Thanks to everyone who gave this unbound 200 first timer advice. Here’s my writeup from what I can remember. It was a truly awesome time!
Well, I survived Unbound! And by survived, I mean I had an absolute blast while learning some valuable (and occasionally painful) lessons along the way.
The adventure started before I even got to the start line when I somehow managed to strip my derailleur hanger bolt while using a torque wrench at 1nm. After some expo mechanic consultations, we decided to leave it alone rather than risk making things worse. Spoiler alert: I still can’t get the damn thing out. 
I did have an extra hanger and bolt in my bag though, so if it came out I felt that I had a backup plan.
My pre-race prep was pretty solid. On the plus side, I nailed the weather forecast and skipped the rain jacket in favor of electrolytes and sunscreen. On the minus side, I completely forgot to add my premixed bottles to my go bags. We were staying in an airbnb 45 minutes away, so I ended up improvising by getting some 90g gels from precision to replace the 90g of carbs. In the end, this may have been better anyways, because it was so hot hydration was pretty important.
The race started with classic gravel chaos - everyone surging out of corners like their lives depended on it. I lined up with the 12-hour finishers even though I was aiming to beat the sun (14 hours), which actually worked out great. My strategy was to find fast groups early and draft while it was cool, then get more conservative as the heat ramped up. This worked perfectly, except for one small detail: my power meter wasn’t connected for the first 30 minutes, so I was basically flying blind while everyone was going full gas. Eventually got the power meter connected, which definitely helped with pacing. My HR is usually not a good indicator at beginning of races due to caffeine and nerves.
It was nice and cool in the AM so I skipped water station 1 as planned since I had enough to get to mile 70.
Aid station 1 was good. Got my bike sprayed off, and chain lubed. Unfortunately, they claimed they’d have “skratch” at the aid station, but nobody knew what that way. Some lady ended up adding grape GU octane with caffeine to my bottles instead so that was lame. That was totally my fault though for not putting my bottles in my go bag. I had this peanut butter fudge bar with 100 mg of caffeine thinking that would be good. It did not go down well in the heat, and I started to feel bad like I was going to puke or something. Was getting worried about DNF’ing at this point.
Continued to ride and struggle a bit until next water station. Decided to not drink the Grape drink and instead dump it in favor of whatever the water station had.
Here’s where things turned around: water station 2 introduced me to the magic of ice. They stuffed ice in my bottles, filled my hydropak, and then - this was genius - put ice between my jersey and neck. It was like being reborn! I felt that cold water trickling down my back for miles afterward. Game. Changer. I’m convinced this saved my race. I will be buying “ice socks” so I can do this even better next time.
The middle section through Little Egypt wasn’t as gnarly as expected, though plenty of people were nursing flats and mechanicals. There were some sketchy river crossings and mud puddles that claimed their victims, but my handling skills held up. The most humbling part was seeing riders who were older or heavier than me absolutely crushing it at my pace. Really put things in perspective about making assumptions based on appearances.
By aid station 2, I was feeling invincible again (thanks, ice!) and confidently told everyone I’d be back in two hours… for a 50-mile section. Math is hard when you’re delirious, apparently. 25 mph average on gravel? Sure, no problem!
The final stretch was actually amazing. I found myself in zone 2 at 170 watts while pulling trains of grateful drafters. The honey stinger gels were going down fine, though they turned my pockets into sticky disasters. I got to play cheerleader for struggling riders, declined some questionable roadside bacon, and gladly accepted pickle juice from a random spectator (highly recommend).
The finish was perfect chaos. I missed a turn 3 miles out while chatting with an elderly gentleman, had to do a 180, then mistakenly thought Hot Dog Hill was the finish line and sprinted past some guy. When I finally found the actual finish, I sprinted past four more people because why not end with style?
Biggest takeaways: Ice is life on hot days. Sun sleeves are worth every penny of that $18 expo purchase. Don’t trust mysterious grape drinks. Your calves need sunscreen too. And sometimes the best racing happens when you’re just out there having fun instead of grinding yourself into the dirt.
Beat the sun goal achieved, ego properly humbled. No mechanicals.
