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XX4.THIRTEEN/COLLECTIVERIDERBLOG – GRAVELRACINGROUND-UP Pt.2

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In the first part one of this blog we covered Jesse Yates’ first major objective of the year - the Traka, where we came away with a tonne of collective experience and 13th place. We then focused everything on Unbound, and our biggest trip of the year...


“When I take action, I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It's going to be decisive”.

- George W. Bush


United Airlines did a superb job in delivering us two greenhorns and our bikes into the middle of buttfuck nowhere - one of our friends described Emporia, where Unbound is based, as “the armpit of America”, and as we looked around the empty streets of a holiday weekend, one week before the race, we were starting to agree. We arrived on the Saturday, but our accommodation wasn’t ready until Sunday, so we hastily checked in to the sketchiest of sketchy motels, where the local sheriff assured us that we were, “probably not going to get shot, it’s just not a very nice place”!


Jesse’s Travel Video


We survived the cast of My name is Earl and headed out to Walmart to pick up supplies and promptly get my credit card frozen... great success! Then we headed to downtown Emporia to build the bikes and head out on our first recon ride. Immediately we were blasting along at 30kph+ on the perfect american gravel - it was so easy to go fast! We ended up doing a pretty great recce of the start and the finish, settled into the riding really nicely and then headed back to soak up the Emporia vibe.



Having had a proper night sleep we headed up to Eskridge, where the first water stop is, to check out the northern part of the route. We rode up to our first Minimum Maintenance Road (MMR) which we knew would be one of the first important parts of the race. There were plenty of short climbs before this, but we figured there would still be big groups together in Eskridge. Both of these things came true in the race and the first proper rough section started taking prisoners, with plenty of good riders suffering punctures. Jesse knew to be careful and still suffered a small stumble which cost him a Wahoo! The pace was being driven by three americans on the way into the first Support Crew Stop at Alma, but the rest of the competitive racers were all still largely together, including Jesse.


One issue we had, which we should have fixed earlier (I’ve since learned how), was that we could only communicate when we had wifi. Obviously, therefore from the bike, Jesse couldn’t tell me that he’d lost his Wahoo and burped his rear tyre. And, I couldn’t warn him where in the support zone I’d be - in Unbound the Support crews spread over five blocks which aren’t clearly labelled, so by the time he spotted me he was 50 feet down the road getting tangled up with another rider! The pair of them kept it upright and I legged it over to him with everything he needed.. The Fumpa electric pump did a great job of gassing the rear tyre accurately back to pressure. Slightly panicked Jesse only told me about his Wahoo as he rode off, which was unfortunate as I actually had it ready, but we’d recce'd the next section, so although he had no power data, at least he knew his way!



In the recce, this next section was a bit of a pig - we almost missed a turn and I almost stacked it on the loose gravel. Then as we headed down the next MMR Jesse got his first puncture on the glassy flints that litter the northern course. We plugged it and got riding again, but within about 100 yards I got one too. We started to worry about tyres - should we be using the liners we brought with us? Should we be using a different tyre? Was it a wide enough tyre? Etc, etc!... We chatted through a million options ad watched intently on social media as all the other riders chopped and changed between all the locals favourite tyres! This is where a little bit of experience pays off, and once I’d thought it through, my advice to Jesse was to stick to what we know and the setup we’d been using. The Gralloch, the week before had been a puncture-fest and Jesse had had no problems with his Schwalbe G-One R in that race, and I recommended that it would be the same story here - preparation and equipment is vital, but so is confidence and we decided that Jesse would ride better and faster with the tyre he was used to. Our friend Chas from Zipp agreed, and happily, neither of us suffered another puncture for the whole week.



My own personal favourite bit of the week (in a type 2 fun kind of way) was the ride back to Eskridge - after 100km of off-road I was slightly cooked and didn’t have the route which Jesse had planned [in his head]. He’d confidently told me we had 10 miles left when we got to the tarmac. In my head 10 miles takes 20 to 30 minutes - even if I’m thinking clearly it would be a maximum of 40 minutes, so I downed the last of my water and settled in for a pull on the front. After 20 minutes I was dying, but at least we were almost there right? I waved Jesse through so I could suffer on my own. My Wahoo said we had 12 miles to go which must have been wrong. 2 miles later I reached a road junction, now solo, with no water, a massive hill in front of me and a sign that said “Eskridge 10” - “Fuck” I announced to myself.


After Alma, in the race, Jesse suffered an actual proper crash - he and another rider got too close to one another and he landed heavily on his knee. He rode into the Support Zone at Council Grove looking like he'd been shot, but after the confusion in the first support zone I’d pushed my way right to the front here and had everything laid out and ready. This kind of stuff is vital knowledge for future events and even if things go smoothly, you still learn lots every single time. Jesse was worried about his knee but was fairly calm and I gave him info about the time gaps in the race - we managed to get both stops done in around 30 seconds each time.


The last section of rolling race route had really broken everyone up - there were two leaders, then a fairly big group of top 15/20 riders, and then 2's and 3's. Jesse was actually in a great position going into the final section of the race. On the run-up to the race, when we were discussing tactics, we’d run through the names and figured we’d be doing well to get a top 50 place (we’d even said that top 70 would be okay), but Jesse was around about 35th and still only a handful of minutes down with less than 75km to go.


When we recce'd the last section, we absolutely loved it - beautiful rolling hills and brutal head-windy power sections. I was slightly concerned about the flints again, but this was proper Kansas and the gravel was flat-out fast,which lessens the likelihood of a flat. 50kph+ on the champagne gravel felt like surfing on a little cushion of air. Jesse was flying in the race and had improved his position by another few places, and was now in a nice group of four coming into the last 5km. As the group tussled, Jesse gambled on an early break, up the final tarmac climb - it almost worked but the other riders closed the gap on the run in, and riding for over 100km with a fairly substantial cut on his knee had taken it’s toll. In any case he’d done far more than we ever dreamed of, to finish in a really solid 32nd place! 326km in 9 hours, 31 minutes.



But that wasn’t the end of our american roadtrip - we’d had a great week but we’d also been really focused on the race, working on tactics, plans, doing media and recces - now was our chance for a couple of days of road tripping! We finally found some proper diners and went for some nice recovery rides, making the most of our time in the US. We even snuck in a visit to a Pro Bass Shop (look it up), before handing back the #aeightbikeco sponsored Pick-Up Truck back, which by the way is far too big, far to inefficient, and far too expensive, but I definitely want one! It went like shit off a shovel on the gravel! Next year we’ll get an even bigger one...


Results;

32nd Unbound Pro - Jesse Yates 9:31 @34.25kph average (over 5kph faster than Traka)!






2024.RIDERS – JESSEYATES

Jesse started cycling in 2013, initially with TT’s and then with some local road races, while being supported by his Dad. In 2015 he got a taste for racing in Britany and this led to two seasons on a French team living abroad while on The Dave Rayner Fund. Then he joined Team Wiggins in 2018, racing across Europe. After a years break he continued road racing before making the switch to competing in off road events and Ultra races in 2022/2023 where the most notable result has been a Badlands Pairs win and a host of top ten places. Follow him on Instagram and YouTube.


2024.RIDERS - GLENWHITTINGTON

#aeightracer – Glen’s an ex-racer who still finds time to ride bikes as much as possible - follow his adventures on Instagram. He started racing in 1998, initially specialising in XCO, Marathon and Solo 24-Hour Mountain Bike. He became a mechanic in 2002, working in shops and also for professional race teams. During this time he spent more time racing ‘Cross and Road, and then also TT. In 2013 he built his first bespoke steel frame and then spent several years at Roberts learning the art. Since then he’s designed his own range of bikes, frames and wheels which he now offers to the public, alongside servicing and race support, as part of his ÆIGHT brand - you can find his business Instagram account here.



GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO RACE WITH US?

We’re always looking for riders to be part of our ÆIGHT CØLLECTIVE. The #aeightbikeco is about doing things a little differently - Rather than a jersey being the common theme, we kit our riders out with bespoke steel bikes and handbuilt wheels made in our Sussex workshops, the ÆIGHT WHEELWØRKS and the ÆIGHT MANUFACTØRY. We then support each other at events and races regionally, nationally and internationally - whether that’s for mountain bike, ‘cross, gravel, crit, road or TT - it’s what we call, the #aeightbikeco


The best part is that we’re not asking you to leave your team or club - that includes racing in your club/team kit. We’ve got certain brands that we work with, mostly so we can standardise shared equipment, but your own sponsors and clubs are almost always welcome. We have some strict qualifying criteria but don’t be put off by this – if you’re interested in being part of the #aeightbikeco then please get in touch by emailing your racing CV to eightbikeco@gmail.com



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janelesleywiley
2024년 8월 01일

Great report - interesting, funny and informative! Is it Bass Pro not Pro Bass ?🤔Interesting learning re the importance of comms and how to - resilient lot you are too, with all those crashes!!

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