Rewriting My Story in the Mud of UNBOUND Gravel 2026
Rolling out of town was sublime. I shimmied towards the front of the pack, a couple of rows back from the lead cars, and tried to relax. One of the lead police cars pulled off unexpectedly before the end of the neutral section, and as a result, the guy to my front left grabbed a bit too much brake and slid out. I managed to slip through between his sliding bike and the curb, as many people were verbally wondering why the cop pulled off like that.
The gravel hit, and the cacophony of gravel took over. Rocks pinging frames and wheels, tires gripping and tossing grit, drivetrains shifting with all sorts of clunks, and random moments of rear tires skidding. It felt fairly calm in all this noise. Or at least I felt calm.
UNBOUND Becomes MUDBOUND
Rolling into the first MMR, the infamous mud marathon from 2023, we were greeted by grippy soil. Grippy enough to hear your tires rolling over it, but with nothing sticking. Damn, this would be a fast day if conditions stayed the same. Each corner brings about some braking and surging. I tried to keep my speed along the outside of the pack, hoping not to have to surge so much when exiting corners. People were swarming around me, but it was ok as I had my plan. Shortly into the MMR, I saw rear tires in the air and above helmets. Close enough to feel it, but with enough time and space to squeak around on the grassy shoulder. The group was majorly thinned out after that. I could see the front of the race but knew it wouldn't be wise to try to surge up to the back of it.
Slowly watching the lead pack get further and further ahead, I calmed myself again. It's a long day. In the meantime, I noticed the dark clouds rolling in. Over the next 6 hours, we would be in every bit of UNBOUND lore. Heavy rain to sunshine, open-range mud riding to pavement and city cobbles in Madison. Forget everything; just focus on the basics — eating, drinking, protecting the bike, and trying to save energy with anyone who wouldn’t surge. The hardest part about a rain race is trying to draft while not swallowing every bit of grit and water being rooster-tailed into your face.
Like farming, rain is a good thing when it comes to actually washing off the mud. Barring the worst of the worst mud, continued rain tends to liquify mud, and it doesn't actually stick to your tires or frame. When the rain stops and the sun shines, the real mud madness can come out. For me, on this course and in this weather, I never really had to stop. Occasionally, I had to spray my cassette with water to help clear some of the gears; everyone around me was having similar gear-jumping issues. I think I used my mud stick once, but while scraping my tires, I realized it wasn’t necessary. The mud at that point wasn’t sticking.
Dancing on the Pedals
Most of the race, I was riding solo. Not exactly alone, though. The tire spray made me not want to draft, and often I found myself riding next to someone who also didn't seem interested in drafting. After the 6.5- or 7-hour mark, the sun was out, and things were dry. A total change from what had been the norm. Approaching W Road, I mentioned to the group I was with that the mud might just be the worst we’ve seen.
I love technical riding. The dancing on the pedals, the subtle body movements that create and maintain balance. I'm not an artist per se, but I do feel like it's a symphony of movements that keeps us upright and rolling when the ground gets... less consistent. Leading into W Road, I knew I wanted to be ahead of everyone around me. Some of these guys were so strong in the aerobars, but riding through a simple corner really shut down their speed. A couple of hills before the entrance, I surged with them. Spotting the white fence we saw in recon, I surged around them and absolutely ate up the rough and rowdy. I passed 6 or 7 others in this one-mile mud river of a road. I didn't ride it exceptionally fast, but I did ride all of it.
Getting that MMR out of the way was a big step. But more so, it turned on all the cylinders. It got my body and legs dancing again, and my mind all in on getting to the finish. The aid at mile 160 was clutch. 3 Feet Cycling was my support crew, and they immediately jumped to power wash the bike, lube the chain, swap bottles, and fill pockets. I was out of there in 2 minutes or less, so quick I didn't realize they loaded me up with 2 ice socks. Rolling onto the Flint Hills gravel trail, I felt amazing. Maybe not amazing enough to chase and smash power records, but compared to last year's miserable slog through the same sector... I was on track to crush.
Rewriting the Story
With 2 hours to go, I was all in. Surge on the hills and keep steady on the flats. I reeled in a couple more riders and let the hills around Lake Kahola have it. I got a bit emotional. Last year's performance really stuck with me. Blowing up, gut issues, limping for 3 hours... Why and what was I doing? It shook me for a couple of weeks, almost leaving me aimless. While I knew my finish times would be about the same (this year was 9 minutes slower), I was proud of fighting through. These courses are never the same, and the weather sure as hell made them different.
I kept my head, kept my legs, and kept sight of what I wanted the story to be. Nailing the bike setup, nutrition, and feeling ‘strong’ in the last hours was all I wanted. There I was, pushing over threshold on the hills and keeping on the pedals after. Three out of four of my successful UNBOUND attempts have ended by going through the interstate tunnel. This one was the best. On the last hill, I gave it everything. 445 watts for 45 seconds, and the tingles set in. I got this. I rewrote my story. UNBOUND tried to shut me down, but this time I won.
Keys to my successful MUDBOUND:
Tire clearance
The new GVR fork has loads of clearance, and I didn't see the need to step down in tire size. I love the 2.2” Conti Dubnital/Race King and feel so comfortable and fast when riding them, so I didn't change that. I did drop down to the 50mm for the rear tire. A little extra clearance for mud was the right call.
I rode every bit of the course except for the tunnel of water and the puddle after Madison. We had recon'd that water hole, spotted the walk-around, and I was undecided on riding it. On race day, the crossing looked to be a foot deeper, and seeing someone repairing a flat on the other side made it an easy decision to walk it.
Drivetrain
Mud tends to clear the Eagle cassette a bit better than the XPLR cassette. There is a bit more open space below the individual cogs that gives the mud a place to go rather than blocking up. I still had some gear jumping, but if I left it in the gear, the chain would work its way into place after 10-15 seconds. At first, I was switching to another gear, looking for one that doesn't jump. Dumping water on the cassette helped immensely.
I wasn't the only one dealing with this; everyone had some gear jumps, and some had dropped chains. The other crucial drivetrain component: the chain guide. I’ve had a Wolf Tooth chain guide on my 1x bikes since day one. Just a bit of extra security that I nearly forgot to swap onto this new build. So glad I did because I never once thought about it dropping.
Persistence
Stick to the plan. If you train anything in your prep for UNBOUND, it should be mental resiliency and persistence. There is so much that can go wrong in 206 miles. Having your engine prepped is a major factor. Having a bike setup that leads to fewer issues and more success is just as important. But being ready to keep calm when unexpected hiccups arrive... Well, that's the most important thing.
Coming into this year, I kept telling myself I wanted a good performance. One that I would feel good about no matter what the actual placing or result was. Last year, I had one of the worst days on a bike, having gut issues and limping in for a finish time of 11:29. This year, I nailed so many goals (nutrition, morale, execution), yet came in 9 minutes behind last year's time.