Thursday, March 5 the fun begins

whoo hoo! someone knows we're here!

Today was the general arrival of bikes and bikers at the hotel and the meet and greet and orientation meeting.

The Holiday Inn Bayside is a spread out establishment with several long buildings separated by parking lots so I didn't see a lot of bikers when we arrived. We did however spot the "Mother Ship", the Woman Tours Van and trailer, and the SAG wagon, a subaru station wagon "Little Bo Peep" ( because she looks after her lost sheep) in the parking lot and had a happy reunion with Michelle, our guide, who both Kris and I know from previous rides.

Later in the afternoon was the first group meeting, with the first order of business being the distribution of the WTcross country jerseys, t-shirts and water bottles. After much appreciative ohhing and ahhing we settled down to introduce ourselves. Although I had the ride roster and took notes, I know it will still take me at least a week to get everyone straight. If it goes like last year, I will know their bikes and their backs long before I actually can put names to faces.

Michelle and Linda introduced themselves and went through a lot of the basics of distance riding, the nurturing and housing and feeding of us all, along with the mechanics of the day to day loading and unloading of the van, keeping track of each other, checking in with the Sag drivers, cue sheet reading, daily prep and any other concern any of us had.

There are 19 women riding, plus the 2 guides/cooks. Four of the women riding take turns driving the Sag one day and riding three. The guides/cooks take turns driving the van and trailer part of the day and riding part of the day so at any time there will be 20 women scattered along the route.

The youngest will turn 50 on the road and the oldest is 72. The middle of the bell curve seems to be about 65 so it looks like between the small group and the ages, it will be a pretty mellow ride.

After an hour and a half we were all dismissed to go rearrange and organize our packing, panic, site see or generally amuse or dismay our selves with second thoughts until dinner time. Everyone pretty much retreated into their rooms, either to get acquainted with their roommates or in my case, start with the second thoughts, and tighten my bike rack and seat, however I did see a couple of the ladies ride out for a leg stretcher.

My sisters Kris and Lovisa showed up again for dinner and both had an opportunity to catch up with Michelle and some of the riders they knew from other tours. Many of the other riders had friends and family who had come to see them off so it was a noisy and happy dinner and did a lot to help break the ice between the riders. The bonding has already started.

Kirsten and Lovisa, my two SAG sisters

Today's stats- 0 miles ridden but almost 3,000 discussed in one way or another.