Also
For the general field of the 200, 654 out of 1154 finished, giving a ~43% DNF rate.
For comparison, in 2022, 1109 out of 1233 finished, for a ~10% DNF rate.
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I get the draw to ādo epic things,ā but this is an expensive, non-fun-sounding way to prove you are epic. Plenty of gravel out there you can either race or ride that doesnāt involve hours of hike-a-bike through soul-destroying mud. I think they jumped the āspirit of gravelā shark a few years back.
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I feel a 43% DNF rate is a failure on the part of the race director.
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Here is my speed vs time profile from Garmin. This under-reports very slow speeds, as my Garmin pauses the activity at sub 3mph. Need to change that.
The first and last mud sections are clear to pick out. The middle mud section was at about 9:30 hrs.
The first mud section dashed the hopes of many for a beat the sun time.
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This! I love epic stuff but the expense and logistics of Unbound have always been a turn off. I donāt know too many people who have done the 200 and had a good time, and I wouldnāt travel that far for a 100 mile event when thereās so many closer to home.
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Ouch. I think that stat will turn off more people than it will attract for future editions of Unbound. I can see them trying to do some damage-control PR on this one.
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I hope so, they made changes after the bad finish rate in 2021.
The race is 200 miles, doesnāt need to be 200 miles and miles of hiking
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Like this? Maybe not quite like that, but say 33% of the DNF + many finishers might feel this way.
Even if I got to bypass the lottery next year Iām not sure that I would sign up again. Too many good regional races that cost a lot less time and money.
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Finding myself agreeing with the sentiments here about the cost vs āepicnessā. Unbound as an event is tons of fun, the expo is great and itās always a blast to meet Internet friends irl/chat with sponsors etc but as for the race itself after doing the 200 last year and XL this year the value just does not make sense anymore imo.
Maybe itās just trauma from clearing mud from my bike for 2.5hrs at 1am, then again for another 1.5hrs at 3, with 1.5hrs of walking in between, but Iām wondering why the hell I thought PAYING $250 or whatever it was for a completely self supported race was a good call hahaha. What am I even paying for with the XL? Zero support, and the live tracker is so slow and buggy that it is impossible to know where folks actually are. The little goodie bag?
Overall I am bummed with having to drop out, but am happy with my effort. Definitely had the legs to keep pushing for 350mi, so probably gonna make my own āepicā route locally (that is actually rideable lol) to put the fitness to the test at some point this summer.
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Donāt forget to include the $50+ you had to pay later for the required tracker that canāt actually be used for an emergency. Of course we mostly knew this when we signed up, but is kinda stark when you experience it.
For the XL it was a bit astonishing how wasteful the self supported nature is when it comes to water. Piles of single use plastic water bottles that almost certainly arenāt going to be recycled (whatever that actually means notwithstanding). Seems like for $300 there could be a better system while maintaining the self supported ethic.
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I quickly lost interest a couple of years ago when I looked at that high cost for an unsupported ride. I recall the website suggesting (maybe even requiring) you to provide your own support. I guess I can see why Lifetime bought the event, this is likely a huge moneymaker due to the minimal support they offer.
(Yes, I know that I could pay another organization to provide support, but on top of $250 that is just crazy.)
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Yeah, was talking about this with my mother who swung by the gas stations to help clean up. So much trash! Both stations ran out of large gallon jugs of water quickly so most people had to buy a ton of small bottles. From a cost perspective it also adds up, I myself spent ~$40 between the two stops
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I was eating tacos yesterday and talking with J. Bishop (he said he decided to race last minuteā¦I got the impression he doesnāt like Unbound much) and his friend. He said they could easily have routed around the first mud section. Why they chose not to is anyoneās guess.
I get it that people like this race for the āWar Storiesā, but as a first timer, I probably spend > $1000 to attend this race (considering travel expenses and burning vacation time). While I am glad I did it, I probably wonāt be back. I would much rather attend a race that is about racing, not about hiking mud and can your bike survive some of the crap āgravelā sections.
XL people have to be extra pissed because that is a huge life investment.
Itās a shame because the expo was fun and the people in the crew for hire were awesome.
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Same DNF rate as when I did it back in 2016 when it was Dirty Kanza 200. But this year, the mud sections were horrendous. The Race Director knew it was going to bad and still didnāt reroute the raceā¦Very Poor Decision.
I have been riding/racing Gravel since 2015 and this was the worst race ever (I heard they run out of water at Water Station #2 - WTF??? and were very very low
at Water Station #1 when I was there). I wonāt be coming back. Per my personal opinion and after having been talking with locals (we ate out put to support the local economy)ā¦LIFETIME Unbound has become a money grab.
I DNF this year. Couldnāt get my legs back under me until mile 65 and missed the cut but 15ā. Iāve never been a Ferrariā¦ more like a diesel F-250, but disappointed that the first cut-off couldnāt have been extended. Life - I get it.
I get a LITTLE hike-a-bikeā¦but for over 3 miles in one section is ridiculous - and there were 2 more sections of mud, especially when known in advance. I expect during BikePacking which is okay but not at āThe Premier Gravel Event/Raceā.
Congratulations to all those who completed the 200 course this year!!! Hope to see yāall out there!
Bourbon 
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What is crazy is the the race director said at the race meeting Friday afternoon, āwe arenāt going to make you walk 4-5 milesā. If itās bad we will do a quick reroute! I saw the bad section Friday morning during recon and knew it wasnāt rideable. And it rained Friday night so it definitely was not going to be better. I fully expected the reroute and when I made the turn and saw the line of people walking, it was a real bummer.
I ended up pulling the plug at mile 124 (second water oasis). I had been āonā the bike for 11 hours at that point. Nothing they could have done about the heat and then rain/hail storm I got caught in. But not rerouting that early section was a massive mistake. They need to address this publicly.
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He said the hose into his hydration pack got disconnected inside or something.
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