In this episode, host Dirk Friel sits down with professional gravel racer and Ignition Coaching coach Dylan Johnson to dig into all things gravel.
They break down the cutting-edge equipment trends seen at the 2025 edition of Unbound Gravel, as well as training trends, nutrition and training tips for both amateurs and pros. Hear why mountain bike tires are dominating the scene, the evolving role of aerodynamics in the sport, and the reasons behind faster race times over the last few years.
Whether you’re a seasoned cyclist or a gravel-curious newcomer, you’ll hear expert advice on your next gravel race and the new “Unbound Block” approach to training. Dylan also offers a glimpse into the future of even faster gravel racing.
Standout Quotes
The Unbound Block or Block Periodization: “So, the Unbound Block is kind of a thing that’s become super popular amongst people who are taking unbound seriously. I would say not even [just] pros. I mean, even amateurs are kind of adopting this Unbound Block mentality. And it’s just a block of very high volume done, probably a month out before the race.
Some riders do a two-week block. Some riders do a three-week block. But it’s substantially higher volume than you would normally do. We’ve seen riders go above 40 hours in a week for this block. And for other riders, you know, substantially higher volume might mean 30 hours. It might mean 25, it might mean 15. You know. If you normally ride six hours a week, a 15-hour week is crazy high volume for you. So it’s all relative to your current fitness level and your current level of riding. But I actually think there’s a lot to the unbound block. And, you know, there’s a fair bit of research on block periodization.
Block periodization just means that you’re blocking your training together as opposed to spreading it out more evenly. Most of the research on block periodization is done using block periodization with intensity. So, for those that aren’t familiar, block periodization with intensity, let’s just say you normally do two intensity sessions in a week, every week. So block periodization with intensity would mean that instead of doing two sessions per week, you’ve got one week where you do five or six intensity sessions. So it’s a very high-stress week. And then after that, you might just do one session per week. So less intensity than you would normally do. So you’ve blocked all this training stress together. So, by the end of this training month, you’ve actually done the same number of intensity days for the whole month, you just blocked it altogether in the first week as opposed to spreading it out. And there is research to show that blocking it together in the first week actually led to greater fitness gains than spreading it out more evenly.”
“I don’t I don’t say that I believe that mountain bike tires are faster on gravel because I have a hunch about this. I’m saying this based off of data.”
Why More Riders are Using MTB Tires
Race Day Hydration and Nutrition Strategy: “So the amount that you’re drinking throughout the race will change because the race is getting hotter, and you’re getting more dehydrated later into the day. So, at the beginning of the race, you might not be drinking a full bottle an hour, but then by the end of the race, you might actually be drinking more than a bottle an hour. So I try to have 90 grams of carbs in my bottles, but at the beginning of the race, I might not be drinking a full bottle. And then at the end of the race, I might actually be drinking more than a full bottle. So what I try to do is look at how much fluid I’m drinking per hour and then adjust that accordingly with the amount of gels that I’m consuming. So if a gel has, you know, 30 grams of carbs in it and I consume 60 grams of carbs from my bottle, which I didn’t finish because my bottle has got 90 grams, but I didn’t finish the whole thing. So I consumed roughly 60 grams.”
Swipe to See What Dylan’s Unbound Block Looked Like
Unbound Race Pace Tactics: “The advice for these two hypothetical athletes is definitely very different. I think for a pro who’s trying to get, you know, top 10 podium, or win the race, then it seems to me that Unbound has become a race that actually suits a breakaway specialist. I mean, we saw a breakaway succeed this year and last year in the men’s race, and a breakaway succeed this year in the women’s race. So, you know, I mean, that, obviously, that probably won’t always be the case, but I think more and more, it’s becoming a race where you gotta really keep your head on a swivel and look at these riders going up the road and assess whether or not that is a move that you wanna follow or not follow. I think if you’re kind of playing defensively and just saying, “I’ll just sit in the front group, and see what happens,” I mean, that that’s probably the safest way to play the race, and, you know, you probably get to the finish line with the most energy that way, and that could certainly work out for you.
As far as the amateur strategy goes, I think the biggest, mistake that I see, and I’ve looked at a lot of power files from a lot of long gravel races, is that you see the power is very high in the first hour. People are going too hard, and then it steadily drops throughout the race. You almost never see somebody negative split their power or even equally split their power from the first half to the second half. People are usually going too hard in the first hour and then doing damage control. Which there are plenty of races where I think that’s warranted, because you want to get with a fast group that you can draft with. These are not solo time trials, so you know, you don’t necessarily want to evenly pace the race as if it was a time trial. You do want to get in a fast group and work with that group for the remainder of the day, but you also don’t want to go too hard so that you blow up. I mean, it’s a very long race, and it’s very easy to blow up when the race is that long. I think the lower your fitness level is, the more you need to take pacing into account over getting with a fast group. The higher your fitness level is, I think you can play this game of trying to get with a fast group despite the fact that you’re a little bit over your optimal pace.
How the Pro Field has Changed at Unbound
“It’s, like, become like road racing now. Road racing is very tactical, and you gotta play these games with yourself. You know? What what’s a good move to follow? What’s not a good move to follow? Unbound has become that in the pro race.”
