Damn, that sucks…sorry, man.
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Bummer. Wishing you speedy recover.
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A couple of questions about the 100 this year.
On the Unbound website is says the 2024 route was 108.5 miles and 3,651 in elevation. Is that really the elevation gain? I thought it would be more over 100 plus miles.
Anyone ride Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H tires on the North route last year?
Do I need a power meter? I ride road and tri with power meters but not off road. I have just used HR for pacing off road. Am I just being subborn not using a power meter off road?
A lot of the climbing for the 200 happens further north, after the 100 cuts off and turns west.
You certainly don’t need a power meter, especially if you are know your heart rates and know how to pace yourself. Sounds like with your experience you may just be able to use HR and RPE to be able to judge your efforts.
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A PM at unbound may not be as useful as a pure TT effort like a triathlon, but I think it has a lot more value at Unbound than it does in road racing/riding where your pace is often completely at the mercy of the group you are with. In many ways, unbound is a mix of road racing and TT, just not on pavement. That fact that it’s on gravel doesn’t reduce the value of a PM, it’s not like MTB efforts that are constantly jumping all over the place. At Unbound, you will be making decisions all day (particularly early) about whether you want to be in a given group. Watching your NP and knowing what you can do all day is a good reference point to make informed decisions. And you might end up in a group that’s soft pedaling the flats and hitting every climb hard and putting you deep into vo2max or anaerobic efforts, better to find a smoother group (unless surging is your thing). And there may be extended periods when you are by yourself in TT mode, so obviously a PM can be helpful there (keep in check early, and serves as a carrot as the day goes on). PM is certainly not required equipment, but very useful in my opinion.
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While my weight (215 lbs / 97 kg) isn’t going to do me any favors next weekend for the Sea Otter Fuego XL XCM race. Today’s Z2 ride has me quite satisfied with my potential for the 200. Hitting all my eat and drink prompts without a problem & keeping the power right at that Z2/Z3 border and feeling no fatigue when needing to push higher.
It just boggles me how higher outputs outside just don’t feel as hard as on the trainer. I know a lot of that is environmental, and also that we just do not get brakes of any sort on the trainer, but still.
Number on head unit says I should feel ouch. I do not feel ouch, continue with the output.
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I get a lot of power PR’s on the trainer for short stuff (ie-intervals), but need some kind of carrot for the long stuff. There are a couple zwift rides I do that push me pretty hard for 2-4 hours, but it’s often race efforts outside that really break through on long efforts.
Today, the stars aligned at a regional gravel race and I hit a bunch of power PR’s. The biggest reason for the power PR’s was that I raced like a complete idiot. I worked my tail off and raced smart to be with the lead group and feeling comfortable about 30 minutes into the race (I’m often dropped earlier). We turn onto pavement and I go to grab fuel and there is a big attack. I considered skipping the fuel, but figured I could get some fuel and then close the gap. Dumb and dumber. I chased the group into a headwind for over an hour. I got within 75 feet a couple times and stayed close for the first 30 minutes before watching them pull away. Nobody from behind was in sight, so I motored on. Finally, I see a group of ~25 coming up behind and I decide to wait. As I’m looking back, I miss a turn and have to backtrack and I’m now chasing that group for ~15 minutes but finally catch. At that point, I’m 2 hours in at .93IF (1 hour and 2 hour PR’s for me). And with all the work I had done, I decided I’m going to ignore results, risk getting dropped again, and just thrash my legs for the rest of the day. We whittled that group down to 5 by the end and my legs felt damn good all day (but I did get last in the sprint, didn’t care). .90 IF for 3:10, a PR by about 10 watts. And my AP was only 10 watts under my NP (a text book example of how not to race).
I’m not sure my fitness is 10 watts better than what it’s been in the past, it was just a very unique day with my mistakes and the decision to make it a workout once results were out the window. Also, nice cool weather (55f) and coming off a rest week. Legs felt unbreakable, never a twinge. Love those days. Ready for build 2 starting this week, hope there are still some gains to be had.
Seeing this makes an old man feel pretty good -
And ride details -
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I see now the Ride with GPS route from last year has 4,266 feet of climbing which makes more sense.
I’m still debating the power meter.
I ordered a pair of Panaracer GravelKing X1 Plus in 45mm to see if I like them.
This is getting real. Only seven weeks out.
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Yep, it will be here before we know it. And I’ve got a good bit of racing/travel between now and then and decided to spend this afternoon getting the bike sorted. I hate waiting until the last month, just never know about parts availability and I worry about running into issues doing maintenance last minute.
A few things I ticked off the list -
-New headset bearings (been putting it off for a while since it required cutting brake lines)
-New brake pads and fluid flush/bleed
-Lubed pedals
-Replaced shifter batteries
-Clean and greased freehub mech
-Pulled crank, clean and grease everything
-New Aerobar pads
-New wireless blips (old ones were getting low battery warnings)
All that really leaves heading into races is messing with tires and chains and doing general checks before each race. I’ll also replace my powermeter battery as we get closer, I don’t 100% trust that to last 2 months with a lot of riding/racing.
I also just got 2 new race king 2.2’s and 2 new Pathfinder pro 47’s. I have an almost new set of 42 pathfinder pros if it’s really muddy. So, fresh rubber for any combination of conditions on race day. The new versions of the Pathfinders and Conti tires were too new for me to trust for Unbound, so I’m going with what I know.
The only equipment change from last year is running the Race King up front if it’s dry and I’ve also added a Wolf Tooth chainguide. I came within a pedal stroke of ending my day last year at Unbound when I dropped my chain (and the chain looped over itself). I’ve literally only dropped my chain 2 times ever running 1x, but Unbound is the type of course where it’s a possibility. I’m pretty happy with the design and simple install, seems like it makes it impossible to drop a chain (famous last words). I guess you could still suck a chain up the backside if things got really crazy.
Here she is in full race attire (except top tube bag might come off for race day). Weighing in at a portly 23.25lbs (with multitool and tube/levers in downtube storage). It’s only about 2.5lbs lighter than my full suspension 120/120 XC bike, which isn’t a particularly light XC rig.
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I have the same exact Trek Checkpoint. It looks like we have both upgraded in similar fashion. I’ve never run anything larger than 45mm but by looks of it there is plenty of clearance for more when dry. What are you going to run if there is mud?
I also got a Wolf chain guard when I dropped a chain in a race but never put it on. I got one of those SRAM chain gap tools and my B limit screw was off. I fixed the gap and have not had an issue since. I would think the chain guide might cause clearance issues if there was a lot of mud.
I’m brining my bike into the LBS on the first of May for new brakes pads, brake flush, new bottom bracket, and new handlebar tape. I’ll install a new chain a week or two before the race. I will also install Panaracer GK X1+'s in 45mm two or three weeks before the race.
I am debating on going with chain wax or my tried and true Pro Link chain lube.
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I ran 47 pathfinder pros last year for a bunch of pre-riding and for the race. Some significant mud on the pre-rides and a little on race day. Decent clearance for spotty mud, but I’ll go to 42’s if it’s going to be a mud fest. I ran 42’s in 2023 with the bad mud sections and faired better than most. With 42’s, there is enough room to clear mud quickly using your fingers, which I find 10x faster than trying to use a paint stick or tool. I do worry about the chainguide being a problem if it’s really muddy, I’ll probably remove it if we have conditions like '23. In those conditions, it would be better to drop a chain vs. the buildup for mud/rocks ripping things apart when the chainguide loads up.
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General training program question. Not necessarily unbound related, but it’s the next race I’m training for.
I had a race this past Saturday and a scheduled easy/endurance week this week. That gives me: 3 weeks hard, 1 endurance/easy week, 1 week medium/hard, race week/taper.
On my hard training weeks it’s generally structured like: 2 interval sessions (one VO2, one threshold, one 4-5.5 hr endurance ride, and 2-3 shorter endurance rides
I’m considering cutting out either the VO2 or Threshold workout, replacing it with endurance, and then incorporating that intensity session into my long weekend ride. Would it take away too much from one or the other if I was to take (as an example) a 5x5 workout and move it to a 4 hour weekend ride where I ride 1 hour, then 3x5, then again at 3 hours, do a 2x5? I did this workout a few weeks ago where you can see the intervals, then the other part of the ride I bumped between bottom and top of the endurance range:
My workouts have all been going really well, but I feel like I’d benefit from getting more intensity in on my long rides/tire legs. If I’m sticking with a group (goal for races, of course) it’s a lot more of short interval bursts as opposed to long steady..
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My TR plan for Unbound is flipping to specialty One Threshold a week, and one Sweet Spot, with the rest endurance. The assigned endurance volume is kind of low, so I adjust that on the fly to have more 3 & 4 Hour rides.
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After saying I’d never do this race again, I’m starting to have FOMO. Best of luck yall.
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Is anyone doing specific heat training for the race? I live in Texas, but do the vast majority of my training indoors (little kids at home, try and get training in before they’re awake).
I’m thinking in the 3 weeks leading up to the race I’ll do 3, 90 minute VO2 (edit - Z2, not VO2) sessions/wk outdoors from around 4-5:30 p.m. with long sleeve/long pants.
Alternatively, in my little office where I train in the mornings I could turn off the fans & AC and put a hoodie on.. Space heater as well if I needed it..
I’ve searched around the forum/external links, and it seems that the 3x/wk for Z2 endurance rides a few weeks leading up to the event is sufficient, but open to other suggestions.
Don’t do this…it will negatively impact the quality of your key workouts.
If you are going to overdress for workouts, limit it to Z2 rides…trust me, it will get plenty uncomfortable and your HR will hit levels you never associated with Z2 previously.
You can also get a small home sauna for Amazon for ~$100-$150. I’ll do a Z2 hour on the trainer with a LS jersey and no fan and then hop in the sauna for 30 minutes after. I can get my core body temp up over 102* doing that, which is supposedly sufficient to trigger the adaptations you are seeking.
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Argh, sorry, no idea why I put VO2 sessions. I mean Z2 workouts, you’re 100% correct.
Thanks for the additional feedback, may look into that sauna option!
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Last year, I had 108 miles and right at 5,000 ft of climbing for the 100.
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