INAUGURAL DRIFT WEST ORIENTATION

Host to Lewis & Clark State Park and back: 20.7 miles
Total mileage: 20.7 miles
Quote: "The haters gonna hate, hate, hate, baby I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake.  Shake it off, shake it off." - T. Swift

As the group alarm clock went off (some calm, but upbeat song) the hiss of thermarests could be heard around the basement.  After a quick breakfast we broke up into groups for a skills section (basic bike parts, how to fix a flat, etc) and then headed to a local school parking lot to go through some riding drills.  The Drift West riders are a mix of alumni and new riders which means the bike riding skills were all over the place; you had everything from those who completed a cross country trip to those who have never used clips before. 

A fraction of the food we will consume throughout the day

After riding around all morning in a parking lot, everyone was excited to head out on the road.  Johnny Jaguar lead us in a cheer and we pealed out in groups of 4-6 for the INAUGURAL 20 mile shake down ride (aka make sure our bikes were in working condition after traveling hundreds/thousands of miles, work on hand signals and practice reading a cue sheet); they also tried to get a mix of alumni and new riders in each group.  My crew consisted of Harry, Alyssa, Miranda and Johnny.  We stopped half way for a wild blackberry snack session.  Sadly it was was cut short because the last group caught up with us.

After ten miles we arrived at the Lewis & Clark State Park and decided to get in a quick dip before heading back to the host.

We all grabbed a quick hose shower before eating dinner and listening to a few last lectures including everyone's favorite: health & hygiene (cue the awkward giggles).  With about two hours to spare until lights out, a bunch of us grabbed some headlights and headed out to finish the trailer.  Each trip is responsible for designing and painting the support trailer; it usually includes a rough map with the highlighted trip, some kind of biking flare and a couple of safety phrases.

Final pictures will be included in tomorrow's post.