Stan's Rolled Gold Sealant Review: Introduction

Stan's Rolled Gold is optimized for higher pressure set ups. 

Rolled Gold For Higher Pressure Tubeless Set-ups:

Today Stan's has introduced a new sealant for riders using higher pressure tubeless tires. Dubbed "Rolled Gold", it is designed to work between 35psi and 100psi. 

It also is designed to seal up to a 7.8mm hole at 100psi.  The sealant also allows you to use less sealant than the competing brand's sealant with Stan's claiming a 28mm tire will seal with as little as 35ml of sealant in the tire. Stan's claims this is 35% less than the average of the competition. 

What It Is:

Stan's Rolled Gold is a high-pressure use sealant which is a water based formula, using natural latex and optimized particle technology. Stan's natural, high-latex formula has improved adhesion to rubber and textile casings which make up bicycle tires. Stan's claims synthetic latex sealants cannot match Rolled Gold's abilities in this area. Furthermore; natural latex is not as brittle once a plug is formed in a tire compared to synthetic latex. This helps to insure a long-lasting repair. 

The high-particle formula also lends speed to the sealing process, in concert with the natural latex, this combination seals punctures more quickly. Both characteristics allow a rider to use less sealant in the tire. 

"Rolled Gold is a high-performance road and gravel sealant requiring less material to seal at a faster rate, making Rolled Gold the lightest, fastest sealant ever,” said Stan’s Mike Bush. “From our experience in this market and from listening to Stan’s riders, we realized we could deliver a superior product for road cyclists, that required less sealant –thus saving weight –yet with the same reliability as our Race Day product, plus you can inject this through the valve. So there are no sacrifices.”

Stan's Rolled Gold sealant is formulated, processed,and bottled in the USA by Stan's.

Prices:  500ml –$27.00 / €27.00 / £27.00125ml –$10.00 / €10.00 / £10.0060ml –$5.00 / €5.00 / £5.50

UPDATED 8/25/2026 @ 3:43 pm CST - 500ml – $29.50, 125ml – $11.00, 60ml – $5.50

How We Are Testing This Sealant: 

Since Stan's is pushing this more toward the road riding segment of riders, I have sent a bottle of this sealant over to N.Y. Roll who is using it on a wheel set with road tires. I will allow him to ride this sealant for a while, get his take on it, and report back. 

As for me, I decided to put Rolled Gold in some 45mm gravel tires and run those at 35psi -40psi. Admittedly, the lower end of the recommended range. 

I did use less sealant in my tires. A LOT less than I typically do. For instance, I would normally run around 100ml of sealant in a typical 700 x 45mm - 50mm gravel tire. I only used one 125ml bottle of Rolled Gold for both tires. So a little over half of what I'd normally use in each tire. 

I'll also admit that I rarely have a puncture here in Iowa. In fact, I do not expect to have one during my part of the test. However; N.Y. Roll is prone to having tubeless tire issues, so my hope is that he will have some valuable feedback on Rolled Gold in the near future. 

My aim is to see how long this sealant lasts compared to the competitor's products. This will take a while, so I do not expect to have any results until later on into the Fall of this year. Meanwhile, I do have some initial impressions to share. 

Impressions:

Rolled Gold is indeed less viscous than many other sealants, but not by a lot. I was able to pour it through a valve with the core removed, but this is not necessarily a rare thing. What I did notice was how fast Rolled Gold coagulates. While attempting to inject the sealant straight from the tip of the bottle, I allowed some air to be sucked backward into the bottle and the bottle's nipple was almost instantaneously blocked! 

I also noted the particle content was rather settled in the bottle and a vigorous shaking of this product is recommended before installing it in a tire. This is much like Stan's Race Day sealant in this manner, so if you've experienced this, you know what I am trying to convey here. I think a similar issue was experienced with WTB's most recent sealant as well. 

N.Y. Roll reported he felt the need to inject a bit more sealant in his tires after his first ride or so because he couldn't hear any sloshing of sealant after his initial installation.  Other than this, I haven't heard anything else from him so far. 

Okay, with that we will have a long wait until we get some miles on this product. Stay tuned for a final verdict in the Fall.  

Two Things

700c based Tumbeleweed Sunliner (Image courtesy of Tumbleweed Bicycles)

32" Done Right:

When the idea started looking real concerning 32" wheeled bicycles, I stated here what I thought should happen with this platform. Specifically with regard to wheel axle standards. 

I stated that SuperBoost rear and 150mm OLD front axles should be considered. Some agreed with the rear axle ideas, but most laughed at, or dismissed my thoughts on the front being 150mm wide. 

Well, I feel a little bit validated now due to what I saw and heard listening to the Bikepacking.com video from the MADE Show. (See the written page with the Sunliner 32"er HERE. Scroll WAY down the page!) NOTE - that link won't tell you about the axle spacing. It's only found in the video. 

Anyway, like Daniel from Tumbleweed says, this wider axle in front lends a ton of stability and precision in terms of handling, especially with a load. I experienced this when I transitioned from fat 26"er wheels to 29"er wheels in a fat bike. Those wheels were so much better than most 29"er wheels it was not even a discussion. 

Tumbleweeds are not cheap. But if I were to get a 32"er, the 32" Sunliner would top my list because of this design choice. That and it would make a killer flat bar gravel touring rig. I know someone who might just know about this. Maybe we need to talk....

2012 Salsa Cycles Titanium Warbird

The Evolution Of The Species:

This past weekend marked the anniversary of my trying out the first purposely designed bicycle for gravel racing, the Salsa Cycles Warbird. 

It was August 22nd 2012. I was at a Salsa Cycles demo in the Twin Cities. My test ride was on single track, so..... Not really representative of what I wanted to see in terms of what the bike was capable of, but it was a portent of how many would eventually see "gravel bikes". 

My test rides were on both the titanium and aluminum versions of the bike. Looking back, the original Warbird was analogous to what an "endurance road bike" is in 2026 terms. Maximum tire clearance was 38mm. (!!!) A far cry from the bikes labled "gravel" today which can swallow 29"er rubber with ease. 

It is notable to remember the context of those times though. First of all, it was 2012. The bike was developed over a period of two to three years, so the idea was hatched somewhere around 2008 -2009. Think about this: Gravel racing was a very niche sport. Obviously Salsa Cycles saw the potential for gravel racing to become something more significant, so this bicycle came into existence, but from a lens of nearly twenty years ago, it was a big gamble. 

What was, perhaps, a bit of a saving grace to making this decision was that a Warbird could just as easily have been a cyclo- cross bike, making the "excuse" to buy one a little easier to swallow, perhaps. But this is just my feeling from my recollections of those days. 

Another point: There were no tires for gravel in 2008. Getting Clement ( which became Donnelly after a few years) to jump in with the MSO tire was key to getting the Warbird off the ground, (no pun intended). Remember folks: Tires drive market trends. You can make a "gravel bike", but if Salsa had been stuck putting touring tires in this bike it would have been a big fail. 

Now we have gravel aero bikes, 2.2" wide tires, and carbon everything. But wait! Now there are 32" wheels! (Monster Gravel, right "Bike Rumor? You saw that here first.) So the breed evolves yet again. 

One could say much of this is being perpetuated to keep Gravel™ afloat as a driver in the market. Perhaps this theory has some merit. But I'll say it again: The bicycle industry cannot help itself. Everything it does gravitates toward racing, top level competition, and technical innovations for the sake of technical innovations. It is painfully obvious that the vast majority of cyclists are expected to hang on to where the industry goes or risk getting spat out the back, (shamed), so.....get on board with the latest! 

Or just 'eff it all' and ride for fun. 

Where will it evolve from here? 

The consumer will decide. 

NOTE: Tomorrows post  won't publish until 7:00am CST due to an embargo. 

Country Views: Summer Fading Away

Escape Route: I went around this road closed sign to...

Late August is when I deem Summer to be over. It kind of coincided with Gravel Worlds, but now that I don't go there anymore, it has settled on August 20th or so for me. 

That's when the Sun starts setting before 8:00pm here. The Sun is noticeably lower in the sky as well. We lose a ton of daylight time in August, and soon nights will be longer than the days again. 

Nature points out this Summertime fade away also. The song birds start disappearing. Gone away for the Winter already. The corn starts drying out. More brown things start appearing in the ditches. Life seems to be fading away like the Sunlight during the days of late August. 

The countryside rings with the sounds of insects. The "neek-breek! neek-breek!" never ends. Only the wind can drown it out, but August is usually calm, so it typically is noisy out there. 

The bridge on Hoff Road is being.....replaced? I hope so. 

I decided to use the 4Runner to haul my Singular Cycles Peregrine Mk4 to Prairie Grove Park and start off from there. It eliminates a bunch of city riding that sometimes I'd rather not do and it saves time, of course.

I'd thought to run down Hoff Road, as I am wont to do, but when I reached the corner to turn right onto gravel I saw a "Road Closed" sign. "Oh oh!",  I thought to myself, "I wonder if the bridge is out?" I figured I would run down and see what was up. And obviously, you see above what I found. 

A wee bit of pavement later and.....

....all was right with the world again.

No problem! I was willing to backtrack. However; I saw how the bridge crew had laid a steel beam on its side across the creek. Tempting.... I also looked at the shallow water, and again, I was tempted. But why risk turning an ankle and getting muddy shoes just to cross the creek? It wasn't necessary. So, I went around. Besides, it gave me bonus miles!

Looking South down Ansborough

The roads were a mixed bag. It was obvious the County laid down fresh gravel immediately after the rains quit last weekend. There were some patches of road which hadn't received fresh gravel and these were hard and fast dirt, for the most part. But those were rare. 

At least the car traffic in this area is high enough that it pushed aside the gravel to create some good lines. It was dusty though. More so than I expected. The rare car which passed me really was kicking up a cloud! 

Dust or no, it was great to be back out in the country once again. For the better part of the two weeks prior it simply was not a good idea to ride out there. Either it was blazing hot and humid, or it was raining, with thunder and lightning. So, this stellar weather was welcomed with open arms.

Rural traffic can look pretty alien at times. 

August riding is always very different than it is at any other time of the year. I learned just the other day that it is the least windy month of the year here. That tracks, actually, and it adds to the serenity one can find out in the country at this time. 

It feels different because of the way the light hits as well, which is unique to August. Not so low in the sky that it blinds you, but not so high that it washes out the shadows which lend contrast to the scenery. The massive puffy clouds on the day didn't hurt in this regard either. 

All in all, one of the best days outside in 2026 so far. Hope to repeat that again. 

Deconstruction: Part 2

Progress has been made on the wheel project. I managed to get both Surly Extraterrestrials off the Duster rims, remove both TLR rim strips, and then deconstruct the wheels. 

Now that the rims are freed up, I can measure them, measure the hubs, and calculate the spoke lengths. The spokes which came out of the old wheels are actually not bad. I may employ some of them if the measurements agree. 

The rims are in great shape. No dings or big scratches. I do still plan on de-stickering them. I will be ultra-careful with those two TLR rim strips. They are a little delicate along their edges. Fortunately both look reasonably good and reusable. 

That was the big hurdle to get over. Especially removing those tires. That was quite the chore! Once I got past the removing of the tires things went a lot more quickly. 

I'm not sure when I will get to the construction phase at this time. I have to measure everything and figure out spoke lengths. Then I'll have to see what I have in reserve for spokes and decide if I am ordering spokes or not. If an order is necessary, (and I am betting it will be necessary), this will take a bit longer and I may not get the wheels built until later in September. 

But whatever. The deconstruction phase is over. Time to move on. 
 

Friday News And Views

 White Industries Introduces Limited Desert Sage Color On Components:

On Tuesday of this week, White Industries released news concerning a limited run of Desert Sage components. This hue is a Cerakote finish, not an anodization, and a finish which White Industries claims is resistant to scratches, stains, and heavy usage. 

Available on select White Industries components for a limited time only. Once the stock is gone, this color will not be offered again.  

For details see White Industries website.  

Comments: An interesting choice for a limited run. I tried wrapping my head around this color, but I am torn as to what I'd do with a head set, crank set, or hubs in a color which, for me, is akin to dried cow droppings. Maybe if I had a dark matte red frame, or an egg plant colored frame. I guess maybe it would work on my pink BMC, or an orange frame. 

Anyway, it is a curious hue to offer, and a weird enough color that - on the right build - could be outstanding.  

Image courtesy of English Cycles

MADE Show This Weekend:

The handmade bicycle show is an idea which has always drawn plenty of attention. It used to be the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, but that show faded away. Now days the show which essentially is the same thing as the old NAHBS is called MADE and is held in Portland, Oregon every year. 

Thanks to the wonderful immediacy of the innergoogles, one doesn't have to attend the show, or wait very long for imagery to pop up concerning the show. NAHBS moved around the country and provided regional access to seeing these creations with your own eyes, but these days I guess this doesn't matter. 

Anyway, guess what everyone is saying the "big deal" will be for this year? You guessed it, I bet. Thirty-Two inch wheeled bicycles. 

I wouldn't be surprised if those bikes garner a lot of attention, but I'll bet other wheel sizes will be shown with equally as cool frames and forks. What the "trends" will be is anyone's guess. 

Notable: A recent Facebook post by NAHBS founder, Don Walker, indicates that 2027 will see the return of NAHBS as the NAHBS Reunion & Invitationsl. The date is set for August 6-8, 2027 at the Palmer Events Center in Austin, Texas. Stay tuned for more details in the future.  

Image courtesy of Mosaic Cycles

Mosaic Offers Production Spec 32"er:

Mosaic Cycles, a custom and boutique brand based in Boulder, Colrado, announced on Tuesday of this week that it now offers a "Batch Built" 32 inch wheeled drop bar bike. 

Dubbed the GT-1 i55 32", this model will be built from double-butted titanium and features completely internal routing. A 1X only design, this bike will clear 32" x 55mm tires. 

Using a T-47 bottom bracket and Mosaic's own 32" specific carbon fork, this model was conceived from the ground-up as a 32" wheeled bike. The wheel spec is 110F 148R, which seems to be the direction 32" bikes will take for the time being in terms of axle spacing.  

For more details see Mosaic's page for this bike HERE.  

Comments: I imagine this is not a moderately priced bicycle, but besides this, it seems to be the direction many custom builders are taking with what is being shaped as 32" wheeled "monster-gravel". The lack of narrower tires in this category kind of forces this trend, in my opinion. Not that anyone is upset about it, but one has to wonder if there were a few choices in 32" x 45mm tires if axle standards and geometry would be a bit different than what we are seeing.  

Image courtesy of Industry Nine

As Long As We Are Talking 32"ers....

Industry Nine took the covers off a new offering they have dubbed "Hush 32 Carbon". Obviously the "carbon" bit is the rims. Otherwise this is a classic I-9 wheel set with their patented alloy spokes and alloy hubs available in several anodized colors. 

The wheels are available now and run $2,199.00. USD. 

Comments: What is weird about this wheel set, to my way of thinking, is the low spoke count. Twenty-four spokes seems like a bit on the edge for lateral wheel stiffness in a 32" hoop. 

Industry Nine makes a nice riding wheel though. I've tested several sets and I own a really old set of I-9's. The alloy spokes may seem weird but they work. So, I'd have a fair amount of confidence in these it's just that the 24 spoke count gives me pause. 

Interesting to see these debut now. I would not be at all surprised to see these wheels featured on something at the MADE Show this weekend.  

Keepin' The Wheel Theme Rollin'....

This week also saw the release ofthe 700c based  BERD Sparrow carbon wheels. These wheels use the fiber spokes by BERD and are laced to your choice of hubs listed on the Sparrow webpage. 

Using BERD's own Talon hubs, a ring drive/ratchet  style hub, the BERD spokes, and the new 50mm deep/30mm wide/25mm internal width carbon rims, you can realize a very light overall wheel weight. With tape and tubeless valves installed BERD claims the Sparrow wheel set weighs 1,068 grams. 

These wheels are pretty reasonably priced at $2.195.00 USD. 

Apparently BERD is also offering this model in a 32" size.  

Comments: N.Y. Roll actually saw a set of these being raced this past weekend at CORE4. The wheels also have been claimed to be good for rider comfort, and last weekend's event probably put that claim to the test. 

I can vouch for the way BERD spokes reduce vibrations, though. I have a set of wheels from 2020 which have I-9 hubs, BERD spokes, and Atomik carbon rims. There is something to the vibration reduction claims. 

Image courtesy of SILCA

 SILCA Offers Gravel Tire Range:

 SILCA announced on Thursday it now has tires for sale. A range dubbed "Protocol" contains one road tire model and three gravel tires. 

These tires all use premium materials, some in new ways, to provide claims of low weight, puncture resistance, and low rolling resistance. 

Offered in black wall only with 45mm, 50mm, and 55mm widths in a range which is defined by a numerical rating. The Protocol RG-1, (shown here) is the all-out race tire with minimalist tread. There is no RG-2 (curiously), so the next one in the range is RG-3 which is meant for all around-conditions gravel. The RG-4 is a deeper tread pattern meant for wet/mud or rougher terrains. 

There is even a 32" offering in the RG-3 HERE.  

All Protocol tires are selling now on SILCA's site and cost $99.00 each.  

You can see the entire range on this page.  Check out the very informative explainer video HERE. 

Comments: That explainer video is well worth your time. I guarantee you will learn something about tires from it. Josh, (SILCA head honcho) says they use a carbon fiber bead, and says they are making this tire the way they do "..because no one else is doing it." While this seems to be his messaging, I disagree with it. Maxxis has used a carbon fiber bead in some of its road and gravel tires for several years. So, this seems to be a bit of marketing-speak from SILCA on this point. 

But the other data and evidence Josh speaks about in the video seems compelling. Well.....maybe not a hundred bucks a tire compelling, but I am not racing, so I am not the core audience for these tires. Racing is expensive, and these tires prove it. 

I do like the "pseudo-radial" technology and the carbon fiber bead makes a ton of sense. Maybe some more moderately priced tires will eventually pick up on some of this new tech and become available in the near future. 

Winner, Winner....

No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is N.Y. Roll on the podium at CORE4 which occurred just this past weekend. 

Despite the rains all last week, despite the course changes, and despite the chance the event conditions would be poor, N.Y. Roll showed up and finished the course. Because he did all of that, and was the only one in his category to do so, he won. 

This kind of goes back to what I used to say about all the gravel riders in the earlier days of gravel riding. They showed up? They won. If they tried and couldn't finish? They won. If they finished, but were at the front, middle, or the back? They won. 

Anyway.... Check out N.Y. Roll's conversation with me concerning his day and a whole bunch of other stuff HERE on the latest episode of The Guitar Ted Podcast. 

And that wraps up another week here at Guitar Ted Productions! Thanks for reading. Now get out there and ride your bicycle!

Remembering A Big Accomplishment

 The Backstory and a History Lesson:

Ever since a bunch of gravel riding freaks from Lincoln, Nebraska showed up at Trans Iowa v2 I have had a deep admiration for those folks who supported me and my event. This marked the beginning of what would become several relationships with folks from Nebraska and an event or two as well. 

The first of those events was the Good Life Gravel Adventure. Early in the days when gravel events were being thought up, (this would have been from 2005 -2010), anyone who was connected to an event was eager and willing to help out anyone else setting up an event. This was manifested in how event promoters attended and rode in each others events. 

We Trans Iowa folk heard about the Good Life Gravel Adventure in 2008. In fact, we knew there was going to be something big happening in Nebraska for a couple of years. We were definitely keen on helping out if asked. My co-director at that time in Trans Iowa, David Pals, and I decided one of us should go to the event. David was the one who attended the first GLGA and he came away from it insisting I needed to go in 2009. 

I did that and had an awesome time. Although I fell asleep three times on the bike and ended up calling it a day 35 miles from the finish. Thus started my quest to overcome the challenge which became Gravel Worlds in 2010. 

I went to the first Gravel Worlds and I ended up getting carted back to the finish by CVO, the legendary figure whose patch you may have seen on Pirate Cycling League gear. (R.I.P.) And a couple more tries ended similarly before I took a hiatus from going to Lincoln for a few years. 

My friend, Tony McGrane, (L) and I at the start line

 The 2016 Gravel Worlds:

Then in 2015 I returned to doing events like the Dirty Kanza 200, Odin's Revenge, and Gravel Worlds. No love for me in 2015, and so in 2016, I went in to Gravel Worlds with more of a set plan, some newer ideas, and an old bike which I knew like the back of my hand. 

By this point I had hooked up with Tony McGrane, a local firefighter, (just recently retired, by the way), and he and I would travel to Kansas and Nebraska for these long, ultra-distance gravel adventures. This brings me to Gravel Worlds 2016, which occurred ten years ago on this very date. 

I know this may seem like an outlandish take to some, but gravel events had grown tremendously by 2016. Gravel was now mainstream. Yes.....in 2016. 

Anyway, we were all ready to go and ride the 145 mile course set up by Cornbread and Schmidty.  This year we were going anti-clockwise around Lincoln. At the sign-in gathering at Cycleworks the evening before, Nebraskan Kevin Fox, who took the start line image shown above, told me I could have his number to call in case I needed a bail-out, but also he strictly told me NOT to use it because he said, "You aren't going to need it this year." 

I liked the thought, but I also knew this event, and most longer gravel events I tried, were extremely difficult for me to finish. In fact, I had never finished an organized gravel event over 100 miles. (Unless you count my Death Rides, but those were free, no-drop group rides). I had ridden 160+ miles at the Dirty Kanza in 2015, which was my longest single ride attempt at an event. 

Off and rolling at the 2016 Gravel Worlds

I had also done over 160 miles riding a single speed on my first Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational, so I believed I had "it" in me to do Gravel Worlds, I just needed everything to fall into place. The weather, the nutrition, my body, mind, and bike. If I was going to make this ride work, I knew it all had to come together in harmony. One thing out of place and I would find myself in a ditch using that number Kevin gave me, despite his admonition not to use it. 

The roads were difficult to ride because the gravel was loose and sandy.

I had a plan. I had specific nutrition which I had been advised to try by a blog reader here, and in fact, this reader sent me a sample to try out before Gravel Worlds. Dried bananas from Trader Joes was the tip. It seemed to sit with me quite well, so I ordered some off the internet and had this with me for on-the bike nutrition. I had specific pacing ideas, I had clothing chosen specifically to aid in dealing with the typically hot, humid August weather in Lincoln. I had cue sheets for navigation. I had my friend Tony McGrane rooting for me. And now I had Kevin Fox's prophetic blessing as well. But would it all be enough? 

There were plastic pirate figures being handed out at a checkpoint. I picked one up and had some fun with it. 

At an optional "oasis stop", around Mile 40, I picked up a little plastic figurine they had and were handing out to riders. These were all pirate themed figures. I chose a black, swashbuckling figure I dubbed "Blackbeard Micro-Pirate". I drug it out at the stops I made and did some goofy imagery for the blog report I was going to post afterward. Oddly enough, it helped take my mind off things and lowered my anxiety about finishing.But I still had a long way to go. 

It was somewhere between Malcom, Nebraska and Valparaiso, Nebraska that I hit the wall. It was around Mile 100, where I generally always started to fade away in these events. It was very hot by this point. It was very hilly. I was slowing down some. Doubt crept into my mind. Was I running out of gas? 

Just about this time I ran across a small group of riders gathered around a pick-up truck with some woman and her kids who were handing out sodas to hot, tired riders. A "Trail Angel", as they were known by us gravel riders there. Not "sanctioned" by the event, but allowed support from a local. The truck was at the top of a steep climb. I was going to keep going, but decided to pull over at the last minute. Then I saw him. 

It was Tony! He looked me up and down and asked me how I was feeling. I told him I felt okay, I had stopped for a nature break, and I was going a bit slower. He stared me in the eyes and said "Good!". 

Somehow I knew right here we were going to finish. 

Tony McGrane leading me to the finsih line of the 2016 Gravel Worlds

The next town up the road was Valparaiso and a convenience store stop. I got a Coca Cola and this fired me up pretty good for the last 35 miles.We had one more checkpoint at Otto Pond farm to go through. The afternoon was wearing on. The Sun was unrelenting as were the hills. "How did Schmidty find all these hills?", I kept asking myself as I geared down for another long climb. 

The Checkpoint was passed. Now we had approximately 20 miles to finish this thing off. There was a minimum maintenance road in this section where Tony dumped his bike in a big mud puddle, but even this did not deter us. 

Then Kevin Fox appeared and he took some images of us as we pushed up hills and coasted down the back sides of them. (Note: The header on the blog this week is from Kevin Fox and shows this section) He left us off with an encouragement and a promise to see us soon at the finish line.  

Those last ten miles seemed to take forever; but we persevered, and eventually Schillingbridge Tap House came into view.......

Tony told me recently this is his favorite cycling image ever.

 And Kevin did see us there at the finish. In fact, he took the above image. Documenting the one and only time I have finished an ultra-distance gravel event. I'm really grateful he was there to take that image. Especially now since I just do not ever see myself going to another Gravel Worlds. 

We wanted to "beat the Sun", which was a bit of self-motivation we borrowed from the DK200. Tony came up with the idea. And we did beat the Sunset by 23 minutes. So, another little accomplishment there which, doesn't mean anything other than to myself and Tony. 

Epilogue:  

The recent Ride For Jacob brought Kevin Fox, Tony McGrane, and I back together again. We chatted a bit about that weekend on the old deck of the bridge across the West Fork of the Cedar River. Kevin reminded me about not using the bail-out number he gave me that day. Kevin looked at me and with a smile said, "....and you didn't need it. I knew you wouldn't." 

I wish I had been so confident, but I guess it goes to show you that when certain people are in your corner, it can really make the difference between success and failure. Thanks to Tony and Kevin, I found success for once on a long gravel course.  

A Dry Spell, You Say?

 This has been a crazy August so far. Ever since we have put the Ride For Jacob behind us it has either been so hot it was not a good decision to ride out in the country, or it was raining. 

I was talking with N.Y. Roll the other day and we were trying to think if there was a dry day last week. We couldn't come up with anything. Sunday it did not rain, Saturday it also did not rain, but it was so humid everything stayed wet. And well......it was misty. Does that count?

So now we are coming out of this rainy pattern, finally, although it rained again this morning here briefly. The thing is, I just need it to quit, especially on days I have open to ride. I've got a lot of things I'm behind on, and Fall is coming quickly.  

Here's hoping the weather has been better wherever you live. I know, things could be far worse. Excessive rain is one thing, hurricanes and record shattering flooding is quite another. So, I know..... I'm doing well and I'm grateful, it is just hard on a person who lives to ride to not to be able to do so. Weather issues? This will pass. 

Some folks are facing far greater issues. Shout out to my brother MG. I'm praying for ya, Brother. And I know there are others facing big hurdles to riding as well. 

Keep moving forward.