I often joke to my hometown friends in Bend, Oregon that if they want a snowstorm early season or late season, they just have to coordinate with when I have to make a repping trip with a trailer. Last week, I had such a trip scheduled to go to Sacramento and the Bay Area to see a few dealers and make some deliveries. As the trip approached, I nervously kept an eye on my weather apps and my favorite site, tripcheck.com. The site's map gives fast map-based click access to hwy road conditions and real time views of what is happening on the ground from road cams all over the state. It's amazing how often a year I find myself on that site. Anytime I go from Bend to anywhere else, I'm likely passing over mtns and exposed two lanes somewhere in the state.
Bend’s elevation is around 3800 feet so it doesn’t take much to turn fall rain showers into snow flurries. As I preview the road cams on my route down Highway 97 S, I pay particular attention to the road cameras in Chemult and Crescent, which are generally even higher in elevation and have colder air coming through, which can lead to accumulation of snow even when Bend is just wet. Driving my 18 foot box trailer fully loaded towed by my ‘21 Chevy 3500 on a slippery two lane hwy with many poorly treaded semi trucks going north and south is not my favorite place to be. Major wrecks happen all the time when conditions switch in early and late season. I decided that it would probably work out and I made the dash south early Wednesday morning. 1 hour later the roads were looking like this but the pavement remained slushy vs icy and I snuck through and into CA for even more excitement.
I was able to maintain pace and dropped through the Collier State Park area and then on to Klamath Falls. Where the wind hit me hard. The wind over Mt Shasta was as hard as I've ever had and some of the big rigs up there were really having a hard time. A few trucks pulled over and then realized that was not a pleasant way to hang out either. Pace slowed to under 40 for many miles of gusty, tight gripped driving. I finally dropped into the I-5 portion of the drive near Weed CA and the last hour into Redding was less eventful and the highway offered some time to enjoy podcasts and books on tape.
Having left at 7am from Bend along with the wind and snow, there was a bit of a time crunch to get to Headwaters Adventure Company in Rancho Cordova just west of Sacramento before a 6pm event. I arrived around 4:30 and carried in my Level Six sales samples for a cold water paddling clinic that my rep partner Dan was leading. It wasn’t planned that we would both be there together, but it totally worked out. A two person presentation is a lot easier than doing it by oneself. I took on a support role For Dan, since this was his main stage and would hand him samples or sprinkle on a little commentary, if I felt it would assist his presentation. After the presentation, we had time to talk individually with folks and Headwaters gave discounts for orders so it was a win for everyone. I really enjoyed being with paddlers since the last 4-8 weeks has had me on phones/emails so much!
You want your neoprene to be tight, but maybe not this tight Dan!
That night we set up at Dan's warehouse in Lodi CA (about 50 mins south of Sacramento) and had a nice parking lot hang out with a Solo stove fire to add to the ambiance. These are the golden moments of repping for me! Dan's pup "Lego" enjoyed it too!
Next morning we rolled to Lodi Paddlesports to say hi to the crew and show the new gear. Great crew there and we had fun catching up with them. In their parking lot, this is the most amazing dumpster security I've ever seen. I had to stop and admire. Then the realization that it is amazing that dumpsters need this type of security. I also immediately felt the interest to plan a "dumpster heist" that leaves no tracks or evidence. Ocean's Eleven style. Then we left and got burritos. In CA, get burritos whenever you can.
Touch, Hold, Feel ... this is what specialty dealers do to bring the best gear to their paddling community. Here, Tom from Central Coast Kayaks is getting a look the Aquabound Ultralight Tetra (available March '25).
I then ran back up to Sacramento to see the folks at Kayak City. They know how to help customers get set up with added features and accessories. I absolutely love this back rigging room they have pictured below. I think a shopwith space like this could literally run a live stream anytime they are doing work to share some of their skills, tips and hints. Or, they could have a dance party disco scene going here with the cool tile floor.
These guys know Angling and they don't mess around. Was stoked to see the new Suspenz Yellow Fin Stands holding the giant angling kayak with no problem:
Then a late night drive right into the heart of San Francisco to see Redwood Watersports the next morning. I talked my way into being allowed to sleep in the marina parking lot in one of the richest areas of the country. That's some high-end urban rep-camping!
Woke up the next morning to a glorious sunrise over the bay and this gorgeous shop Redwood Watersports. They are just getting launched but they know the true secret of successful paddlesports shops...Outreach/Community/Events!!
Showed them some of the newest gear from Level Six, Bending Branches/Aquabound and Stohlquist. They are hunkering down for winter so no orders after a night and long drive into their shop but that's the way it goes as a rep. Paving the way for future work together often. It's nice to see a new operation start up in paddlesports and I wish them the most success. Hope to be part of it because sleeping in that lot was nice.
Then I delivered a brand new Magic from Northstar Canoes to this fine gent. He bought it for himself as a retirement gift. I've been lucky enough over the years to deliver many new canoes as retirement gifts. It's an honor for sure. Even better is to have heard back a week later that this gent has been paddling it and loves it! These are the Santa Claus moments and I'll never get sick of them. Even if it means driving through a storm to get it done.
On the return, I stopped at Headwaters Adventure Company in Redding CA to say hi to owner Bryan and his lovely pup. I love the feel of this store, especially from up high in the 2nd level looking down. They are right on the Sacramento River in Redding which is an amazing paddling spot to have right in town.
When I get sick of winter, this is the place to be!
But, I'm not sick of winter....I'm just getting started. I raced home after waking up in the Bay and got home at 10:30 pm (had to pull over to watch the Tyson/Paul fight). The next morning, I was back in a different vehicle driving up to the mtn with my kids! A lovely day on the slopes to punctuate the displacement
that is the rep lifestyle!
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