Unbound Gravel 2022 Recap part 1

This blog covers my training, prep and bike setup. Next up will be the ride experience and thoughts on completing it!  This blog does contain affiliate links - when you make a purchase using my link, I receive a very small commission, allowing me to continue to do this work. Thank you for your support.

Well, I did it. I rode my first century. 100 miles. Technically 103 miles. And I honestly can’t wait to do it again. 

Absolutely elated at crossing the finish line

I’m shocked that I’m saying those words - but the amount of fun I had riding Unbound Gravel 2022 should be illegal. Sure, I worked incredibly hard and thought about quitting once or twice, but overall, 10/10 day and can’t wait to sign up for my next one. Thankfully, the whole experience was documented by a film crew (more on that later), so we’ll all get to relive it together at some point down the road.

I’m sitting in a laundromat in Saratoga, Wyoming washing my incredibly disgusting (and brand new) All Bodies on Bikes kit as I write this. While I should’ve done it right away (along with washing my bike…which still sits on the back of my car caked in mud), this tiny little town in the middle of nowhere Wyoming is the first chance I’ve had.

But I’m getting ahead of myself…why in the hell did I sign up for a century? If you remember, last year I rode 50 miles at Unbound (link to post) and swore I wasn’t going to do the 100. The 50 is touted as a stepping stone ride for the 100 and to be honest, I kind of hate that messaging. 50 miles is itself an accomplishment and anyone who does it should be damn proud of themselves. Shoot, every ride should be celebrated - not just rides of stupid long distances. 

Anyway, something got into me when I was signing up and I clicked the button for the 100. I think it might’ve been the same impulse that bought a plane ticket to Greece for a solo trip a few years ago - I thought I’d outgrown it, but clearly not…. 

But in all seriousness, I’ve been riding more than ever this year and figured “If not this year, when else?” I almost definitely told all my sponsors that Unbound Gravel 100 was on my list of events for the year…so I couldn’t exactly back out without a very good reason.

Training and Prep

I had grand plans to train. My ass got handed to me pretty hard last year and I didn’t want to show up unprepared this year, especially doing double the distance. Thankfully, Arkansas has tons of amazing gravel routes right out my front door and I got out on them…a little bit.

In the months leading to Unbound, my goal was basically to spend as much time in the saddle as possible, especially in the heat and humidity. I think I went on four outdoor training rides - none of which was longer than 30 miles. I also spent a lot of time on the trainer and I’m so grateful for those long boring miles. After hours riding indoors, the never-ending fields of Kansas were a treat! Turns out moving across the country, keeping a company running (and growing), and keeping two senior dogs alive and happy takes up a lot of time.

So even though I didn’t train as much as I wanted, my riding felt strong, and what I lacked in bike time, I made up for in both mental prep and nutrition prep. A couple of weeks ago I detailed my nutrition plan and I’m happy to report that IT WORKED!! I ate and drank consistently throughout the day. I never felt like I was running out of energy and even though I ran out of water with 10 miles to go to the support station, I still felt pretty dang good!

Here’s what I ended up taking with me on the bike:

• 2 Liters of Water (in an Apidura Hydration pack)

• 6 GU Energy Gels

• A ziplock bag of trail mix with peanuts, raisins, m&m’s (regular and peanut butter), Floyd’s of Leadville CBD gummies, and gummy bears

• 2 Peanut Butter & Jelly Rice Cakes (from the Skratch Labs Cookbook)

• 4 packs of GU Shot Blocks

• 22 oz Skratch SuperFue

The Bike

I rode my Cannondale Topstone 4 - an aluminum alloy bike with carbon fork and was overall super happy with it. I have it set up with a 1x11 drivetrain with Shimano GRX parts. For tires I went with the Panaracer GravelKing SK in 700x43 width.

Shimano and Cycling Tips did a fun little feature on my bike - and YouTuber Francis Cade gave  some love too!! 

Even with all the crazy mud, water crossings, and sharp gravel, I somehow escaped Unbound with zero mechanical issues (on my bike.) I had all sorts of troubles with my shoes/cleats, but more on that later. I don’t want to jinx myself but that bike ran like butter and was absolutely perfect for this ride.

I’m so grateful for Cannondale for sponsoring me, but even more so for giving me their entry-level gravel bike to ride. I never quite feel right riding a $10k bike - it’s not a realistic price point for most of my audience,  so having a great experience on a $1500 retail bike feels much more approachable. Even better, the Topstone has a 333lb weight limit, which for a super lightweight bike is pretty dang awesome!

Other Equipment

There were a few other key pieces of equipment that were pretty instrumental in having a successful day.

The first was my hydration pack from Apidura. I have the 2 liter vest in a Large/XL which has pretty decent additional carry capacity in 2 zippered compartments and pockets on the straps. I carried plain water in the vest, along with some extra snacks, ibuprofen, my inhaler, and a small first aid kit. 

On my bike I had 3 cargo storage options - The Revelate Feedbag, Apidura Top Tube bag, and a PRO Bike Gear seat bag. Both the Revelate bag and Apidura bag were full of snacks (easy to access, one handed feeding) while the PRO bag had my repair kit, spare tube and multi-tool.

Thankfully I didn’t need to use any of it, but I also carried a hand-pump, tire levers, Dynaplug repair kit, and sunscreen. (Full disclosure - I should’ve used the sunscreen, but ended up too caked in mud for it to be effective. Turns out, mud is a decent sunscreen and I didn’t get burnt!)

For technology, I used the WAHOO ELMNT ROAM bike computer which gave me all the info I needed on the route, speed, and climbing. Perhaps most crucially, I set up custom alerts to remind me to EAT, DRINK, and HAVE A GOOD TIME, each popping up every half hour. Being reminded to HAVE A GOOD TIME while in the middle of a sufferfest of mud definitely provided a good chuckle and kept my spirits up. Sometimes it’s good to be reminded that I chose to do this and this is fun! :) 

For most of the day, I also had my cell phone on my handlebars, secured with the Peak Designs universal magnetic phone mount. I’ve seriously never trusted any phone holders until this one - I don’t know what kind of magic they’re using, but my phone has never come close to falling off - even on crazy descents, water crossings, and mud pits. It’s legit. 

Ok…that was a lot. More coming soon, I promise. Still processing feelings.

Fueling for the Long Haul - How I'm Prepping for Unbound Gravel

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In less than two weeks, I’ll be taking on my first century ride. For anyone not familiar with that term, that’s 100 miles all in one ride. To make it even more fun, the ride will be all on gravel. In June. In Kansas. Unbound Gravel 2022 here I come!

Last year I rode the 50 mile fun ride and swore I wouldn’t do the 100 this year. I’m not sure what bug got into my brain when I was signing up, but I’m definitely on the Start List for the 100 mile. Crap.

My goals for this ride are pretty simple:

• Have Fun & Enjoy the Ride

• Hydrate Properly

• Eat Eat Eat

• Finish the Ride. Time doesn’t matter. Just Ride.

With those relatively straight forward goals in mind, my focus has been on my event day nutrition. Last year I had no idea what to expect and went to the start line with water and four peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. I quickly learned that my plan sucked - with the oppressive heat I had a hard time choking down those sandwiches. I ended up relying way too heavily on the rest stop gels, pickles, and chips. I’m determined not to make that mistake again.

I know that I like to eat real food while riding - gels are great for a quick boost, but I’m looking at 12+ hours on the bike - I’m going to need more calories than that. To figure I used The Feed Zone Portables Cookbook from @skratchlabs to come up with my plan - 3000 calories, 64 oz of fluid, and a goal to eat at least every 30 mins. ⁠

I’ll be taking Curry Chicken ricecakes, PB&J rice cakes, Skratch Anytime bars, and Skratch Superfuel as my primary nutrition. I’ll also have M&M’s, gels, and pickles, along with 2 liters of water on my back.⁠ I’ll have another bottle with Skratch Hydration to make sure I’ve got the electrolytes going too!

⁠Making this food was fun - eating it is going to be even more fun. Wish me luck on this endeavor!!

p.s. Stock up on your nutrition needs with CompetitiveCyclist.com - they’re one of my primary sponsors and I’m so grateful for their support. Use the code MARLEYB15 for 15% off your first purchase, some exclusions apply.⁠

MidSouth Gravel 2022 - The Weekend that had it all

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I first heard of the MidSouth Gravel race a few years ago on Instagram - images of thick clay mud clogging derailleurs and talks of some Bobby guy who gave epic finish line hugs. Honestly, it didn’t register as much of a thing for me - why would I use precious vacation time and hard-earned money to ride my bike in Oklahoma?

Well, fast forward two years and even though we’re already a week post-event I can’t stop gushing about MidSouth. This is a truly special event. What follows below is part ride-recap and part thank you to the organizers and community. It might be a bit chaotic at times but I think that reflects the manic energy of the weekend that I’m still buzzing on. Enjoy.

The Ride

The MidSouth Gravel course is infamous for its variable conditions - if it’s dry, the course is fast and zippy. If it’s wet, the red clay turns to thick peanut butter, eating derailleurs and forcing many to hike their bikes.

This year’s weather forecast did not make preparation easy. In the week leading up to the event, the forecast called for snow, rain, wind, and sunny skies. With this potential weather mess, I seriously considered taking my single speed Surly (that I had raced cyclocross on.) I know how this bike fits and rides, and while it might not be the most fun with only one gear, it seemed the most logical choice.

If you’ve seen photos, you’ll know that I did not end up riding this bike .

With freezing temperatures and snow falling on Friday before the race, the real question was what would actually prevail on race day?

I ended up on my Velo Orange Piolet, the same bike I rode for the All Bodies on Bikes film and my attempt at the Baja Divide. With a Shimano GRX drivetrain with12 speeds in back and a teeny-tiny little climbing gear, there was no question I could climb the hills of Oklahoma. To be determined if the roads would be passable or pure peanut butter, but the decision was made.

As predicted, a cold front blew in on Thursday afternoon, dumping an inch of snow on Stillwater, Oklahoma. The wild weather didn’t seem to deter anyone, as nearly 40 people turned up for my Chamois Butt’r pre-ride, and even more took on the 50k Ultra Run in the snow. Brrrrrrr.

Throughout the day on Friday, the sun came out and the snow melted away, clearing the way for the winds to whip through and dry out the course. All my fears about a muddy course were gone - it was almost entirely dry on the course by the time we rode on Saturday.

And ooh, that course. I would ride that every day if I could. Punchy climbs, fast descents and absolutely gorgeous views. Every time I ride in the MidWest I’m astounded by how pretty it is - you really just don’t get that when you’re driving through on the interstate.

Most of the course looked like the photo above - red dirt, small gravel - overall easy to handle gravel. The 56 mile route had a really fun little double-track section that led into shale steps, requiring a bit of mountain bike style handling. This was my absolute favorite section of the course and while I wish there were photos of it, for once I was too busy riding to get out my camera.

My goal for MidSouth was to use it as a gauge of my fitness and readiness for this upcoming season. I’ve signed up for more gravel events and riding than I ever have before, including a quickly approaching 100 mile attempt at Unbound Gravel. Overall, my body felt great throughout the entire ride, minus the need to poop from mile 33 on. You haven’t lived until you’ve searched desperately for a porta-potty in the middle of Oklahoma and come up empty. *(I’m happy to report I made it to the finish line without a poop incident.)

Sweet sweet salvation

I rode most of the day alone, but surrounded by some incredibly kind, inspiring and fun people. At the back of the pack, we’re all out there on our own journey. It’s kind of funny - I’m pretty slow, but my body felt good the whole time, so I found myself often cheerleading struggling riders, offering food and letting people ride my wheel into the epic headwind.

I finished my ride in a little over 7 hours, with 6ish hours of riding time. I met my goals of limiting my time at rest stops, eating consistently throughout the day, and having a good time. Crossing that finish line I definitely still had a lot of miles left in my legs which I think sets me up well for the rest of the season.

Community is everything

If you read or hear anything about MidSouth, you will undoubedtly hear about the magical community surrounding this event. It’s not a lie. The intentionality, love, care, and energy that Bobby, Joshua, Sally, Crystal, Clare, Trevor & so many more people have put into this whole weekend is unreal. I’ve never attended a more welcoming, inclusive, and downright fun event. Bobby and his team go out of their way to ensure that every single rider/runner/family member feels just as welcome as the winners and the pro’s. And that finish line hug from Bobby was truly amazing.

As an event planner myself, I know the work that this takes. It doesn’t come automatically. But damn this team is doing a phenomenal job, and I hope that other event organizers take a page from their book. Great work MidSouth - can’t wait to go back to Stillwater for more.

Part 4 from the Baja Divide - Pulling the Plug on the Trip

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Writers note: The below is directly from my journal that I wrote during the trip, with very little editing. Any commentary and additional info will be in italics.

thursday, january 12th, cabo san lucas

I feel really good about my decision to come to Cabo - it’s almost like I’m making up for the PV vacation that sucked and am redeeming it. Last night was fun - I met Uriel on Tinder and went and had some drinks at his work. I tried a new way to do tequila - an orange with cinnamon instead of a lime - it was lovely!

My favorite beach in Cabo, local’s beach.

I also experienced the hottest pepper of my life - I had some street tacos and everything was great…until my mouth was on massive fire!! It’s funny because it can be a really silly way to get to know the other patrons in the bar.

I have a few things to do today - laundry, find an internet cafe (do those still exist??) and send a reminder email to the ABOB athletes about next week’s call. Because this trip turned out so differently than was expecting, I’m tempted to blog about it - it’s pretty cool how many places I went without a car and I don’t think people really realize it’s possible.

Hats for sale in the marina.

While I’m here, I definitely want to get a pedicure - maybe I’ll do the fish thing where they eat your dead skin!!

Either way, this trip has already been a success - it only reinforces that I am a capable, independent, strong woman.