Unbound 2026: One race, A thousand stories

3:45 Alarm
Wake up, try to eat something, fail miserably, drink water.
My plan of only eating the Maurten bicarb for breakfast did not go to plan. My stomach was super sensitive and after one bike I felt sick immediately. It was okay. I had been stuffing myself for the last few days so my storages should be full.

At 5:10 we rolled out to the start. Everyone still needed to pick up a gps tracker from the organisation. My fellow teammates Luis and Lukas did the race before and I just tried to follow in their steps. I spun the legs for a little bit and then lined up at the start.

5:50 Start
The sun was just above the horizon when we rolled out of Emporia. Even though the distance yet to cover was immense, neutralisation was still quite hectic. It was fun to see some familiar faces and wish everyone good luck on their day.

The first decisive section would be at km 18. There was some mud and it was likely that the rain from last night turned it into absolute wasteland. As we approached this point in the course, we were in good position. All three of us in the top 25 and doing great. Untill there was a crash. Two riders in front of me went down in a mud gutter, and unfortunately I followed their example. I crashed on my right side and needed a few seconds to get it together again. My jersey pocket was ripped and my stuff was scattered across the path. My phone, pump and my tracked layed halfway burried in the mud. After using my multitool to straighten my handlebars, I set of again. At this point I was dead last.

After 10 minutes of riding, I saw a group in the distance. In my enthousiasm to get back to the group I tried riding through the mud as long as possible. Bad choice. My tires picked up the mud and with a claylike texture, it completely stopped the rotation of the wheels. I needed another 5 minutes pulling mud from my bike before I could continue again.

In the meanwhile, the storm clouds in the distance were getting closer. The lighting we saw from the start was now scarily close to us. At this moment in the race I did not yet know how gratefull I would be for some rain.

Having cleared the first mudsection, I was hoping this would be it for the rest of the day. Unfortunately only 10km after the first one, I arrived at another section which would take a lot more time from me. My drivetrain completely clogged up and the chain no longer wanted to stay on the chainring. After a long time trying to fix it, I gave up and started walking. At this point, I was ready to quit. First the womens race passed me, and soon after the age groupers as well. FYI, they started 40 min behind me and I only did 25km up to this point.

I met Klara Sophie at the end of the section and tried to help her with the bike (since her position in the womens race was way better than mine in the mens). Soon we got both bikes in working condition again and we set of.

The first feedzone was at km 70 and the closer I got, the better I felt. My mentality switched to a mode that just wanted to finish this race. Whatever time it would take me. I got a bottle and after I settled into a nice pace.

When I passed some groups of riders, I found a good companion who had a similar pace to mine. Together we made great progression and we both wanted to stay together for the rest of the race.

The next few hours I completely zoned out. I just wanted to keep pedalling, eating, and drinking and not think too much about the distance. Maybe my prolonged endurance sessions on zwift helped me with this, but I managed to do this quite well. When I arrived at the second feedzone at km 135, I stopped to replace the hydration bladder and some bottles. It was nice to see the crew even though they were looking miserable from the rain. I got what I needed and set of again.

I found my companion again and together we fought through wind, rain and m
ud for the next few hours. Because we were riding together for so long, we had alternating good and bad moments in the race. However, this never affected our cooperation. Time on the front naturally adapted to how we felt and when either of us needed a small break, we just waited on eachother. It is so interesting to see how easy it is to have a productive relationship with someone when placed in a dire situation. We always had the same goal and this was just to get to the finish in a decent time.

When I stopped at the last feed at 240km, I got some bottles and gels. The sun

was finally out and would stay out until the finish line. The last hours were hot and I was glad I did not choose to ride the TT helmet. The biggest challenge of the last 100k was definitely the headwind. Turning left onto a section where you know it will be 20km of headwind is both physically and mentally demanding.

Because I ripped my pocket in the crash, I also lost some of my gels. I did not account for this when I went through the last feed. So I needed to stop at an organisation water point to get some energy gums and a stroopwafel (always nice to see). After stuffing my mouth I felt the energy coming back to the legs. We then powered our way back to Emporia.

I finished with a time of 10 hours and 54 minutes in 66th position.

Of course this is not what I was hoping to achieve. However, given the circumstances and the places I found myself in during the race. I am very proud I pushed through. For me racing longer than 6 hours was a complete mystery so I am beyond happy I pulled through the way I did.

I am so grateful to have people around me who supported me throughout the race and to catch me at the finish. Now its time to recover, eat, and prepare myself for the next challenge!

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