, took the top two places in the Men's and the Women's 200. Prepare for an onslaught of ads from the Big S.
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| Joe Meiser finishing on a 32" Fargo (Image courtesy of Mike Reimer) |
Gritty Performances - Disappointing Failures:
On one hand when riders overcome conditions such as we have witnessed this year at Unbound, their reward is becoming part of legend. They also have that feather in the cap. They overcame, as one media source put it, "horrible conditions". On the other hand you get riders like Peter Stetina and Ted King crashing out and having "DNF" next to their names in the results. Some decry these outcomes as being "unfair", or as the commenter I quoted above saying things like, "we can't be trashing all these great bikes".
Really? You cannot have it both ways. As I've often pointed out, Paris- Roubaix is the classic it is because it was rough, muddy, and it broke humans and their machines. The ones who overcame with a layer of French farm mud covering their faces were the "heroes". The ones celebrated forever in art, story, and whispered tales in bike shops. This doesn't happen if we are more worried about not breaking bikes, worried about not breaking spirits, and expecting everyone to finish.
Racer/ You Tuber/ Cycling Coach and sponsored athlete Dylan Johnson posted this on Facebook after the event: " This is the second time I’ve hemorrhaged massive time at a muddy Unbound. It’s clearly something I need to figure out, because that will always be part of this race. I actually think that’s part of what makes the race so special. Riders need to be ready for anything, and it rewards mental toughness and perseverance. "
The 2026 Unbound, in my opinion, was a classic ultra-distance gravel event in every way. Riders should feel pride in even having been in this event. But there will be naysayers and critics who want something different.
Well then, maybe this event is not for you.
*I consider 2006 - 2019 as an evolution of DK200. From 2020 till the present it has become a completely different affair. Your mileage may vary)
14 comments:
People crying about weather: timeless... There will always be these wankers out there and you said it best. "Maybe this event isn't for you" pretty much sums it up.
@MG - The other bit I am befuddled by - always when it comes up - is when people blame the race/weather for their bike failures or for the parts broken and extra maintenance.
Racing inherently is hard on machinery. If the idea is to preserve the integrity of your bicycle I would think one would approach the event in question a little differently.
A very bad example to follow are the Pros and how they treat bicycles because they use them as tools which are expendable. (Yes - even 10K + bikes!) So, as an amateur you have to decide to walk through mud, lift up your bike and wade deep water, or..... Suffer the consequences of your decisions, or...
Don't race.
Bikesnobnyc has a rather humerous, if not spot on discription of the whole XL gravel thing.
https://bikesnobnyc.com/2026/06/01/neck-and-neck-2/
@james - Thanks for the link. I understand he is being sarcastic and he's trying to be entertaining.
I hope he doesn't believe a lot of what he wrote there though, because as a promoter of an event for fourteen years, an event the XL was based off of , I can say a lot of what he claims is completely misunderstood, misrepresented, and in some cases outright false.
In fact, it was such a bad take I could not give the article a full read. He just went off the rails and seemingly had no regard for ultra-endurance cycling. Again - I get he's trying to be entertaining, but your audience also doesn't necessarily have the same filters on the author does, and there is where I think the article is irresponsible.
In the end, this probably doesn't matter, but I think you posted the link in hopes I'd read it and maybe was wondering what I thought. Well, it is BS, that's what I thought. I'm not taking aim at you with that comment, 'james', and if you enjoyed the article, great. I did not.
From the finishing times and post event pics I’m inclined to call this a “wet” year rather than a “mud” year. It has definitely been worse.
(Note huge dallops of sarcasm) They really should move that race completely out of Kansas and put it on Mallorca, and also make the entire course pavement to control the variation of the surface. Also, they should only host it if they can guarantee each an every racer finishes. Also, any all maintenances should be covered by the race director personally. And those expenses should be covered regardless if I did something bone headed, when i could have carried my bike. And finally, the race should insure my training up to the race as well. That way if I fail to finish I am re-imbursed a bruised ego.
@Mark - I am sorry. I was not poking fun at you, or any reader here. I have a cynical sence of humor as BSNYC does. He is an avid cyclist, but likes to poke fun at some of the absurdities in life.
Joe’s Fargo 32 stayed incredibly free of mud. At each support stop we sprayed 2 or 3 bottles of water onto his drivetrain and brake calipers. At those stops I pulled a small amount of mud from the top of his bb shell. That was the only place it collected. Joe finished in 12:43 and was incredibly steady throughout. He averaged 16.26 mph, which is what he’d planned on doing. Checkpoint 3 was the only time we saw him feeling the affects of the day, as he began using one word answers and one word requests. Pretty great performance IMO and all based on a training plan of just 10 hours riding per week.
Also, please find a route for the race that is entirely downhill. My legs don't seem to be capable of pedaling at the speed necessary to save those 15.2 watts that specialized promised me when I bought my new aero Crux.
Serious Comment. Looking at the Salsa Fargo 32 in the picture, you guys did right as far as I can tell. Slacker head angle, longer wheel base, longer chain stay. All the things I think that platform needs to be rideable for most people. I guess I am kind of saying well done Salsa
@scott do not encourage me to write any more desires that I will demand ;)
To the dedicated, but non-pro normal cycling and fitness folks, this sounds like a REALLY interesting story. All of Joe’s perceptions and the details of both the 32” wheels-tires and the 10-hour training regimen would make for very compelling, relatable must read. A new Salsa video?
I rode my first Unbound 200 this year and, although the first 2/3rds or so were pretty tough, I rode every inch of the course (except for the flooded tunnel). The last 1/3rd was actually pretty nice with a cross tailwind to CP3 and a smooth ride into town at dusk with the wind dying down. Mud was much more "soupy" than "sticky". There are plenty of races that are more predictable and easier to finish; I think something on the international racing calendar, a bit more like the legendary Trans Iowa, is well worth having around.
Here is my take. I started gravel riding in the Fall of 2017 after a drunk hit me on a night right. Luckily no major injuries. Gravel has changed a lot since then what with Lifetime buying out Dirty Kanza and the Leadville 100. I live in PA. and just luv riding in the Midwest. You guys/gals are spoiled out there with all the great gravel riding you have. My first race was the Pony Express Gravel Dash in 2017 and they had a 75 miler that year. The only change that I saw to Marysville Kansas is that they had 6 red lights instead of the 1 in 2017. Yes I luv doing the grassroots rides and hope they don't go away. I see races out in CA. at $200 just for the registration no food etc. included. I heard Unbound was $400 for registration and $500 for the dorms and who knows how much bike repair afterwards. Works for the Pros as they get bikes thrown their way but to the average Joe that is a very expensive weekend. Then I am reading some riders got Giardia. I guess it isn't the race for me know but might do it in the future. I am on a 50 State 50 mile Gravel bucket list and have done 64 races in 30 States. I can do a couple of grassroots races for what people spent this weekend. I saw the one pic of the 1500 age group riders on that one hill walking and there could easily have been 200-300 riders in that pic and was wondering do I want that to be me in a race.
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