Abi Robins Pedals to a Historic Finish at UNBOUND Gravel
“Like so many things when you’re queer or trans, you don’t know it’s an option to not have this background noise of all the things we have to deal with constantly...I didn’t realize what a weight that was until getting the opportunity to not have it.”
Perhaps you’ve heard of UNBOUND Gravel - the premier cycling event featuring over 350 miles of gravel course to race through the Flint Hills of Emporia, Kansas.
You may also have heard of Abi Robins (they/them), who has garnered a lot of recent attention as UNBOUND Gravel’s first non-binary category finisher. But Robins didn’t set out to break barriers - they simply wanted to make it to the finish line of the 100-mile course.
On the drive up from Austin, Robins had their sights set on simply doing their best and hopefully finishing - that is, until a good long look at the race’s start list raised the stakes.
Let’s rewind.
How it Happened
Robins had no idea that sending a single email would change their life.
Upon registering for UNBOUND, they had to choose between two categories: male or female. Non-binary and intersex people everywhere are familiar with this plight. What do you do when neither box applies to you? Well, more often than not, you have to just choose one and move on.
It wasn’t until later that UNBOUND created a third category. Participants received an email saying they could change their registration status themselves if they would like to be in the new non-binary category. Robins tried and failed to do this due to technical difficulties. After much frustration, they emailed UNBOUND directly and got switched into the non-binary category. Robins was excited, thinking this would be a great way to connect with other non-binary riders competing in the race.
“I remember at one point thinking maybe I could be the first non-binary finisher,” Robins says, “but then I thought - that's ridiculous! It's a huge race, it's been going on for years, and the likelihood that other non-binary people have finished it is astronomically high, so I just put that thought out of my mind.”
But the thought didn’t stay out of their mind for long. “I was on the internet trying to find people to connect with and it was just crickets,” Robins says. “There was nobody. Literally on the way to the race I looked at the start lists and saw non-binary and the 100-mile - one person. Then I looked at the 200-mile, the 350-mile, the 50-mile, and the 25-mile and there was nobody.”
Robins was the only entrant in the non-binary category.
Since the race, Robins has connected with other non-binary finishers who have ridden UNBOUND before and simply couldn’t figure out how to switch into the new non-binary category. “When I think about it from that perspective,” Robins says, “it's kind of funny how all of this literally hinges on the fact that I sent an email.”
Armed with the knowledge, and perhaps pressure, that they’re the only registered non-binary rider, all Robins had to do was make it to that finish line - which was not an easy feat when you’ve only been gravel biking for a year and have never ridden a distance greater than 62 miles.
Just Keep Pedaling
Robins began cycling in earnest in June 2020, about a year before the race. Most people who get into bike racing start as recreational cyclists and eventually think, “maybe one day I’ll do a race.” But for Robins, learning about UNBOUND was the catalyst to get them started with gravel biking in the first place.
Robins had an inkling that they wanted to buy a bike, but didn’t know what kind. “Through scouring the internet, I found UNBOUND and I thought, this looks amazing. This is what I want to do,” they say. “I'm going to get a gravel bike, I'm going to ride gravel in and around Austin, and I'm going to train for this race.”
Robins grew up in Kansas, which helped spark that initial interest in the race, and the rest is history. They got a Giant Revolt Advanced 2 carbon gravel bike, aptly named Andre the Giant 3000, and began to ride.
Fast forward to race day. Knowing they were the only rider in the non-binary category changed the way Robins approached the race in a big way. The race was almost twice as far as Robins had ever ridden in their life - a huge jump in not only distance but also elevation, intensity, and difficulty of terrain.
“I had done all of this work, internally and emotionally, to say I'm going to have fun - whatever happens happens,” Robins says. “Then I saw that I was the only one and I realized that it was really important to finish. It felt like it was something bigger than me - it was issues of representation and inclusion. Something could be done here If I were to finish.”
Robins jokes that the high point of the race was the start and the low point was the finish. “If you're slow like me, the start line is really the only place where you are with the entire group of people in the race,” they say. “There was so much energy and excitement. I'm a super extrovert, so having this opportunity to just chat and get to know people from all over the world was healing and fulfilling for me in a lot of ways.”
“Something could be done here If I were to finish.”
After a year of global stress and divisiveness, the real emotional high point for Robins was seeing how the entire community came out to support the race and all of its riders, regardless of their identity. Robins didn’t go more than five or six miles without seeing somebody on the side of the road with a sign, handing out drinks and cheering riders on. One particularly powerful moment came near the end of the race when Robins noticed an elderly woman in a rocking chair on her porch, waving and shaking a cowbell as cyclists went by.
“There were just tears in my eyes,” Robins says. “It was so sweet and so pure and so wholesome. Emporia is so classically rural America. This city is small and it faces a lot of the same challenges that small towns all across the United States face. That moment stood in defiance of all the stereotypes of that area.”
While any rider can appreciate being cheered on by all sorts of people when the pedaling gets tough, there’s an added element of power in those moments for queer people who often don’t know whether or not they’ll be accepted for who they are - especially in rural or conservative areas.
“Riding this race with the weight of being queer, trans and non-binary, and then having these experiences where strangers are giving me free cans of soda on the side of the road - that transcends the differences that we're experiencing,” Robins says.
The Impact of Inclusion
Robins has reflected a lot since the race on what it means to them to be able to compete in a race as their true self, and on how that has had a ripple effect far beyond their own life.
“Like so many things when you're queer or trans, you don't know it's an option to not struggle and fight and to not have this background noise of all the things we have to deal with constantly,” they say. “I'd entered a few races before and I checked the female box. It doesn't feel great, but I just try and put it out of my mind. I didn't realize what a weight that was until getting the opportunity to not have it. It's like swimming in water until you come up for air and you're like, ‘Oh, this is so much better.’”
For Robins, being explicitly welcomed and seen in this race that took place in the state where they grew up added an extra layer of healing. “I've spent countless hours driving through the Flint Hills,” they say. “To come back and show up as myself was really powerful. I don't know that I'd ever been myself in that state. I didn't have to be afraid. I didn't have to be closeted.”
Robins notes that for some people, that background noise and being forced to check a box that doesn’t apply can simply be too much. It can keep them from showing up and participating at all. “The space that a third category opens up for people is huge,” Robins says. “It's activism, in some sense, to create this space, especially in areas where that space was definitely not there before. I feel really appreciative that UNBOUND took this step to do this.”
People are definitely feeling inspired after hearing about Robins’ achievement. One person came out to their family after reading the article that VeloNews put out. Other people said they had no idea you could race as non-binary and that they’re definitely going to show up next year. A person in Austin was so inspired by Robins’ story that they asked one of their local races to create a non-binary category, and that request was honored right away. Clearly the ripple effect is out in full force.
Next year, Robins hopes to finish the 200-mile race - and they really, really don’t want to win again. “I don't want to be anywhere near the podium,” they say. “I want to be dead last in the non-binary category because it’s grown so much.”
The Future of Sport
A great step forward has certainly been taken by UNBOUND Gravel and hopefully more races and sporting events in the future. But there’s still a lot of work to be done. Trans women in particular face huge hurdles and injustices in the world of sport. Robins hopes that this is one small step toward reimagining the whole thing. “As a non-binary person, where do I show up in sports?” they ask. “If you're a non-binary kid, where do you show up in public school athletics?”
“Sport, while it involves our bodies, is not just about our bodies. I think there’s this real hunger for that kind of entertainment and participation.”
Robins does, however, see a hopeful trend in the cycling industry. “Yes, people are still really excited about the pointy end of the race when that first person crosses the finish line,” they say. “But there's this groundswell in cycling, especially around gravel, that says no, that's not the most interesting story coming out of these events.”
“Sport, while it involves our bodies, is not just about our bodies. I think there's this real hunger for that kind of entertainment and participation, because if sport is just about who can cross the finish line first, why show up? Something happens out on that course that anybody can experience, and that makes this event more interesting. That's more entertaining.”
Robins is proud of their ride and what they accomplished, while also noting that none of this really has to do with them. “It could have been anyone in that position,” they say. “Now I'm trying to use this momentum to make things better for our community so that more people feel like they can show up to these spaces. The more diverse a group is, the greater that group's intelligence in a myriad of ways. The bigger the pool is, the higher the performance in all aspects. We're stronger together.”
I’ll pedal to that! I’d like to extend a huge thanks to Abi for lending their time and thoughtful commentary on their experience as the first non-binary category finisher at UNBOUND Gravel.