Justine Barrow may not have exactly had the ideal preparation for her latest stint of gravel racing in the United States, having had to put her training on hold for yet more surgery on her AC joint in late January. But now the Australian gravel champion is coming into Unbound Gravel on a winning streak.
The first step was victory at the SEVEN UCI Gravel World Series race in Nannup on May 11, where she carved out a clear lead and set a new course record en route to the win. Then it was straight on a plane to make it to the United States in time for Gravel Locos the following weekend, and again, Barrow managed to pull out a big gap to her rivals and cross the line first, finishing 14 minutes ahead of second-placed Marisa Boaz.
Barrow may have had to once again rebuild from six weeks off riding outdoors following her latest surgery, and just weeks ago, she was even questioning whether or not she’d be recovered enough to make it over this year. But it ended up being an auspicious final lead-in to Unbound Gravel 200.
Last year’s Gravel Locos winner, Carolin Schiff, went on to claim victory at the race in the Flint Hills of Kansas that stands as the pinnacle of the gravel world. But try and put Barrow in as one of the top favourites for this year's Unbound and she may object, particularly given the less-than-ideal run-in she has had.
Last year, Barrow had to abandon the brutally muddy edition of the race at around 85 miles (130km) while in a group chasing the four riders at the front, so “definitely finishing” was her first response when asked what her goals during her second attempt were. But of course, there is more.
“I always want to be competitive. They say you do need some good luck to go well at Unbound, and I do think you make some of your luck with proper preparation of your equipment. But you still probably need some luck as well,” the rider told Cyclingnews from Emporia last week, where she had already been out checking out the course and working out where she may potentially hit that peanut butter mud again.
“I've got huge respect for the women that I'm lining up against, and, you know, overall, I don't really see that this is an ideal course for me. Yeah, I want to be competitive, but I don't rate myself high up there."
That doesn’t mean the rider clad in the green and gold jersey of Australian champion isn’t doing everything she can to prepare as meticulously as possible and thereby make sure as much ‘luck’ as possible falls her way on Saturday, June 1. Still only in her second start of the race, she is still ready for the inevitable moment when things don’t go her way.
"I’m more aware that when things go wrong, which they will go wrong. For every competitor at some stage, that isn't your race over. You can come back from that,” she said.
Coming back
The rider who shifted from road to gravel racing is already in the process of coming back from a gravel plan that went awry last year. After claiming the Australian title at Devils Cardigan in June, her next stint in the United States ended prematurely with a nasty crash and her first AC joint surgery.
The recovery from that didn’t run as smoothly as hoped, ending the plans for the rest of the season and leading to more surgery at the start of this year.
It’s a journey that has meant Barrow has not had as many opportunities as she’d hoped to put the Australian champion's jersey on display. Perhaps as a result, and the uncertainty surrounding what has been a challenging recovery, the chance to finally do exactly that means even more. She has certainly made the most of her recent races in it.
"I was feeling pretty apprehensive prior to coming here, but yeah, two starts and two wins under the belt so far … this was going to be a bit of a test, and the test is going okay at the moment, which has allowed me to start to commit to the second half of the season,” Barrow said.
Committing to the rest of the season means that after returning to Tasmania and the Devils Cardigan to try and defend the Australian title on June 22, Barrow will be jumping straight back on a plane again and taking on a race schedule that includes events in both the US and Europe. And, of course, the 45-year-old will be making her second attempt at Unbound, too.
"I'm going in again with lower expectations than last year ... it's going to be such a competitive field," said Barrow.
"I'm definitely not just there to ride it; I'm definitely there to race it, but I crashed out last year, so getting through this year will be an achievement. Secondly, I really appreciate women's only starts, and that just makes me look forward to it more."
Riders in the Unbound 200 race, which actually covers 202.9 miles (327km) with 11,850 feet (3,600m) of elevation gain, will head out early on Saturday. The elite men start at 5:50 CDT and the elite women at 6:05, with the rest of the 200 field starting 25 minutes later at 6:30.
