So for all you riders out there that scrape and scramble just to get in the race, Alexey, who is paid to do it, just can’t stand it.
I’ll always remember being in Emporia before that race & just happening to be in a pre-race ride with a well known diet-specific influencer. They were all talking about how they didn’t like riding in the area. They had some choice things to say about people in the area. ‘but the views are so good…’
So, to all you pro riders and influencers who don’t like Unbound, can you do the rest of us a favor? DO NOT RIDE IT. We like it and we’re trying to get in. And for sure, if somebody lets us ride for free, we will not bitch about it.
I assume this comment comes from the recent podcast with Alexey?
I don’t know if this was your intention, but this post implies that Alexey was complaining about Unbound, but the exact context was me asking him which race he liked the most in the LTGP, and which he liked the least, and he selected Unbound for the latter.
I don’t think a pro or a few influencers skipping the race is going to open slots for amatuers.
People riding their bike for a living whether as pro racers or journalists/influecers, gotta put food on the table. If someone’s paying them to be there, I’d expect them to be there and be positive about the race even if its not their favorite race.
Its not any different than a pro riding their sponsors gear even if that wouldn’t have been their 1st choice given all the options.
That race is a lot of the GP riders least favorite race. And it is some other’s favorite. He’s allowed to have an opinion and the pro spots have nothing to do with the age grouper spots so one grand prix rider sitting it out or being injured or whatever doesn’t get one more age group athlete in.
@Jonathan i don’t agree with OPs take. But with that out of the way….
I did just listen to this episode on the commute home. When you ask which LifeTime race is “best” vs “worst” I did have the thought that a better way to ask the question is which race is your least and most favorite. It may be my own personal pet peeve, but I dislike best and worst questions or rankings that pervade the click bait on the internet.
I never would have brought it up. But since OP here can’t understand the implied nuance of the question or the nuance of the response, I thought it was worth mentioning. (Alexi did say something along the lines of “I’m not sure there’s a bad one, but….” so even more nuance over the head of OP)
Anyway. I’m about halfway thru the episode and it’s a good one. Keep them coming.
When I heard it I thought “which race is he gonna throw under the bus?” It was a tough question and I appreciate the honest answer. He could have bobbed and weaved but he didn’t. Blame Johnathon if you’ve gotta blame somebody. (Just kidding don’t blame him either!)
I haven’t ridden sea otter or unbound but clearly sea otter is my least favorite.
I also think the unspoken aspect of his pick is also his physiology.
Alexey is not a big dude, so the fairly flat 200 mile race that is Unbound doesn’t really suit his strengths. So it is a long long day in the saddle, knowing he is likely not going to be the winner as it tends to favor raw power over w/kg and technical skill.
I can see that, racing is fun but for that long a lot of pros would agree. especially at that level its a stressful loooong dangerous day. I’ve done it once and tried again the next year to redeam all the mechanicals i suffered only to get the “thanks but no thanks”..super glad i did it and finished it and never would go back for the full pull. And now with how hard it is to get in, you can have it.
Asking what race in someone’s schedule they like most/least is pretty reasonable for an interview.
It seems like the OP is asking Alexey to be disingenuous, which is a weird take. Could you imagine, “they’re all so perfect in their own way, impossible question, who doesn’t love every bike race?”
First, it’s a required race in his series, so obviously he’s going to do it. Foregoing for it being his least favorite would be absurd. For many others who may not “love” certain races, they might still do it for the overall challenge or experience. It’s possible to enjoy a race but still not enjoy the travel to get there, issues with the locals, etc.
Aside from the insane wind, I really enjoyed the Rattlesnake Gravel Grind this year. But, at 6-7 hrs away, the town didn’t offer even the smallest of decent amenities for my wife & kids that I’d make the trip again. Locals were nice but lack of rudimentary things for my family to make the trip worthwhile would be a no go in future years. Not that we need much, but decent restaurants and parks for the kids to play are generally a bare minimum, which were lacking.
If I were a pro racer in the grand prix, I might feel the same about Unbound. It takes a disproportionate amount of training/prep compared to the other races and is probably the most unpredictable race where luck can play as big of a role as fitness. And recovery time afterwards is a drain. You can be in the best shape of your life and have an unlucky mechanical in the first 15 minutes and end your day. That’s somewhat true at any race, but Unbound is more of a crap shoot compared to the other grand prix races. For people who like to control the variables, it can be a tough race to stomach. It’s part of the reason I really like the race. No matter how well you prepare, you really have no idea how the day is going to go when you line up at the start.
You’ve also just described why I have no desire to do Unbound. If I spent a bunch of money and trained specifically for it and then got there, ruined my bike and DNF’d in a mud section at mile 11, and then the guy running the race said, Oh well, it’s supposed to be hard…..I’d be pretty mad. As if a 200 mile gravel race isn’t going to be hard regardless, they should ALWAYS route around bad mud. At least for the amateurs that actually pay for their bikes. I do various Lifetime events, but they lost me forever when it comes to Unbound that year.
Hey @TravisM I’m basing this claim on data shown to me by the event organizers. Back in the day (before LifeTime) I was a proponent of a dedicated pro race. At that time I was told the choke point wasn’t riders on the road…it was parking at the rest stops. Their estimate then was that the pro riders would have a 3x to 4x footprint compare to the non-pro field. So 100 pros take the spot of about 300 non-pro. Maybe LifeTime sees it differently. Let your own eyes be your guide, though.
I would agree with you, though, that influencers are probably more or less the same as the non-pro field in this respect. But I will 100% stand behind the idea that there are an entire cadre of influencers riding that race that do nothing but bitch about the terrain, bitch about the accommodations, ridicule the locals, but ride it because it’s good for views. And I will also 100% stand behind the idea that a significant portion of those riders didn’t pay their way in or wait in the ‘lottery line’.
Meanwhile some 22 year old is willing to ‘just put it on the card and figure it out later’ but can’t make it past the lottery.
Opinions definitely vary on that one. There are plenty of races for people wanting a more manageable/predictable outcome. But it’s also nice to have races that lean more toward adventure/chaos with problems to navigate during the race and a decent possibility of DNF. In the ultra running world, there are races that sell out every year with 75%+ DNF rates. Some people are looking for that (not me, but clearly there is demand). That’s one of the great things about gravel, you can sign up for events that cover a very wide spectrum. Some races are completely manageable and are basically just a long road race on gravel, while others look more like a 100+ mile stretch of the Tour Divide. I don’t want a 75% chance of DNF for a big race, but I do like the anxious feeling of lining up for a race where the outcome is a question mark. And mud/rain races are definitely a favorite, manageable chaos.
But that’s just your preference. There’s a long history of mud being a huge factor in Unbound since the early days. In fact most early gravel events expected racers to just deal with whatever nature threw at them. If you don’t like that, then your mistake was not being aware of the risk ahead of time. There’s plenty of gravel races to suit any taste.
Part of the issue from the 2023 mud year is the race director mentioned they were keeping an eye on that known miles long mud section and had an easy reroute they could utilize if need be. Yet for some unknown reason they didn’t use the reroute.
There were other mud sections that year. I’m okay with some mud and short hike a bike but a reroute would not have detracted from that race. There were plenty of other challenges that day.
