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Bike Trip gone bad…then good

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First, a major disclosure – this is not "work" related, thus the tag "Life". As many people know, when I'm not at work or spending time with the family, I'm an avid outdoor type – triathlons (mostly long and ultra distance), road biking, mountain biking, trail running, etc. In the pre-dawn hours you can usually find me in one of three places:

  • CrossFit – Monday, Wednesday for weight lifting and really, really intense cardio
  • ProClub – Tuesday, Friday and Saturday for swimming, spin class, running, weights
  • Pounding the pavement – Thursdays and some mornings before CrossFit or the ProClub either running or biking

I took last week off (kid's spring break) and spent the week in the San Francisco area to see family and friends and get some bike riding done. It's still pretty cool / wet in Seattle so I was looking forward to 70 degrees and sunshine. I packed up my Trek 9.8 mountain bike and my Trek 5900 road bike and headed south. Somewhere in the Red Bluff California area while in line at a drive through, someone pulled the pin from my trailer hitch which was carrying the bikes. Needless to say, as soon as I hit the first bump on I-5, they became part of the scenery. Fortunately, my insurance company, USAA, lived up to their billing as the number one company for customer service. They are covering the loss – I can't thank them enough!

Also, big thanks to the guys at Summit Bicycles in San Rafael who set me up with a great rental for the week and showed me tons of places to ride. Mount Tam lived up to its billing as a great place to ride during the week when the crowds are low – recommend Eldridge Grade to the East Peak. I also discovered the China Camp area – definitely recommend going all the way to the top – where the former Nike Radar site is. You'll go from zero to a thousand feet fairly quickly.