With most people arriving by plane from places near and very far, we decided it would be easiest to just gear up and leave directly from the airport.
Riding out through the urban spaces on bike paths and neighborhood trails, that ended up on windy, steep mountain roads. Gathering our breath at vistas overlooking Silicon Valley, it felt great to see how a couple hours on a bike allowed us to escape the mass of technology and be somewhere that felt so remote.
Once we arrived at the secret Blackburn Ranger training camp, we were greeted with a hot meal cooked over the fire and delicious libations, which were exactly the images dancing through our heads on the climb. Friendly, embarrassing and scary stories were told around the campfire … strangers turning into friends.