Whether they won their respective races, finished or crashed out, participants in the 2023 Unbound Gravel suite of races say they enjoyed their time in Emporia.
Julius Berith came to Emporia from Tampa, Florida, to be in the 100. It was his first time at Unbound, and he says he thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Also enjoying her experience was Sarah Fletcher of Chattanooga, Tennessee, who was in the 200.
Comments like that were music to the ears of city leaders, including Mayor Susan Brinkman.
Visit Emporia Director LeLan Dains, a past competitor and Unbound administrator, was a participant for the first time in a decade — but unlike previous races in the 200, he rode in the 25-mile race and used a lot of his time meeting with people who came to Emporia from all over just for Unbound — many of whom have made Emporia a regular destination. He sees more people coming for activities like Unbound, but he’s also seeing more people coming for Emporia’s other activities in part because of events like Unbound.
Emporia Main Street Director Casey Woods says Unbound continues to evolve, so Life Time, city leaders and city residents have adapted to keep Unbound as the premiere gravel grinding event in the world.
Longtime Unbound administrator Kristi Mohn says the riders expect a world-class event when they come to Emporia, and that’s what they got.
Roughly 4,000 people participated in Unbound this year, an event record, with 43 countries represented.
While most of the featured races had significant space between the top two finishers, many of the riders on the course after 2 pm had to deal with waves of brief heavy rainfall and some thunderstorms, especially from Emporia to the southeast. Women’s XL 350 winner Kristen Legan and and women’s 200 winner Carolin Schiff were among the winners who finished in separate downpours, and conditions — already muddy in spots, thanks to rain on Friday — only got “chunkier” with the afternoon rain. Several cyclists said they had to “hike” their bikes for upwards of four miles at times during the day.
Riders streamed into Emporia through the late-night hours ahead of the awards ceremony for the XL and 200 races, which will be at 8 am at the Emporia Granada Theatre. The annual clean-up effort also begins at 8 am.
