Kyle Kalish

One of the requirements for Unbound is to have a support crew at each of the two SAG (Support) stops. Their duties can be range from picking up their rider along the course if they're abandoning, to helping do repairs and replace nutrition at the stop. When the race is competitive as it is, its just as important to be as efficient as possible with your support crew. You're not going to win the race in the pits, but you can lose it. The Crew Talking Strategy Scott Kalish (Dad) Role: Mechanic, Directeur Sportif Growing up, I was lucky enough to have my dad as my mechanic and driver coaching for karting. I'll still argue he was one of the most talented and knowledgeable karting mechanics in the USA, so hopefully those skills translate in the pits at Unbound. If everything goes right, he won't have to really do anything at the SAG stops, all his work will be done before the race during bike set up. But, we know that probably won't be the case, so he'll be there to h...

This weekend, I finished up the final few training sessions of the "Tour De La Reconquérir", a nickname for the final training block heading into the Unbound 200.  Saturday was a a big test, a 6 hour gravel ride with some tempo repeats to test both the legs on longer rides, as well as the nutrition plan to see how the body was intaking carbs and calories at high intensity. The ride didn't go as well as I would've hoped, but I think I pinpointed my issues and have been quick to get those resolved. The key takeaway though, is that nutrition is absolutely dialed in. Our fueling plan for pretty much every aspect of Unbound is set, and I've got back up plans for everything as the race dynamics change. Sunday was a more calm, enjoyable ride. Heading over to some of my favorite roads in Indiana, I spent my 6 hour endurance ride over near Bloomington and Hoosier National Forest. After such a big training block, I wanted to take a route that I knew was going to be calm and...

My current Unbound Spec Race Bike The Plan: My first year as a gravel privateer has been a learning experience, both on and off the bike. Heading into this year, my biggest objective at races was to optimize as many of the controllable variables as I could. If I don't do well at a race because of my fitness level, I can accept that. But I didn't want things like tire choice, equipment set up, etc to be what holds me back. With that said, I've spent the last few months researching the setups and nutrition plans of previous riders, and developing a test plan to try and see what works best for me.  This Sunday was the first true test of that plan after weeks test and tuning on all types of rides: short and long, pavement and gravel, steady endurance and high intensity. I took the race rig up to Eminence, Indiana to run a modified version of the Dust Bowl 100 40 mile course, which allowed me to simulate time and limitations between each water oasis and SAG stop at U...