Migrating West

Great to get back to riding the skinny tires... North of Jenner, CA.

Mary and I felt rested up and ready to go after a nice  stint of quiet island life while at home on the Vineyard.  We took the dawn patrol flight to Boston - a rare treat for us to get on a 12 seat plane and fly direct from the island.   We took off into a clear golden morning with the sun highlighting the late deep brown of the fall leaves as we flew over the Cape and Islands.  The blustery wind rocked the small plane and heightened the sense of vulnerability that is always present at the start of any trip, especially in leaving the shelter of our cozy home.  Its easier to leave knowing that the incredibly warm fall we enjoyed was in fact pretty unusual and likely not going to stick around much longer.   

  

Pretty exciting experience to ride in such a small plane!

We arrived to SFO, took the air porter north to Santa Rosa then cabbed our way to the final leg to our storage unit, arriving just moments before the place shut down for the night.   Here we broke the seal on our west coast storage unit and held our breath as I hooked up the battery on our "trusty" van.  We were both relieved if not a bit surprised that there was still air in all 4 tires and felt especially happy that it started on the first try... and we were mobile!  

HWY 1 along the Sonoma Coast.

The pile of equipment and tools of the trade that we left in our wake when setting off on our last journey that started from this area last March had collected a layer of dust but was still waiting patiently.  The collective grime of the past 7+ months was apparent but nothing that could not be remedied with the last remaining minutes of daylight as well as a good chunk of quarters at the local car wash.   We were happy to arrive into our somewhat haphazard but carefully selected and laid out storage unit compete with updated registration on the van so we could be quickly off and rolling with the surf, ski, and bike equipment to be set up right for this next segment of charging and training on the west coast.

Team KENDA/Stan's NoTubes preparing for the mountain bike season

Mike reconnecting with the Pacific

Without time to properly settle in and still conveniently living out of our bags, Mary and I headed down to San Francisco to take part in the Clif Bar Athlete Summit.   The Summit turned out to be a intense, fun and inspiring 2 day meeting of 30 or so of the most incredible people typically charged with outlining the definition of the extreme activities that they take part in.  We met Skiers, climbers, snowboarders, surfers, cyclists, and runners that are legends in their respective sports who are exploring, pushing boundaries and documenting to collectively inspire millions to reach for the level that they helped to define. 

Ddedicated to Clif Bar!!!

The Clif Bar marketing Team organized a fantastic few days which turned out to be a productive and FUN meeting of minds.  We got to visit the Headquarters where we had the chance to give feedback, collaborate, and be reminded of this company's great mission.  We really enjoyed catching up with owners and visionaries, Gary and Kit, and the many cool folks that work so hard to make this such a rad company.  Whether we were discussing upper level nutrition and how it correlates to the varied aspects and needs of our sports, or competing in an all day scavenger hunt with the athletes and marketing staff… the party was rocking and we were in good company!

Mary and Chloe Woodruff create their own CLif Bar - Their "Beet Bliss" made top 5 finalist.

Hilarious Scavenger hunting with my team : Jeremy Jones, Tom Soladay, Me and Chris Sharma.

Mary and I came away from the experience motivated to charge and keep doing our best to promote this amazing sport.  It's time to put in some big miles to prepare for the race season and we are glad that our training now includes a variety of physical activities to strengthen and balance the bodies out.  We are excited to snowboard, ski, surf, climb, and ride in new places with inspiring friends.  However we will probably leave the winged suit flying to the real professionals, at least for now. 

Mary and I are super grateful for the opportunity to be out here in California and to be surrounded by an amazing community of athletes, chargers and straight up inspirational folks!  

Hope you are getting after your next mission as well! 

Ride safe and have a Wonderful Thanksgiving!

Mike and Mary

Stopping to appreciate the Giant Redwoods.

Share this post