She must have been really ‘off’. She seemed to be in the mix early. I hope she’s ok a Pod soon to debrief it.
She might have given him her second wheel that was not broken.
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He smashed his rear wheel on the descent and when they crossed paths (her headed up, him down on broken rim) she stopped, gave him her rear wheel, put his smashed one on, and walked back down to catch a ride.
That’s at least my understanding having seen the two of them on my way up Columbine and overhearing conversation, seeing her on my way down, and post race info.
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But If I understand correctly, she already decided to give up before that because she had some other problems…
From what I have read, she was having a bad day and so decided to give her wheel to RF…AFAIK, there was no other mechanical problem.
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I don’t think he is moping. Something happened that isn’t being told.
He has stated multiple times he was never going to be in contention because of his new kids and lack of training.
I’m annoyed with Payson. He happened to get second by sucking Keegan’s wheel and then went out and aired all his drama. The way he did it was immature, pretty pathetic, and indirect (Instagram Stories) . “Mountain Bikers are different then road riders. Mountain Bikers never give up!” Please bro! You followed a wheel. Can’t count the time this guy complains about a mechanical issue or a runny nose as factor in why he couldn’t perform in a given event.
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- If true, it makes the whining even more odd and apparently childish IMO. If he wasn’t aiming for top steps on the podium, why bitch about how the race went?
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It’s not anyone person. All these gravel bros move the goal post rules to justify their win.
It’s all just bullshit drama from a bunch of red shirt riders who come from different disciplines.
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When Stetina first posted about an incident that happened which put him out of the race I thought something physical. Then Keegan and Payson came out with something different. It all seems a bit strange and as if the math doesn’t add up. I didn’t like how Stetina dropped a tidbit and said he would talk more in depth at a later date. Say what you gotta say!
I wasn’t there, so what do I know. I just can’t stand when athletes starting throwing jabs at one another. Seems very childish and in this case very childish on both sides.
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I didn’t say it was “any one” rider doing it…clearly multiple riders are.
I just was pointing to the irony of a relatively-new-to-gravel rider acting like he is the gatekeeper for the “spirit of gravel”.
I also find his comments somewhat confusing…by all accounts, he told Keegan and Payson “race is over, boys…don’t bother chasing”. But then he gets upset when Keegan and Payson say “wanna bet?” and proceed to chase down the break.
He basically called it quits on the race already, so why is he upset that others didn’t?
ETA - PS had a blog entry now up on VN where he walks back much if his criticism (and denies saying he told others the race was over).
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If your main income stream is social media, you will inevitably look hypocritical. It’s the trade off (or sell out depending on perspective) - put out an image that sits well with advertisers but has nothing to do with who you actually are and you will eventually lose credibility with some contradictory behavior. Such as complaining about race tactics after insisting you love the open spirit of gravel.
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Obviously, I’m in the same boat here, but my read on it was Stetina wasn’t happy about how the race played out (or his tumbling status in Gravel 
) and started with sideways/veiled attacks. In the end it appeared Keegan’s response was to just lay out what happened.
The racing was obviously negative prior to the water stop when the lead was growing, it was noted by the people watching/providing updates .
The difference between hypocrisy and an changing mindset due to circumstances can be a pretty damn thin line sometimes…
Personally, I don’t have an issue with Payson’s stances…
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Sofia just posted in IG that she bailed on SBT because she was sick…and it clearly was impacting her on Saturday.
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Yeah, I’m slowly getting turned off by Payson. I enjoyed his podcast a few years ago, and there are still some nuggets but less than previously.
And I feel he spends a lot of his time just having a whine before and after the actual interview. Plus the constant shilling for Hammerhead. I understand he’s sponsored and has to provide value for them but when’s talking about “all the features that other head units don’t have” - but they do… And the “amazing battery life” which is significantly less than Garmin or Wahoo.
If you’re going to talk about how something is better than something else, at least pick things that are true.
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Behind a paywall 
They must have changed it because he said VN agreed to take it out in front of the paywall and it wasn’t when I read it.
reader view solves that issue for any VN story
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I’ve been close to making the front group in some of these races, and I’ve always been worried that someone will yell at me for skipping the wrong aid station. Why is it okay to ride through the first three aid stations, but not the fourth? Fortunately at Unbound 100, nobody seemed to care that I skipped all the stops in order to make the front group.
Also, isn’t “negative” racing just racing? As long as someone is being safe, isn’t their race plan and execution up to them? Why complain about how riders (who are not on your team) are riding? In my experience, HANGING ONTO THE GROUP FOR DEAR LIFE looks a lot like blocking because you’re constantly just following wheels and never sticking your nose in the wind. I can see how the stronger riders in a group can feel like there is blocking or “negative racing” going on, but isn’t that part of the game?
Don’t these pros have some rational outsider review their posts before they put emotional, potentially career damaging posts on social media? This should be privateer rule #1. We can all make those mistakes, though, so let’s try to have some compassion for post-race comments. With as small as this niche sport is, not supporting, or alienating yourself from any part of such a small community seems unwise.
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I assumed negative racing in this context was trying to slow the group from the front, rather than not assisting the chase. That’s just a wild ass guess based on the comments from all involved and the fact that the gap was growing. Keegan and Brennan etc have raced plenty of races where they haven’t seemed too perturbed by people sitting on, knowing they’ll eventually go pop I guess.
Just my 2c.