Seth Beiden is the best. He’s one of those friends you can’t get enough of and unfortunately you never do. Sure, he’s in marketing and part of his job is to be positive and enthusiastic, but you get the distinct impression he didn’t train to be the life of the party, that’s just the way it is. 

He’s the first one to either suggest a crazy idea or he’s at the front of the line to give it a go. Whether it be business meetings in a hot tub or adult big wheel races, it is always Seth cheering the loudest. 

Seth works in PR for the Sasquatch Agency, lives in Santa Rosa, Ca with his wife and son  and we genuinely hope everyone has someone like Seth in their lives. He was kind enough to share his Kali 100 with us, so enjoy. 

Dawn patrol, morning ride, sunride, or whatever you may call it is my favorite time to be outside, especially on weekdays. You have the trails to yourself, leaving behind those who wait-out the darkness and cold for fairer temperatures, and watch the world come alive. COVID times feel restricting in most areas, but they have been freeing for me on ride potential. With no fatherly school drop-off duties at 8am these days, the mornings are mine for now. Located one mile from my front door is Annadel State Park along with three of the best riding buddies a guy could ask for. Nearly every night there is a group text “Who’s riding tomorrow?” and many times we get all four of us rolling out for our “6:30 at the bridge” rendezvous. Rather than complain about where we can’t go during the pandemic, we are thrilled to be able to spend so much time on our bikes on our local trails. Many mornings we pedal to the trail in the dark just in time for enough light to open up enough to navigate the rocks on our climb up Rough Go trail. After that we roll across the park and down to the other side of the park on various routes. We refill at a local drinking fountain and pedal back up to the top of South Burma, one of the high points in the park, before the usual “so which way out today?” question pops up. One of us calls it, the rest shrug and nod with approval and we roll. 

I knew exactly which “Kali 100” section was going to be my topic for this story, but I am thankful to have many options. About an hour or so into the ride we are nearly to the top of South Burma and the trail snakes its way around the northwest side to the east side of the mountain before topping out. This is precisely where the sunrise, the first rays of light we’ll see that day, smacks us in the face with a polite but forceful “Welcome to today! Nicely done!” type of vibe. I always relish this section at this time of day, because I know we’ve been up and rolling since dark, and this is the only way to see this view. I realized that my Kali 100 had more to do with the time of day and how far I had come that morning than the rocks, roots and dirt that makes up the trail itself.  It is a moment in time more than a location or destination, and you can only access it once a day. Without the recent fires that have wreaked havoc on Sonoma County and much of Annadel State Park, the sunlight would barely make its way through the foliage of the redwood and oak trees in this beautiful park and we might not have this amazing morning awakening. Half-full thinking.  I hope everyone gets the chance to catch their own dawn patrol sunrise soon, no matter where they ride.