2021 the year they did it in the fall?
So 2 crashes in the finish if thats the year.
Yes the fall Barry. The crash I saw I donât think was a hybrid bike, must have been two separate crashes.
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My faster half and I were joking after seeing Keeganâs IG story on if the race-associated folks woul be calling him a weak ass b* or not 
I see the original post with that directed toward Sofia seemed to have been smartly deleted.
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Deleted it like a weak a** bi**h. 
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They changed the name of the race, and they banned aero bars for the pros, and they separated the starts so I wouldnât say they wonât change anything. But they do seem oddly selective about what to change. If they can say with a straight face that aero bars were a safety issue for the pro field, then I think itâs safe to say the finish is also a safety issue.
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Well, they changed the name because the previous organizer turned out to be racist a-holeâŚand the other changes were made because the pros were complaining.
But for a race that is supposedly about the masses, they sure seem unwilling to make changes that the masses are asking for. 
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But Keegan is asking for something to be done about the finish. Iâd be willing to bet they will try something new next year. I was just countering the idea that the organizers donât listen to anyone and only do what they want. I think they do listen but they also try to balance what the event has always been with changes that need to be made as it has grown.
This is the dilemma lifetime has albeit self created since they want the hype and attention pros bring to the race. But lifetime has to balance what the pros want with what amateurs want including amateurs who would rather the event go back more towards the raceâs roots.
They clearly need to do something about the finish. That seemed more important than the aero bar ban for the pros.
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Not based on their comments so farâŚthey ahve basically said âwelp, nothing we can do! 
â
But it was the disconnect between what the purport to be and who they seem to be listening to that I was highlighting.
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Your masses are not my masses. You canât really get a pulse on this stuff via social media. Iâve seen it overwhelmingly in the âHTFUâ camp (again, thatâs my masses). Lifetime isnât dumb, they know what sells and they arenât going to change their formula because a bunch of monday morning event organizers have opinion on how an event should be run. They sent a survey to everyone who attended the event and there will probably be some learnings they have from the event. They talk to people individually and get feedback. Social media is the last place you want to have these kind of discussions. They have made it very clear that they arenât going to make the event less challenging and thatâs a good thing from my perspective, but time will tell if thatâs what âthe massesâ want. Iâd bet on this event continuing to sell out for the foreseeable future.
If I were running the zoo, Iâd certainly address some of the safety things (finishing sprint), but Iâd double down on harder and more epic. That sells. There are plenty of events where you can have fun riding your bike with others. They are a great way to spend a saturday and you can even get some of that at unbound with a shorter distance. But some people are drawn to events that are a life challenge where the outcome is in question. There arenât enough of those and demand outstrips supply (ie - look at the line to get to the peak of everest these day as the most extreme example).
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Yeah, I donât think Iâd be trying to kowtow to the social medias. I certainly wouldnât volunteer that I had created (or failed to prevent) potentially dangerous conditions. They have a whole year to make any changes they want for this particular event, and most of this buzz will be forgotten by then. Raise the issues again right before sign-ups.
There is a difference between âepicâ and âhardâ and knowingly putting riders into situations that destroys their equipment.
YMMV.
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Every race puts riders in situations where you can destroy your equipment. Riding in mud/rain/grit will always cause extra wear and tear on equipment, but you canât blame the mud for ripping off RDâs, wearing holes in frames, etc. If someone destroyed their equipment at unbound, itâs because they made bad choices, had bad luck, and/or did not have the experience/preparation to deal with the situation. Bad stuff happens during races, itâs not the race directorâs fault just because they put you in conditions that increased the likelihood of you breaking something.
For what itâs worth, I really enjoyed the early mud section, but I thought they probably should have re-routed it (at least for the 100). But I can see it either way and Iâm not in the business of course selection for lifetime. Itâs fine that people agree or disagree with lifetimeâs course selection, my heartburn is with the lack of accountability people seem to have. If you didnât finish or you destroyed your bike under the given conditions (mud, running out of water, heat, lightning, etc.), own it rather than blaming others. Iâm not faulting anyone for pulling out, especially if you are putting your safety at risk, but own the decision. Yeah, crappy things happen in races (often as a result of the actions of others), there is no shame in trying your best to work through them and failing. If you arenât failing or breaking stuff from time to time, you should probably try some harder stuff.
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I think the issue this year wasnât the mud. It was the expectations they set in the pre-race meeting that they would reroute around the problematic section if it was muddy. And then they didnât.
Happiness = the difference between reality and expectations.
Had they said during the pre-race meeting âitâs muddy, we are not rerouting, be preparedâ there wouldnât have been much fuss.
As a comparison - IMO, Leadville is more difficult than Unbound. Everyone knows to expect that Powerline inbound will be brutal. And very few people complain.
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I heard a rumor next year will go a route they have never done
NahâŚit was the mud and it being 4mi. So many peoples comments I see online about how it was âEpicâ didnât have to go through it after the first 1000 people tore it up. Riding Haleakala or Alpe Dâhuez is Epic. Hiking 4mi in torn up peanut butter mud is just BS.
I am also convinced it was a âSpirit of Gravelâ bro pro who convinced them to keep the mud section. Probably the same one who got aerobars banned. 
Interesting, maybe their survey results were not what they wanted. I know I let them have it.
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I get your point, but I donât think that is a good comparison. Powerline is PowerlineâŚit is there every race and is a known obstacle. They also donât discuss rerouting around it if conditions warrant itâŚand then when conditions actually get worse, keep it in anyway.
Posting this here since it covers unbound at the start, but also gets into Ianâs days at Sky, his view on gravel racing, etc. Pretty good watch. He gets into the finishing chute challenges at unbound a bit. Sounds like widening the chute has been discussed, but itâs a problem with the fire department needing a full lane on either side of the chute. He also makes some interesting suggestions about limiting pit crew support (requiring riders to do their own work in the pits vs. having 3-5 person âF1â crews).
