Gratz to you as well @grwoolf . Outstanding to finish so close to the podium and smash the race.
Honestly surprised to see the thread title still hasn’t been changed to “Unbound Mud 2023”.
I’m not angry - just disappointed.
Likely won’t be a problem.
My 2x GRX started to misbehave after the first mid section. I was wishing I had a 1x after that! I was babying all my shifts of the front mech.
Was it just me, or were there a few hills after Eureka where the temps skyrocketed? Here’s my temp profile from my Garmin. Easy to see when the rain rolled in!
Very true. Despite Unbound taking 7 hours longer for me than Leadville, I didn’t feel that I had to go as deep as Leadville.
It wasn’t just you. That heat started to get to me. Then I felt better once the clouds rolled in but of course that brought the storm and the wind about blew me off the bike and the rain felt like hail pelting me on the face due to the wind
It was a fun day out there. There should be a marking on the course. My Garmin didn’t indicate all the turns. And my group missed a few turns because of that.
I didn’t know what to expect and thought mud section was very short. Also rode road cleats because of that. Turned out if was great decision because mud did’t stick very well to road cleats.
Ended up finishing in 12:22 mins. First Unbound 200. And I’m not sure if I will come back.
I will honestly never do that ride again. Running out of water so early in those temps is just inexcusable.
That’s an interesting observation since the one thing people criticize the Pathfinders over is mud. Thanks for sharing!
Pretty sure the “Un” will be removed. Just “Bound”. 
Unground Bravel
(swapped B/G since there was “no ground” 
)
Payson won a really muddy mid south a couple years ago using wide slicks. His thought was there wouldn’t be much traction anyways and the mud wouldn’t stick to the slick tires as much. Turns out he was right.
Yup, motocross racers use sprays like this on the bike to minimize adhesion. Usually all under the fenders and any part of the frame direct spray direction from mud getting tossed.
Another trick is actually placing tape on these surfaces to serve as “pull-offs” through the race. Place the tape on these surfaces, with a folded over end that makes grabbing it easier. Then simply pull the layer of tape off to get a clean surface. You could do this for multiple layers, like you see in motorsports with tear-off windshield and helmet visors. They usually have lots of layers there to give a clean surface through the duration of an event. I’ve never tried it in a bike application, but wouldn’t add a ton of weight to try.
Anyone besides me remember when Oakley did tear-offs for the original Eyeshades?
I don’t specifically, but could definitely see them offering that at some point.
Yeah, it was in the late 80’s…they did it for rainy days and MTB use.
I was still throttle twisting around then during Jr. high & high school. I didn’t get into pedaling full force until '92, so likely missed that portion unless some O-sponsored moto guys used them. I did learn about the cycling side of stuff since many of the top moto guys were getting fully into road & MTB riding to train for MX back then.
Dissecting the race a bit after getting home -
While it’s always important in gravel races to stay near the front going into selective sections, it was hyper-critical getting into that mud section in a decent position. I had to average around threshold for the first 15 minutes to enter that mud section ~50th wheel, but that got me in front of folks not willing/able to ride the grass in places. I saw videos from folks further back and the grass still looked totally rideable, but you can’t ride if the person in front of you isn’t able to.
After the mud section, it was just small groups on the road, hard to find a group going my pace and ended up solo for much of it. Finally got with a strong group working together around mile 100, but lost them at the water stop at 124 when I had to take a leak. That group had the last podium place for my division in it and they put 18 minutes into me before the next rest stop at 167m (I rode that entire stretch solo). I had decent power all day, but couldn’t close that gap down. Had a pro pull me and another guy the last ~10 miles, it felt so good motoring in the draft after so much time solo.
I probably over-hydrated and wasted a good bit of time with 4-5 pee breaks (with the water stop being the one that really mattered). NP power on the day was high Z2 (even with the zeros during the walking section) and I was still comfortably pushing Z2/Z3 even after 12 hours. Never a hint of cramping. It was uncharted territory for me time/effort wise, first race that went much over 9 hours. My big take-away is that mid/high Z2 is a pretty much endless supply as long as you have good fueling/hydration and the weather is cool. ~8500Kj’s on the day and 617 TSS. As good as I felt on the bike all day, I felt terrible as soon as I got off the bike.
You gotta learn how to pee on the bike… 
Superb effort…especially with so much time solo. 
Something I often find myself wondering after going solo for long sections is whether I actually would have been better off sitting in with a slower group to save power for later and maybe even find a faster group at the breaks. Being solo can be nice, but when I’m suffering without the result I expect, I wonder if I wasted a lot of energy that hurt me in the overall getting to the finish.
Yeah, it was a pretty uncomfortable position for me being solo as much as I was. I’m not used to racing gravel where it’s so ripped apart. However, It was nice to be able to go conservative through some of the really chunky sections where I know the risk of flatting would be much higher with the group. This course makes a very strong case for aero bars. Besides the benefit while riding solo, the ability to push the pace of the group when on the front is huge. I’d be fine if they banned them for everyone, but they are clearly a big advantage in this race as long as they are allowed.
Had the rain not come, the heat would have played a much bigger story. I loaded up with 4L at Aid 1 and 2, and got some at Oasis 2, but only drank about half of it and was staying plenty hydrated.