Race report by Nathalie
Everyone has their own Unbound story. I think even more so this year.
Unbound 200 2026 seemed determined to throw everything at us: mud, rain, thunder, lightning, humidity, cold, heat, and miles upon miles of Flint Hills.
My race actually started before the gun went off. After barely sleeping, I woke up feeling sick to my stomach. I blamed it on nerves and rolled to the start line anyway.
For the first 70 km, things felt manageable. Then everything unraveled. Every sip and every bite came straight back up. The stomach pain got worse, dizziness set in, and I could feel my body shutting me down.
What followed was one of the hardest days I’ve ever had on a bike.
Mechanicals. Train crossings. Thunderstorms that genuinely scared me. A body that wanted nothing more than to quit. And more than 260 km still ahead.
Honestly, it felt like I wanted to DNF every single minute of that race. I cried multiple times throughout the day—partly because of how bad I felt, and partly because I was heartbroken at the thought of letting people down.
But I kept thinking about the people who helped get me here. About Kevin by my side on this journey to Kansas. About @majyaa fighting through endless punctures here last year. And about the incredible support crew; @evan.bikes, @andrewburger_, @kevintiuu among others, who never stopped believing in me when I struggled to believe in myself.
So I just kept moving forward.
And when I finally crossed the finish line, 333 km and 11+ hours later, I cried again. Part relief, part exhaustion, part disbelief.
It wasn’t even close to the result I came for. Getting sick during the biggest race of the year is pretty terrible timing. But some days racing isn’t about performance.
It’s about resilience.
And strangely enough, I’m already looking forward to redemption in 2027.
For now: recovery, gratitude, and reflection.
Then we start building again
