BaseCamper Jaime Baeza shared her experience on a one-of-a-kind bike trip with friends.
“The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.” - Jack London
Even though I don’t get to go to Idaho this year, I had an amazing adventure. My friends and I traveled a total of 550 miles by train, bike, and ferry. 109 miles total under our own power, and I saw places my eyes had yet to see.
For the logistics nerd like me: Day 1 was a 4am wake up to get dropped at the train station the next city over. 🚉 Hanford, CA to Martinez. Ride 34 miles to Napa. Day 2, 45 headwind heavy, hilly miles from Napa through Sonoma, Petaluma, to Novato. Day 3, 30 miles from Novato, through San Rafael, Sausalito, over the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco. In San Rafael we got to visit the original Trips for Kids founding chapter and re-cyclery - of which my husband and I are co-directors and founders of our local chapter. I've always wanted to visit but had never been north of the bay until now. So cool! We took the ferry from SF to Jack London Square in Oakland and visited the First and Last Chance Saloon, founded in 1883, before catching our return train south.
When I struggled on the 12% climbs with my added gear weight, I told myself, "THIS is your RPI this year, keep going! Give more!" I am so thankful that we train to use different cadences, because boy did I use them! What an unforgettable experience!
