I arrived to get in line probably 20-25 minutes before the start. By that time, I already had a few hundred people in front of me. Just the sheer number of people, in the first miles, is what makes it hard to move up. Cyclists are taking up the entire width of the road and then the gravel. You had to find open lines, where you could, to move forward. For me, this was usually on any slight uphill because the group would really slow down and small gaps would open
I believe that is a lot of it. They want to hold on to the pack for as long as possible.
Also, people are unrealistic about their abilities. Back when I used to race marathons, one race I had a plan to hold between a 6:30-6:40/mile pace. This was a very small marathon so I was surprised when so many people took off, from the gun, at my pace or faster. I was worried thinking “there’s no way this many people are running this pace at this race”. In a very short period of time, you could hear many of them breathing way too hard and their paces dropped off quickly.
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Wish there was a better way to police this as, let’s be honest, who doesn’t want some free speed early in the race. Problem is - this makes it markedly less safe. For the premier level event that it is, they ought to be doing this in seeded waves like they already know how to do.
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I’d be in favor of some kind of assigned waves for lining up at the start, but I think you’d have to let everyone go at the same time. At races like Leadville, letting waves go at ~2-3 minute intervals does give some advantage to the folks in front groups, but drafting isn’t the huge factor like it is at Unbound and those front groups are mixed early in the race on the climbs. At Unbound, if you were in group 2 and gave group 1 a few minutes head start, your chance of catching that group are slim to none.
Lifetime obviously has the formula, but they would need to have a bunch more qualifying events to seed people for start position. And I think people would complain that it’s a $ grab to force people to do more Lifetime events. I guess they could allow qualification times from other events as well.
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For anyone looking for a little course recon, this in-race video is excellent. It includes the entire 200mi race with some really good footage of what the washing machine looks like in the early selective sections. It was shot/posted by a local racer (Justin McQuery) who is a Lifetime Grand Prix wildcard rider this year.
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It’s crunch time.
I am not able to fit in any longer rides Sunday. I was thinking about doing 5ish hours to test out Maurten bicarb before race day and taper from there. Too late for a long ride at that point, or should I have enough time to recover?
I wouldn’t do a 5 hour ride at this point unless you’ve already been doing significantly longer rides on a regular basis. And I’d also argue it’s too late to do any meaningful testing new things that require big efforts. If you’ve already been using bicarb and this is a final dress rehearsal during your taper, that seems reasonable. If it’s totally new, I personally wouldn’t put much stock into a single day test, particularly since that day can’t be a huge effort with it being so close to the race. Just my opinion, but I’d lean on what you already know works at this point.
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Due to other commitments, I have only been able to do 2-4 hour rides as of late, but I am feeling good.
I have tried baking soda + gels a couple times, but the appropriate dose wasn’t tolerable due to sheer taste. My nutritionist encouraged me to get Maurten bicarb and at least try it once before the race to see if I tolerate it. So this is my last opportunity. If I don’t try it ahead of time, I think I will forego it altogether. Leadville is my true A race anyway.
I guess it depends on how important Unbound is. If it’s not an A race, I’m generally a fan of putting races at the end of a big block carrying a good bit of fatigue (so maybe to the long ride this weekend). And B/C races are also a chance to experiment with things in a race environment where it’s OK if it goes a bit sideways. Using bicarb in a long effort like Unbound would be a proper test prior to Leadville.
Anticipate that I’ll be in the “fresh” zone by Sunday so I think I could handle a longer ride? TR has me doing 30-minute rides next week.
Hard to say without seeing your preceding month. Keep the volume down during the week. Cut the Thursday workout and do openers on Thursday or Friday, whichever is more convenient with your travel schedule. Last year I did 2x15 sweetspot on Wednesday and openers on Friday.
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I’m doing Leadville this year but am thinking of 2026 and may try to do Unbound. Where are people staying? Like Leadville, there aren’t many hotels near the start and I’d be worried about a long driver after a LONG day on the bike!
Lots of options with dorms at the college, a sorority house rents out rooms, a bunch of airbnb’s, etc. And there are usually a lot of late cancellations, so options up until the last minute. Check out the unbound participants facebook page, there are postings for available places to stay basically until race day. And if you are into camping, lots of people stay at the fairgrounds in RV’s, vans, tents, etc. We have a camper van and stayed at the fairgrounds a couple years ago, it’s a good time. Alex and Lachlan were our neighbors that year.
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Two hour gravel ride today. I’m done chopping wood. Now time to clean the bike, pack and drive to Emporia Wednesday morning.
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Last push for me today as well. Was feeling pretty fatigued earlier in the week after Rule of 3 last weekend, but legs were feeling fresh and angry today. And I’ve got a bit of heat acclimation over the last couple weeks also. Race day temps are looking decent (low 80s for current forecast), but I learned last year that 80’s and humid/sunny can sneak up on you when you get 7+ hours into a hard race. I will be adding ice socks at my stops this year.
They posted the start list last night and I did a bit of stalking. There are a couple really fast guys absent from the list in my age group but still a few that I know are really fast and I’ll struggle to match. And there are always new guys popping up. I feel like I’m going in with my best fitness ever and my equipment is sorted, so just hoping I have a good day and see where it falls.
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TR forum meetup at my rented RV at the campgrounds?
Which campground are you at? I’m at the emporia rv park
I’m not sure I’ll have time to make it over to the fairgrounds, but will probably be doing one of the shake out rides on Friday AM if anyone wants to connect. Probably the pancake one, it’s a little less crazy than the chamois butter ride (which I think had like 500+ people last year).
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I have been trying to get a spot at the RV park but they won’t call me back to confirm. I stayed there in 2023. The fairgrounds is my back up and they said they have plenty of space. The person I spoke to said I could just show up. Its actually a bit closer to the start too. But no hookups.
I fly into KC Friday AM. Then going to pick up this RV rental. Hoping to be in town early afternoon, but we’ll see.
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Did my last ‘long’ ride yesterday at 55 miles. Rode with a group quite a bit stronger than me, so was higher pace than what I’ll keep at unbound. I’ve been struggling for a while now with time in saddle vs trainer road just wanting to add in intensity (my planned workout was 90 min SST yesterday). It seems to me like more endurance would’ve been better, but I suppose building a bigger engine generally helps with more endurance up to a point.
Anyways, went a bit too hard yesterday, but at least now I will be better able to force myself to taper and recover before the event. Looks like TR has made my workouts significantly shorter next week which will be nice. I haven’t checked my intervals account in a long time, but I’m curious how long it will predict until I am ‘fresh’ again.
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