Unbound Gravel 200 last year wasn’t the experience Brendan Johnston had hoped for – he was just one of the many victims of the peanut butter mud that destroyed races and drivetrains en masse – but the Giant rider knows all too well how to reset and find another way when the chips don’t fall his way.
Lining up for a second attempt on June 1 is a chance to do just that. The Australian is looking to turn his debut shock into a building block for success at the race which captures the imagination of the gravel world like no other.
“It's a strange vibe in the morning when you're lining up. It's not that many times you have something ahead of you where there are just so many unknowns,” Johnston told Cyclingnews from his Australian base in the days before he set off for Unbound, the second race of seven in the Life Time Grand Prix. “It's just an epic day ahead of you and anything could happen.”
Last year's ‘anything‘ of a long, sticky mud pit so close to the start left Johnston stuck and watching his rivals ride away before then trying to chase back on a bike that couldn’t shift gears due to the damage sustained through that section. His race was effectively over 11 miles in, although he persisted for many more before he pulled the pin.
"I had just put so much emphasis on that race,” said Johnston, who raced the Life Time Grand Prix for the first time in 2023, embracing the chance it offered to finally embrace life as a full-time cyclist. “I wanted every race to be successful and, to define myself in the US and that was just one race that I thought I could do well in and so soon into it.
“I was just in a state of shock. That I was completely out of it and not even really progressing in the race was something really hard to take.”
Johnston, however, has proven his ability to bounce back from far, far worse. When dreams of a European-based professional cycling career were stymied by a cancer diagnosis at 17, Johnston didn't walk away from the sport but continued on a different cycling path, building an impressive tally of wins across disciplines in Australia over a decade, while at the same time working as an electrician.
The persistence meant he finally got the opportunity make the bike his profession in his 30’s with the emergence of gravel racing and the Life Time series. It is an opportunity he is determined to make the most of, despite the obstacles along the way.
“I guess having that disaster last year at Unbound is probably good because I'm well aware now of the drama that can kind of strike and derail your goals at the race,” said Johnston. “It's a big event and the guys and gals that are right up there in our sport attend and that's what makes it pretty, special. It has a bit of a stripped-back nature in the organisation, which may be good or bad, but it is what it is, and people want to do it and people want to win it.”
That includes Johnston.
The build
Last year Johnston – who rides for Giant but carries the nickname of "Trekky" due to affiliations earlier in his career – finished his first year of the Life Time Grand Prix overall series in seventh place.
The season started solidly with a sixth at Fuego XL but those top 10 places evaporated mid-season as once the tough edition of Unbound was through there were also then the races at altitude to contend with, not something there is much of in Australia. That, as well as the fall-out from Unbound, took a toll. In hindsight, Johnston said he should have allowed for more recovery from the race and the big training blocks beforehand, rather than doubling down after the Unbound disappointment.
Though despite the challenges, there was no capitulating, and Johnston delivered a late-season resurgence, with third at The Rad Dirt Fest and a second at Big Sugar Gravel, that also delivered top series points given first-placed Torbjørn Andre Røed wasn’t participating in the Life Time series. That buildup of results in the series as the year progressed not only led to seventh overall but also built confidence heading into a new season.
"I didn't think it took too long to see the lay the land and see who sort of fits where and where I fit in as well, where I was strong and where I needed to improve," said Johnston of his first year in Life Time. "Even now I'm feeling so much better about Unbound, just knowing what to expect. That level of comfort is for sure saving me some energy in the preparation."
The run in this year, too, has given Johnston reason for optimism with the rider’s latest four-week racing block starting with a fifth at both the Fuego XL and Belgian Waffle Ride California in April in the US. He then jumped on a plane and finished it off with two weekends of wins in Australia at the Marathon MTB National Championships and SEVEN round of the UCI Gravel World Series in Nannup in May.
Johnston is now back in the US, having fine-tuned his lead in training thanks to the knowledge accumulated in the past year, with confidence that the “form is really good” as he checks out the 202.9 mile course (326.5km) with 11,850 feet (3,611m) of elevation gain.
There are two considerations that come into play for Johnston at the race - one is delivering a good solid result to help keep him high on the leaderboard at the Life Time Grand Prix series, and the other is to go all out for the win at Unbound.
While the 32-year-old may still have been weighing up the priorities when Cyclingnews spoke to him last week, there is no question that he has put last year's disappointment firmly behind him and is ready to chase a spot at the pointy end of the race.
“The first goal is just to try and be in that front selection when it happens and, I really think I've got the shape to do that," said Johnston. "I don't see myself being on the back foot unless we have some kind of major disaster."
If there is a major disaster, no doubt Johnston will come back and try again next year having learnt a whole lot more along the way but if things go to plan a year or building results has demonstrated that he has a place among the leading group of contenders at US gravel races.
“I really sort of have got good confidence in how I'm going that I can make the split and ride good position,” said Johnston, although there was no underestimating the scale of challenge presented by the chase for Unbound glory. “I think I have my place in that bunch, albeit there are some new and really strong guys coming out.”
