Nancy's story: Unbound

BaseCamp athlete Nancy Mizak shared her experience at the 2026 Unbound gravel bike race in Kansas.

Unbound 50 Miler was my first event of the season, and I identified it as my "C" race this year. Working with my coach, Liz Inglese, I set my process and performance goals entering the 20th Anniversary of Unbound Gravel. I joined up with 5 other BaseCamp teammates in sharing an incredible VRBO an hour out of Emporia that made last minute prepping for the race not only good company but educational and fun. It never fails to amaze me how much I learn from other BaseCampers.

Weather days before the race was a mix of rain and sunshine, but the night before the race it rained quite a bit, so I knew we would be in for some muddy conditions. It rained during warmup but then stopped as I entered the start corral. It would rain again later in the race, washing off some of the mud accumulated along the route.

Choosing to start closer to the front vs the rear was a great choice, because as bunched in as we were at the start, riders were smooth, and we were able to start faster than I've ever been able to in the last 3 years. Staying on speedy Tracy Gravlin's wheel the first 9.5 miles was my goal, and I was tickled to do just that. I lost some time after that by being a bit too cautious around loose gravel corners but would make up for it on the straightaways.

I think the whole course was only like 1600 feet of climbing, so hills weren't a limiter for me.....but the peanut butter mud on the mmr roads would be....but I wasn't alone there. Approaching road 130, I rode as far as I could, but we all had to dismount when a wall of cyclists pushing their bikes went all across the road (mud pit). At first I put my bike on my shoulder to walk, but footing wasn't good, so I chose to slog my way up to a grassy ledge on the left of the road next to a barbed wire fence. I had hoped to scrape my shoes and tires clean in the grass while walking, but the mud would only pick up more debris the farther I went. I stopped a couple times to scrape tires and to remove rocks from between my chain ring and bike frame. Once at the top of the hill on a drier road, I had to remove my shoes to take what felt like 10 lbs of mud from the bottoms/sides. The rest of the ride was just wet gravel/mud that seemed to get everywhere. About 3/4 of the way through the route, it began to thunder, lightning, and rain again, washing a lot of the mud from the front of me.

I did experience some cramping about 15 miles from the finish that slowed me down a bit till I hit the last quarter mile. Even with the challenge of the weather and mud, I was happy that I was able to follow my race plan. It was the first time I was excited, not anxious, at the start, and I rode faster and with more power than previous events to date. My realistic goal was to finish in the top 50% of my AG; I did that as well for the overall and was extra pleased to rank in the top third of all female riders for the 50 miler. While the stats made me feel good for a minute, the takeaway and win that will feel great forever is feeling grateful to be able to do this and enjoying it with BaseCamp teammates that I think the world of!