Pro gravel cyclist Chase Wark joins me today to talk about setting the fastest known time on the 300-mile Mega Mid South gravel loop after wildfires devastated the Stillwater, Oklahoma area and cancelled the Mid South gravel race. Find Chase @chasethebiker on Instagram. 

I wrote a story with my thoughts and reflections on the interview you’ll hear today on my substack. Find that at https://alwaysthehardway.substack.com/. That link is in the show notes & you can also find it in my bio @hardwaypod on Instagram. 

The #1 thing you can do to support this show is to subscribe to my substack and if you’d like me to write and drop pods more frequently, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. It takes a lot of time to produce these and your support helps make it happen. 

I’ll be dropping part 2 of this interview soon where Chase and I do a deep dive on life, bikes and family. 

After an extensive search for the perfect bike partner, I’m excited to announce that Lauf has joined the Choose the Hard Way family. Lauf makes the coolest road and gravel bikes known to humankind and for 2025 I’m riding the Uthlad all road bike and Seigla gravel bike with the Grit suspension fork. Find them @laufcycles on Instagram. 

 Lauf is the Apple of bike design and they make elegant products that just work better than everything else. Follow my subtack and @hardwaypod on instagram to meet up with me at gravel events like Overland and to see what adventures I tackle on my Lauf bikes in 2025. Check them out at www.laufcycles.com. 

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Follow @hardwaypod on Instagram to get a look behind the scenes at what goes into the Choose the Hard Way podcast and substack and more.