The missing Bicycle

Well, as I told you last night, my bike went missing, courtesy of United Airlines. After a night of calling their baggage claim services, little to no sleep, and much frustration, they still had not found it by Saturday morning. It didn't help that every time I called, I spoke with someone new, who all thought my bike was still in Canada, and refused to listen to the fact that it was a box, not a bag, and yes. It did contain important items. Such as a bike which I was going to use for a BIKE tour.

Well, my persistence didn't pay off. Eventually they asked that I stop calling and "give them more time to find it". O_O   Unfortunately for both of us, I didn't have time. So, graciously Kellan took me to a local bike shop in Orange County called Santiago Cycling (found by Todd) and we got a new bike. Although pricey, it was beautiful, and actually a better fit for me than my first bike! Everyone at Santiago cycling was amazing. Not only did they help me get the right bike, a good fit, and all of the necessary equipment that I lost, but they also gave me some discounts, a free Santiago Cycling t-shirt, and stayed an hour after closing so that the bike was ready to go that evening.

Sunday was a great day. We had a worship  service in the afternoon and then head down to Newport beach for a tire dipping ceremony, which would start off the trip. Since there was still a chance that they would find me bike, I didn't ride Saturday, hoping that I could return the bike. However, after taking a ride down to the beach on Sunday for our tire dipping ceremony, I was pretty happy with my purchase :D The bike is AMAZING! And the tire dipping ceremony was fantastic! here are some photos :)



Worship Service on Sunday

Sea of Sea to Sea-ers

 

Well, after the ceremony and some local pizza for dinner, we head back to our evening meeting, where I was informed by Dan Ohlson, our P.R. man, that United had found my bike, and it would be in at 9:30pm that day (Sunday). It had only taken a lot of work on his part to get them to find it, including demands and maybe a P.R. threat or two, but he worked his magic and got it back. So last night we went and picked it up. Seems my bike was having adventures without me. It had gone to Tokyo!! And luckily back.

 

Well, now I had two bikes and I could no longer return the new one for the full refund since I had put miles on it. However, Dan in his magic, had got United to agree to pay for the new bike. So, I have two! Anyone wanna go for a ride??