BEERS & KEEGAN SWENSON'S INSANE UNBOUND PREPARATION | MATT BEERS

Matt Beers sits down to break down exactly how he and Keegan Swenson are preparing for Unbound—the biggest gravel race on the calendar. We dig into the brutal training block they've just completed in Tucson, the science behind their fueling strategies on 10-hour rides, and how gravel has become a genuine pathway for riders who don't fit the WorldTour mold.

Key Takeaways

• Matt and Keegan are logging 30-35 hour training weeks with metabolic intervals at 3.8-4.2 watts/kg to teach the body to buffer lactic acid and manage extreme fatigue
• Unbound preparation is less about raw fitness and more about learning fueling protocols and managing energy across 10+ hours—there's a predictable energy crash around hour 4, another around hour 6, then a zombie state after that
• The sub-maximum fatigue test (110% FTP for 3 minutes) is a reliable early-warning system for overtraining; if you can't hold it, your body is telling you to back off
• Gravel offers a viable alternative career path for strong cyclists who lack the bunch-handling skills or early specialisation needed to succeed in WorldTour road racing
• Attention to detail—tire testing, setup optimization, mud mitigation strategies—gives full-time gravel racers a measurable edge over part-time competitors, even elite ones
• A pain stick from Walmart is legitimately your most high-performance tool when dealing with the mud at Unbound; silicone sprays and fancy coatings make almost no difference

Expert Quotes

"If you are a little bit behind in the beginning you're going to go through a pretty bad like in the middle you're gonna it's going to be a rough time. Around hour four you hit the slump then you get out of it and you actually feel really good and then like hour six another little slump, and then after that you're just so screwed it just—your body doesn't even know and you don't feel tired anymore. It's weird."

"I only started racing professionally at around 22, 23, and before that I did Motocross until 19. I think it's kind of helped being now that I'm 30—I'm only like under a decade in the sport where some of these guys have been racing since they were eight years old. So to me I'm still hungry and I'm still motivated."

"That pain stick from Walmart is your best, like most high performance tool at that point. Literally a pain stick is the most high performance tool in that moment."