Bikes For Unbound Gravel’s Longest Race — This Is How The Racers Do It

The Unbound XL is the 350-mile ultra-endurance distance of the Unbound Gravel race. It used to be a more relaxed type of event, the chill sibling to the big event of the 200-mile race.

And then the vibe shifted, and the race got faster and faster. Last year, it seemed to hit a tipping point, with Rob Britton and Heather Jackson both setting course records that set big new benchmarks for the extra-long gravel race.

This year, things are only getting faster with more contenders and fast riders adding to the overall speed of the race that hardly resembles the XL events of five years ago. To get a sense of what it takes to compete, let alone survive, at Unbound XL, we caught up with a few of the key contenders and interesting characters that will be racing through the night, raiding gas stations, and trying to avoid as much mud as possible.

Riders:

• Bond Almand — FKT holder of the Pan American Highway
• Chris Mehlman — 4th at the 2026 Atlas Mountain Race, 5th at the 2026 Traka Adventure
• Rob Britton – 1st at 2025 Unbound XL
• Maddy Nutt — 1st at 2026 Traka Adventure