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For today's Quench'd story, we are featuring a story and images by a friend of Bivo: Gretchen Powers. Gretchen is a filmmaker, photographer, and cyclist. For a long time, she was Bivo's neighbor in Richmond and she always used to stop in our office to say hi and deliver treats: pastries, cheese, and once even a pack of bacon. Hey, we'll take it Gretchen! Thanks for joining us on Quench'd!

It’s just past noon in the town of Emporia, Kansas on Friday, May 31st, 2024. I found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed staring at a massive map of the Unbound 200 mile course tacked up on the wall in the Media Room. The mandatory media briefing had just concluded, and my sister Dominique and I were making our strategy for shooting the men’s and women’s pro fields the following day.  

“Remember the women start a full 15 minutes back this year,” I told her as we tried to factor the bigger gap into how to get around the course shooting as much of both men’s and women’s races as we could for our respective clients. 

“Shoot. You’re right.” she responded looking at the map with new eyes. In previous years, Unbound has had a mass start for the elite field with both men and women toeing the line at the same time. 2023 gave the women their own start but with only a 5 minute gap behind the elites and before the rest of the age group racers. This year, not only did the women have a 15 minute gap behind the elite men, but they also had a 25 minute head start before the age groupers. This kind of spacing had never been done before and no one was entirely sure what this race would look like or what it would mean for the women. 

All photos are taken by Gretchen Powers and feature scenes from the Unbound gravel race this June 2024.

What transpired on race day blew me, the crowds, and the masses watching the livestream away. The women’s peloton raced all 200+ miles as an ever-changing unit, swapping pulls and working together culminating with a 9 woman sprint to the finish. There were over 5,000 people streaming the finish from home - this historic finish was something that no one had seen in American off-road cycling before.

Did the separate starts complicate my job as a photographer? Sure, there were times during the day we needed to sacrifice getting to more spots in order to guarantee we had good coverage of both pro fields. However, we gained the ability to know exactly what was going on at the front of the women’s race without a lot of slower elite men or faster age groupers mixing it up.  

Shooting this long of a race has a lot of moments of “hurry up and wait,” and I often found myself seeking the one little bit of shade I could find to rest and hydrate before the racers approached. The Lifetime Grand Prix races all have helicopter coverage now, and riders are asked to bring their phones on this race because of its length and intensity. So, in the spotty cell coverage available, we could use “find-my-friends" to get a sense of where the riders we were shooting were as the day progressed and the helicopter buzzing overhead would indicate either the pointy end of the men’s or women’s race was fast approaching.

The highlight of the day? Getting to shoot alongside so many photographers and filmmakers I respect and am lucky enough to call friends these days. We are one element of the traveling circus that is off-road-cycling, and seeing familiar faces at events all over the country feels like a family reunion with all the cousins you actually like. I also love the energy around the event and pushing myself to get creative and try to capture something as simple as a cyclist riding by at 22 mph in a way that’s unique and fun.

I’m excited to see where women’s cycling in the US continues to grow - there is proof that everyone is watching women’s sports and it’s exciting to see them finally get their own race. I’m also thrilled that I saw more women in the media meeting and on the start/finish line with credentials than I ever had before. It’s great to no longer be one of the few and I hope to see that trend continue as well.

Gretchen Powers is an accomplished filmmaker and photographer who travels the world with her camera in tow. She specializes in outdoor lifestyle storytelling while focusing on the human. Gretchen continues to be inspired by the wild places around her and the way people interact with them. She thrives in inclement weather, loves books and always packs too many snacks. You can find her on Instagram @gpowersfilm.