Unbound 2025 100 mile: Blistering fast racing in the prairies of Kansas
For years, Unbound has been at the top of my list. The hype surrounding the event is truly extraordinary. Back when I was living in Europe, I heard about the legendary "Dirty Kansas" and knew it was something I had to experience one day. The combination of riding on dirt roads and the hilly, mountain-free terrain made it the perfect challenge for me. It’s also been heavily hyped in the Dutch cycling scene, thanks to the Dutch Mafia and LSRF, who have produced documentaries and even organized "Rebound," a self-supported ride on the dirt roads of the Netherlands.
With limited training time, I applied for the 100-mile race and, by some miracle, was selected. To prepare for this adventure, I managed to squeeze in a few training rides to Bear Mountain and tackled the Empire State Trail. Unfortunately, many of my teammates weren't so lucky, so I was thrilled to have Greg in the 200-mile race and Josh by my side for the 100.
The Great Emporia Takeover
My journey to a race is always an adventure, and this time was no different. My excitement to fly and drive for hours was immediately dampened by the weather. The week leading up to the race was nothing but rain. Social media was flooded with photos of completely washed-out roads and knee-deep mud. The next morning, as Greg and I strolled down Commercial Street, we saw the first pros returning from their rides, absolutely caked in mud. It made us even more curious—and a little terrified—about what the roads would actually be like.
Seeing Emporia completely overrun by gravel riders is an amazing sight. Local shops were taken over by bike brands, "welcome" signs were everywhere, and even the local museum served as the registration center. The Expo was a bike nerd's dream, a place where brands showed off their latest gadgets, tools, and foods. A special shout-out goes to Kask, who hooked me up with a new helmet after mine broke during transport. Seriously, never take the chance of crashing with a broken helmet. We ended our expo visit with a chat with our friends from Castelli, who gave me an incredible poster that is now proudly hanging above my bed.
When we finally got on our bikes, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the roads were in pretty good shape. The sun came out, and we could almost see the roads drying up in real time. We were definitely lucky, as the rest of the weekend was blessed with perfect weather. The roads around Emporia are a true gravel paradise and a joy to explore. The city and the course really lived up to the hype. The rest of our time was spent taking it easy, getting ready for race day. We watched the XL riders take off into the night while our alarms were set for 3 a.m.—time to get racing!
The Race: From Blistering Speeds to cramps in the end
A quick glance at the course map revealed a route with only about a dozen turns and a whole lot of straight riding. What could possibly be interesting about that? I got to the start early and joined up with some fellow New Yorkers from Ostroy-Continental. We rolled out of the city with about 1,000 other riders, and as soon as we hit the first gravel road, the speed went way up. I was well-positioned near the front, which I was happy about, even though things started nervously and a few small crashes occurred. We seemed to be constantly catching up with the front pack.
The first two hours were blisteringly fast. Keeping up on the hills was tough, but somehow I managed. I tried to drink and eat enough, but the high nerves and intense focus made it hard. I probably didn’t eat enough, because after 2.5 hours, I started feeling the first signs of cramps. This puts you in a classic dilemma: do I ease up, eat, and recover, or do I keep up with the blistering pace and pay for it later? Eventually, I settled into a big group with Josh and our friends from Ostroy, which helped me maintain a steady pace.
Then, at the water crossing, disaster struck. My chain flew off just before a steep, 10% hill. It took me a full two minutes off the bike to fix it, and in that time, the cramps hit full force. I decided to take it easy for the next 15 minutes to recover, eating everything in sight and downing sodium tablets. I eventually caught up with a strong group led by a mountain bike tandem, which I immediately dubbed "the divorce machine." (If you two ever read this, you both absolutely rocked!) I recovered perfectly in their wheel draft and soon approached the pit stop.
I was surprised by the huge crowd at the pit stop. I didn’t have a crew, but next time I'm definitely bringing one. I asked a stranger waiting for their own rider to help me out, and it went great. All I needed was more water and sodium, so I was able to get back into the action quickly.
For the next hour, I struggled a bit but still maintained a decent average speed. I bounced between various groups, sometimes riding away, sometimes getting caught. The atmosphere was incredible, and I soon found myself in a big group that eventually broke apart on the last hill. By this point, I was pretty much recovered. The final 20 miles were almost flat, and I was missing my tribars, but I could still maintain a great tempo.
This is also where the different race distances merge, and you start seeing more and more crowds on the side of the road, which always provides an incredible energy boost for the final push. Soon, Emporia was in sight, and I felt amazing. I savored the last part of the ride back into town (no hotdog, if you know, you know) and crossed the finish line just five minutes after Josh, extremely pleased with my result.
