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Well, it’s another year, which means another year of riders complaining about Unbound Gravel:
In 2003 it was the excess of liquid gravel (or what used to be known as “mud”), which caused multiple plastic bike failures and made the race hard not in a cool Instagram way but in a power-wash-your-asscrack way:
The correct response to this should have been “Tough shit.”
Then last year riders were upset because they couldn’t alter their numbers:
The correct response to this should have been “Tough shit.”
Now apparently it’s too competitive:
Basically, it’s a victim of its own success:
When Unbound began in 2006, it featured just 34 people on self-supported adventures through the dusty gravel roads of the Flint Hills. It was never intended to be the world’s premier gravel race. It was designed to be an individual pursuit where people tested their personal limits.
Plus, there’s a lack of respect for the elite riders:
“I watched someone like Greg Van Avermaet fighting for space, and I’m like, you guys know who this guy is,” Vermeulen said. “I think the biggest thing with athletes being able to self-select [the elite field] is that I don’t believe you’ll be there if you’re not strong enough. At least in the men’s race, from where I race — when I look around — I know most of the faces. So I think what’s still missing is a true respect and hierarchy. On the road, there’s a hierarchy.”
And the feed zone is a complete shitshow:
“A few keen eyes noticed that I was in full riding kit in the checkpoints this year and was handing our Liv/Giant riders supplies as we rode through together,” said Carl Decker, team manager for Liv/Giant. “The Unbound promoter encourages support staff to use ‘guides’ to lead riders to their pit areas. And that’s about the extent of the rules. There is no sign marking the start or end of the pit area. There is no marshaling. Pretty Wild West.”
But how big a problem is any of this, really? Can’t we just let these people figure out for themselves how to feed themselves without crashing? Does Greg Van Avermaet really deserve special treatment when he’s fighting for space? It’s not like he was one of those original 34 self-supported riders; he’s just another aging pro looking for a second act by getting in on the whole gravel thing. If he has to make his way through a bunch of white collar Gravel Freds using their precious vacation time to head to Kansas for a competitive cycling dream vacation then that’s his problem–they’re paying customers, after all. Of course overestimating your own abilities and getting in the way of of an elite rider because you’re delusional is pretty sad, but ultimately the correct response to anyone who has to fight their way through a throng when participating in something like this–whether it’s Unbound Gravel or Lollapalooza or any other corporate event that still trades on its “alternative” origins–is “Tough shit.”
Also, why in 2025 are we still struggling to define what “gravel” is?
Gravel began as a grassroots sport. It wasn’t meant to have rules. It wasn’t meant to replace road racing in the U.S. But today, it is professional, competitive and high-stakes. And with that comes the need for new rules, clearer expectations — and a new understanding of what gravel is, and what it isn’t.
It seems pretty clear to me that gravel races are the marathons of the 21st century–a handful of elite competitors and a then shitload of other people chasing their personal best and a sense of profound physical accomplishment to make them feel special and carry them through the rest of the year. (Nothing wrong with that!)
Anyway we’ve known since at least 2021 that “What is gravel?” is a SRAM marketing concept thinly disguised as a profound philosophical question:
If gravel is whatever I want it to be I want it to be a word I never hear again.
Of course, no event should be unnecessarily dangerous, but the good news is there was only a “small uptick” in emergency calls:
One of them appeared to be the result of someone saying “Fuck it” and driving onto the course:
Two people were arrested, and one Lyon County Deputy was sent to Newman Regional Health for non-serious injuries Saturday morning following a car pursuit. The pursuit began when a truck failed to obey traffic control measures related to Unbound Gravel and went through the intersection of Road 240 and J without slowing.
His desire to get to his destination was truly unbound.
