How hard (based on IF) are average fit individuals riding the 200 vs age group competitive individuals? For context I did my first gravel race recently (a little under 5 hours) with an IF of .70 and I’m wondering how that compares. Thanks for the input.
I did .73 IF last year and .71 in 2021.
One year I was messed up for a week after the race and one I drove home fine the next day. Both races I was at the pointy end of the race, one year with pros and one year with slow people.
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I’ll add that there is a big difference between a 5 hour race and a 11-14 hour race. If you did .70 for a 5 hour race, you should plan on something closer to the low .6’s for Unbound (assuming the same fitness level).
In addition, how you arrive at your final IF also makes a difference. I ended up similar to ABG in terms of IF last year, but was at .82 through the first 3 hours of the race and in the high .6’s for the remainder of the race.
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.72 for me last year in the 200 with really good legs that day. But it really depends on how you approach the race and what your training is like heading into it. If you pace it steady and really train your endurance, an IF in the 70’s should be possible.
All that said, for most gravel races it can be faster overall to push hard early (without going too deep) and get in good groups and then let the power fade as things settle in. I was .8 IF for the first half of the race last year and power dropped from there. But going out too hard can also make for a really bad day if you overstep your fitness. I blew up a bit in the heat of the day, but finished reasonably strong and got a solid result. I questioned the pacing approach a bit after the race, but I’m convinced it was the right strategy after I saw that pretty much every male podium winner used the same approach. So, I plan to be racing hard from the start again this year.
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Here is another data point. In 23’ I did Unbound 200 with an IF of 0.77. Avg Power was 205, Normalized Power was 235. I weighed 71kgs. 9300 KJs, 755 TSS. Avg HR was 141 (threhold is 168 for me).
To compare:
BWR Arizona was a bit over 5 hours. IF was 0.82. Avg Power was 213 and NP was 251. 4400 KJs. No HR data 
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Gravel race of 6 hours 0.77 but probbaly could have gone 0.8.
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Kinda have to look at VI too, but I think for 200 miles targeting around ~.70 is pretty common. But I’d say this with a caveat that your TTE at FTP should be closer to an hour than 30 minutes if you are pacing on IF.
For me, doing some long training rides and long sweet spot really helped me feel this out.
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