The boundaries of Unbound Gravel go nicely past the Flint Hills of Kansas this yr. You don’t even should be within the US to participate within the ‘Tremendous Bowl of Gravel’ or to comply with the progress of the world’s high elite riders as they pound throughout the open prairie, punchy climbs and unforgiving components.
Because of Laurens ten Dam of Dwell Gradual Journey Quick and JOIN Biking, cyclists anyplace on the earth may be a part of Rebound Gravel on the identical day as Unbound Gravel and win a ton of cool prizes, together with a free entry to the occasion in 2025.
As for dwell streaming, it isn’t making a repeat efficiency from two years in the past, however Life Time, which owns and operates Unbound Gravel and the Grand Prix sequence, is severe about bringing it again, and till then, will present real-time updates on social media feeds, in addition to dwell monitoring from the outcomes web page and a post-race highlights present in 2024.
Here’s a abstract of how any bike owner can get near the motion on Saturday with out shopping for an airline ticket to fly to Kansas.
Rebound Gravel
On June 1, almost 5,000 riders depart from Emporia, Kansas on 4 of the favored trip routes – 25 miles to 200 miles – at Unbound Gravel. What wouldn’t it appear to be if greater than 200,000 cyclists jumped in to trip? Since that expansive quantity is for a Rebound Strava Problem for individuals world wide, utilizing their very own gravel roads, singletrack, cobbles and pavement near dwelling, it turns into a day “concerning the journey, not outcomes”.
Professional bike owner Laurens ten Dam, who has completed both second or fourth within the final three Unbound Gravel 200 races, based the choice mass-start occasion in 2020 along with his Dwell Gradual Journey Quick podcast after two months of the COVID-19 international pandemic left individuals stranded indoors and when many individuals, together with himself, had large occasions cancelled, together with that yr’s rebranded Unbound Gravel.
The problem occasion was an instantaneous hit for amateurs and execs, and was held for 2 years. After taking off 2023, Ten Dam partnered with JOIN Biking and received help from Strava and Shimano to refresh Rebound.
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“And other people began moaning like, ‘Hey, you probably did it already two years. We did it on the identical day as Unbound and we wish to try this once more. Oh, we wish our occasion. We wish rebound. We wish prizes’,” Ten Dam recounted to Cyclingnews about bringing the do-it-yourself problem again, however in an enormous means.
He mentioned 290,000 individuals have registered since 2020, and by way of miles ridden by members, it has turn out to be the most important occasion by a gaggle worldwide on Strava.
“The cool factor about that is that you would be able to actually make it into an occasion from dwelling. You go to locations you will by no means see on the bike, usually from dwelling. Then do it with a bunch of mates, and have a pleasant after-party. It is virtually like an occasion, you understand. And that is what we present individuals, that you would be able to additionally do issues from dwelling, and it may be actually enjoyable. It’s concerning the journey, not the outcomes. And so I am actually fairly happy with the way it turned out.”
Using is among the many rewards, and all riders obtain a digital badge to make use of for bragging rights. There are many different prizes, together with one assured entry into Unbound Gravel in 2025. Different prizes embrace a prize bundle from Skoda that features two grandstand tickets for the Tour de France end in Good, a Dwell Gradual Journey Quick biking equipment, Shimano RX6 biking footwear and socks, and JOIN Biking coaching plan for all times. Entry is free, and there are not any deadlines to emphasise the enjoyment of biking. Particulars can be found at www.rebound.cc.
‘Life’ broadcast for elite races
In 2022, the primary season of the Life Time Grand Prix, organisers tried dwell streaming on the first three occasions within the sequence, together with Unbound Gravel 200. Aerial protection from a dozen roaming cameras, together with drones and 4x4s on the 200-mile route, have been mixed with cameras on the end line, broadcast by FloSports. The hassle was made, however the product suffered.
The technical limitations and the distant places for each Unbound, and later Crusher within the Tushar, “proved insurmountable” and a joint choice between Life Time and FloBikes suspended the broadcasts for the ultimate three occasions that yr. However Life Time shouldn’t be giving up.
“So how we’re approaching content material this yr goes to be completely different than how we’ve in years previous. Certainly one of our targets is to create extra fandom of the game. We’re shifting our content material format to be extra within the second,” Michell Duffy, Senior Advertising Director, Occasions and Retail Advertising for Life Time, advised Cyclingnews.
“Making an attempt to dwell stream in yr one [of the Life Time Grand Prix] was aggressive. However we do not wish to get there in 10 years, we wish to attempt to get there in three years or 5 years. So we’re frequently testing various things. We have been dabbling in numerous markets to determine what connectivity is like. And an instance of that was final yr on social media, we went dwell for the final 15 miles of the RAD.
“Our focus for this yr shouldn’t be happening the dwell stream rabbit gap simply but, principally as a result of if it failed, then we did not ship a very good expertise. However as an alternative, rising the mannequin that we examined at Leadville after which Huge Sugar, which is a ‘Life’ broadcast, so a race highlights video that comes out 24 to 48 hours following the race.”
Life Time mentioned it might solely present dwell streaming if high-production high quality may very well be offered, nevertheless, the remoteness of nearly all of the gravel races proceed to plague the method.
So, in 2024, biking followers will have the ability to view, without spending a dime, a long-form recap video of how the race unfolded. The video might be round 40 minutes in size and might be made out there inside 24 to 48 hours on the Life Time Grand Prix YouTube Channel.
Instagram would be the fundamental social channel for updates throughout each the 200-mile and 100-mile race, utilizing @lifetimegrandprix and @UnboundGravel. For updates as athletes put up cut up occasions at varied test factors on the routes, the Athlinks, the timing data will once more be offered by Athlinks.
Fantasy League
The Life Time Grand Prix Fantasy League is underway. No, you possibly can’t win prize cash like the highest athletes within the 60-rider area, nevertheless it’s speculated to be enjoyable, and because the saying goes, ‘if it’s free, it’s for me’.
Beginning with the primary spherical of the Life Time Grand Prix at Sea Otter Traditional Fuego XL, followers can decide their high 10 favourites (5 males and 5 ladies) in every of the seven races and compete for recognition as a high prognosticator.
“So the fantasy league is only a enjoyable initiative that we put out. There’s been some feedback like, ‘simply decide Keegan, each race’. However we have created the fantasy league in a means that forces you to care about the entire Grand Prix, as a result of you possibly can solely decide every athlete two occasions. That implies that you need to faucet into the broader area, and truly be strategic,” Duffy mentioned.
Sofia Gomez Villafañe was the most typical decide within the opening spherical, chosen by 80% of members. Keegan Swenson was chosen by 77% of fantasy leaguers, whereas Alexis Skarda and Haley Smith have been added by 68% and 67%, respectively.
Gamers could be part of the sport at any level within the season, so if people didn’t choose riders for Fuego XL there may be time remaining for Unbound Gravel 200. Choices shut at 11:59pm MT the night earlier than race day.
