Call of a Life Time Season 2 - Episode 3 | UNBOUND Gravel (Men’s)

These guys don't understand chess.

❤Trekky❤

These guys are so cool. They are my idols.

your video team is awesome!

The organizers screwed up. They don't want to admit it and want to hide behind the difficulty the race is supposed to bring. In the long run, no one wants to travel and train only to break their bike. It's a foolish investment of time and money.

I think the race organizers totally disrespect the majority of racers/riders that participate in the event. Let's face it most the folks participating in the event are recreational riders wanting to test themselves. They aren't sponsored racers. They buy there own equipment and pay for their own travel. Folks destroyed expensive equipment trying to slug through 3 miles of mud. It is ridiculous! They are the reason the event promotors make money...NOT THE SMALL MINORITY OF PRO RACERS!!! I almost signed up for the event and was so HAPPY that I didn't.

just putting this out there...what about doing some jerseys for best young rider, most inpsirational/combative, overall points leader in series, last year's series winner, best technical rider etc. Just some ideas. but let's get creative with the gravel jersey types in this series. I'd love to see some glory go to the guys that throw down. Hate to see that only a podium is your reward when trying to race swenson. gotta throw these guys a bone for their efforts and let them know the fans appreciate their fireworks. blah blah blah about "the podium is all that matters" comments from couch racers that will follow. we all watch and follow and race gravel and we respect individual efforts even if they don't win but they mix it up.

Been there. Done that. I never thought that the conditions may be "too tough". It's Kansas, they have rain, mud, wind, scorching sun. It is above all gravel racing and not a pleasant sunday ride 🙂

First of all,I finish the 200 under 16 hours, But I'm still Mad to the Organizer,Coz I didn't beat the Sunset due to Stupid 8 miles of Hike a bike(5,2,1)..Yes its supposed to be a hard race but hard Rideable not Walkable and trashing a derailleur, I cannot imagine foreigners spend 5K just to ride 20 miles. I'm Not supporting this BS business anymore. But I'm sill visiting Emporia and ride all day gravel for free, The community are Amazing..

Is Unbound just the Burning Man of cycling? A once counter culture event that got too big, too commercialized, and too greedy and fell apart in 2023 due to rain and mud?

Lifetime working real hard to spin the mud section.

Yeah, sorry Life Time. You don't get to have your cake and eat it too. You don't get to have "kumbaya gravel is inclusive and for everyone" and at the same "this is a hardcore event meant only for the elites". Those elites have the time and backing to prepare themselves and their equipment. Normal 9-5 people don't have that bandwidth. People paid their own money to have a reasonable chance of finishing with components intact. Your obligation is to those participants who actually paid, not the elite pros that can just get another derailleur shipped to them free of charge.

Would it have been an inconvenience to offer an alternate route to the amateurs that bypasses the muck? Of course; but that is an inconvenience you accept when you cash the fat registration checks. Stop trying to spin this with the self-serving "it's meant to be hard" nonsense; accept that you were negligent and put in a plan to do better.

Guess that Keegan fella is pretty strong on the bike

"God saved my soul, and that bicycle saved my life". Most accurate quote for me today.

Just a thought or two from a passionate amateur cyclist for the last 19 years: Since when do race organizers change a course or cancel an event unless otherwise life threatening. I firmly agree with Swenson, seems to me like ~900 people didn’t do their homework, or they grossly underestimated Unbound. I say keep it hard. If people want an easier race, race elsewhere. I say this not so much to defend the race organizers, nor am I without empathy for those who didn’t finish, I’m just saying bike racing is hard because it’s not always easy.

I don’t really care if they change it or not but seeing the overhead ending the amateur riders didn’t change the outcome of that race at all… there was such a giant thing made out of it at the time and the ground level views definitely look bad but once you see the Birds Eye view it’s not that bad at all.

Keep the race hard

If you think that organizers care a about you, the amateur rider, think again, they couldn't care less. All they want is your money and all those pros riding there 😉

Yes Racing is supposed to be difficult and this isn’t a road race. But people came to finish and didn’t get the opportunity to. Sad to see the race organizer was so selfish

Unacceptable and tone deaf. Here’s another great quote, “Where never gonna change a race just to make it easier for everybody.” - Kimo Seymour
You guys changed the race to make it harder. Your race director said so at the beginning of this episode!
So smug. Even after 7 months this organization refuses to accept the fact that they dropped the ball.

This episode is complete propaganda. I was there in 2023. Yes, I finished the 200 but destroyed my bike. They dropped the ball and haven’t owned up to it. Incredible to hear the guy at the beginning say “this is not a road race.” Yeah well, it wasn’t a bike race either. My heart goes out to everyone that trained hard for this thing and didn’t finish.
I for one will never do Unbound again.

PLEASE HAVE SEPARATE LANES FOR ELITES

"if you didn't, then you didn't do your homework" he makes a good point

If I see one of these guys laughing about it out on the trails, I’m kicking their spokes in…see if you laugh about that prick.

Gravel sometimes feels like a pyramid scheme…

please add "burning matches" and related phrases to the list of cliches to avoid

Epic. Love these. Gotta fix that finish chute situation though. Eeesh. So sketchy.

I'm surprised noones fashioned a mud shedding plastic that attaches to the fork and frame to clear that, and a plastic housing that covers the drivetrain

Good to read the comments. Just thinking… The Spirit Of Gravel! “It’s not a road race”. Hahaha. I imagine soon there will be a new series born that celebrates the true spirit of gravel. Yes, I ride, including a gravel bike.

👏 What a ride! This video captures the essence of cycling perfectly. Proud to add it to our collection and share the love. Keep it up! 🚴‍♀

There are two courses known for being tough on bikes in the LTGP. Big Sugar for our tire slashing gravel, and unbound for the same, but also their mud. The idea that that reroute wasn’t taken is crazy to me. It’s already a 200 mile race, taking riders on average 13-16 hours. The idea that the mud section was needed to make the race as challenging as it’s supposed to be? Totally untrue. Get real.

Shocking how the organisers can cause so much damage to normal people’s bikes and laugh about it.
Hope people actually vote with their wallets and stop funding these idiots

Very unsafe finish for pro riders to come up behind lower level riders at full speed.

I'm sorry but no amount of post-race marketing spin or machismo will excuse the inclusion of the mud section at mile 11 (+/-). They should have instituted the re-route. Ben Sachs you were just wrong. Not funny, not fun, not a "challenge", just wrong.

The organizers are so out of touch. They stand by their decision to keep a section that knocked 900 people out of the race when even the pros said they're nuts. I went from Canada to have my derailleur break after 30 mins along with hundreds of others. Not about making it easier, about making it rideable. $2,000 for 30 minutes...

@attackeracker sighting!

How freakin' cool is Lachlan Morton? Amazing cyclist!

That final shotgun blast edit, when Keegan starts the sprint was outstanding! These Grand Prix videos are epic. Keep em coming!

Paris-Roubaix winner at this years start line. Should be interesting.

The pros need their own lane. Pros are flying into the finish and you have 20-30 amateurs going 10. Someone is going to get ran over.

🦍

That Lachlan happy for Keegan winning even though he lead the sprint out , class act.