Yeah not that there is any actionable data other than try and bribe the race promoter to start you when it’s warmer…Just curious is all as it sure can get in your head.
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Very happy to hear you guys talk about the cost of gravel “racing”. I’ve totally given up on these $160+ events with poor support. It actually sent me over to road racing, weirdly enough.
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I agree with this, but I once was confronted with a hot take at a bike shop. I had just bought a brand new Emonda, and asked for them to put the stem underneath all the spacers when building it (to save myself some time later). I was told that “no one should ever slam a stem.” And they did not follow through with my request.
I didn’t ask any follow up questions… but it’s a memory that has stuck with me.
That’s a bummer! If one wants to slam their stem, slam away! But above all, they shouldn’t just make a decision like that without doing a proper fit, eh?
Jonathan’s talk about training deprived and then eating a bunch of crap at an event having predictably bad results got me thinking a bit. The only 2 times I’ve had trouble holding down nutrition on the bike were at high altitude (7000-8000 ft I would guess, I live at 5000). And this wasn’t fondo aid station food, once it was SIS drink mix, that I never actually threw it up, but it just sloshed around my stomach and made me not want to drink anymore… for like 2 hours I tried to sip when I could, but barely got any down. The other time it was Clif Shot Blocks, that came up at least an hour after I started eating and looked completely undigested. I sometimes fuel workouts with drink mix or gels, but at that time and currently not that often, because weight loss is more a priority than power gains at the moment (I have a significant amount of weight to lose), but in the past I have gone from unfueled rides to sugar fueled rides with no problem. Makes wonder if “gut training” would have helped, and/or if elevation does indeed effect it.
Edit:
And I regularly train 15-30 minutes after dinner, which is not always ideal cycling food, and that never causes me any problems at all.
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We’re going to cover a question next week that covers some pretty close parallels to this, Jake!
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Re: chamois cream: $5 tub of Vaseline lasts me a year.
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Maybe the real hot take is in the comments. 11 years (4,600+ hours) of riding and racing, never had a “proper fit”. I haven’t always ridden with a slammed stem, but I tend to buy a bike, drop the stem & adjust saddle height to my hip and start riding. Over the first few weeks / months I make small changes as needed. Sometimes the stem comes up a bit, sometimes it remains slammed.
Never buy new stems / bars for a stock bike and usually stick with whatever saddle comes on the bike. I feel very lucky that I can’t think of a bike I have ridden (that’s my size) and thought “Man, this thing is so uncomfortable.”
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Agree. Don’t get me wrong Unbound is amazing. But i get people’s frustration for races like that which have gotten popular but expensive and hard to get into. But there are SOOOOOOO many smaller gravel races.
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And no Chamois cream costs me $0/yr. 
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Amen. They may not have the prestige or glamor but they’re out there and they have their own charms. The race I’m doing Saturday starts and finishes at the Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Miss., where most of this Black Keys video was shot.
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There’s a gravel event I do annually that falls on the same weekend as Unbound, so I think that alone will keep it from getting “too popular.”
The shorter distances (20 and 40) sold out in a month. 60 is pretty close to selling out. 100 might not sell out. That alone should tell ya most people don’t want to spend 6-10 hours riding a bicycle.
Lastly, the hundo was well under $100 and will have 6 aid stations along the way (one of which is stocked full of beer and bacon).
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Is the race Bentonio Burner? I did that a few years ago. I enjoyed that race. I’m in Georgia and we definitely have a bunch of smaller but enjoyable gravel races.
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What I spend on chamois cream I save by not buying a chamois 
Yes Bentonia Burner! And based on your user name I was going to ask about Tampa. We lived there from 87-91.
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And the Mississippi race this weekend has beer, BBQ, and blues at the finish. But no loveseat. So +1 there for Unbound, If that’s your thing. I’ll go for authentic, but thanks.
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Official Trek instructions called for a 5mm spacer underneath the stem so that could be why the shop guys refused to slam the stem. CYA after all. I think the spacer requirement was in response to Hincapie breaking his steerer tube at Paris Roubaix.
The stock Bontrager stem on my 2017 Domane has a sticker reminding about the spacer requirement. However around that time I remember noticing slammed bikes on the Trek website but you know marketing just does whatever they want. 
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I lived in Tampa for about 13 years. Left about 7 years ago. Not a lot of gravel riding around there that I’m aware of.
I miss 2 things there. Flat woods park which has a wide paved 7 mile loop with cold water every 2 miles. So great for running and biking especially back in my triathlon days. And also the Suncoast trail. Miles and miles of paved car free riding. Easy for structured workouts.
Good luck on Bentonia.
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@Jonathan Ever heard of hot air balloon 
While listening the episode I just waited one of you would think of that.
I believe there’s plenty of room for a variety of gravel races whether it’s Unbound or a local gravel race. Unbound is an amazing experience but it’s gotten expensive and most people have to travel a good distance to get there. On the flip side, there are probably close 10 gravel races around me of a small scale within 1-2 hours of me throughout the year.
And I agree most people don’t want to be out racing 6-10,15+ hours. And even more likely they don’t want to train for those distances.
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