Unbound Gravel 200 - Pro Men, Full Race Onboard Footage

53rd Pro Men
326km/200mi Gravel Race

My Patreon:   / justinmcquerry  
Race Info: http://unboundgravel.com/

Bike - Ibis Hakka: http://ibiscycles.com/bikes/hakka-mx
Tools & Tubeless Plugs - Prestacycle: https://prestacycle.com
Frame Bags - MoosePacks: http://moosepacks.com/
Ti Bolts and Axles: http://metireggioemilia.it/
Wheels - BERD: http://berdspokes.com/
Tires - Maxxis: https://www.maxxis.com/us/tires/bicycle/

Unbound, the biggest gravel race of them all. The start list at the 2024 edition of Unbound Gravel was the highest caliber field ever seen at this race, including the current UCI Gravel World Champion, several current UCI World Tour athletes, a majority of the LifeTime Grand Prix Athletes, former Paris-Roubaix winners and a whole lot of properly fast folks.

My goal for this race was to have a clean race, and conserve as much energy in the first 100 miles so that I could stay on the power for the latter half of the race, when other athletes would start to fall apart with the duration and rising temps. The race started insanely fast, more reminiscent of a 100 mile road race than a 9+ hour gravel race. I was very cautious in the first few hours, and unfortunately found myself chasing back on to the lead group several times as riders were flatting, crashing and cracking just a few wheels ahead of me in the first few decisive sections.

The lead group came into Aid Station 1 with ~60 riders, and unfortunately I panicked a bit coming out of the first Aid stop and burnt a match too many - I came off of the lead group here, but sat up for a few minutes to regather myself and get ready for the next 5+ hours of steady chasing. I quickly fell in with a chase group after Aid 1, and we were picking off riders almost immediately. Not long after the notorious Little Egypt, Andrew Dillman and I were able to pick up Truman Glasgow and Konny Looser, and the 4 of us were able to catch a group including Niki Terpstra, Laurens ten Dam, Thomas Dekker, Tobin Ortinblad, Rob Britton and several other fast folks. This new chase group of ~12 riders rotated well and smooth, and we were picking off riders through the latter part of the race that is mostly tame gravel with a few climbs.

Unfortunately, with around 40km of racing left on a descent, the two riders in front of me hit a rock, and was unable to avoid hitting this rock at ~45kph, causing a flat for all three of us. I was able to ride for a short while before I had to inflate the tire again, but I didn't jostle the sealant around and had to stop to inflate the tire two more times. The third time I had to stop, with around 30km of racing left, I was unable to regain contact with this chase group and rode solo until the last 3km.

The next chase group on the road caught me right before the final few turns and final climb (a hill on a normal day, but a brutal punch after nearly 325km of racing). The original chase group I was in raced for 40th, and this second chase I finished in sprinted for 52nd. I was second in this sprint, finishing 53rd on the day.

Overall, I am happy to see that I have the strength and race acumen to be racing with the big dawgs, but I am quite a bit bummed to miss out on finishing with the group racing for 40th due to a relatively silly mechanical. Unbound is a beast, and I will definitely be back for a shot at redemption!

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0:00 Start
4:28 Gravel
1:13:00 Gun Barrel Hill
1:47:37 Eskridge To Alma
3:14:42 Aid Station 1
3:17:01 Chase After Alma
3:47:05 Chase Group 1
4:47:00 Dillman & McQuerry
5:30:55 Water Oasis 1
6:41:00 Chase Group 2
7:16:08 Aid Station 2
7:26:35 Chase After Council Grove
8:26:48 Flat
9:03:39 Solo
9:38:58 Finish