Story for Native lands tour 2016 Day 1

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First off, I only made half the journey... The next morning I woke up with nausea and was a little weak.  Next year I will complete this bad boy!

I made tons of new friends.  Lots of folks from Air Assurance Team out of Tulsa.  Starting out at Doubleshot Coffee I see lots of cyclists there - but not all are heading out with us on our journey of mixed terrain (road and gravel).  Heading out north, I am feeling pretty good.  I stayed with the peloton for the first 20 miles or so until we hit the good stuff (gravel).  I was surging a bit on the downhills but not staying with the team on the uphills.  I was definitely not carrying as much as some of the other riders but my gear was moving a bit on me.  I now know that at every cattle crossing, something was going to fly off the handlebar straps I put on the bike.  (They were nylon and allowed my sleeping pad to move under some seriously heavy vibration).  After the trip I was able to get a BlackBurn Pannier Bag for the rear that I plan to use rather than double-stacking my front handle-bar bag! :)  I wasn't the only cyclist having issues.  Poor Everett kept having flats all day!  Since this slowed him down a bit, I was able to catch up with him :)  Brad started out with some wheel issues.  I think if we were going to even longer distances, we would need to carry some spare spokes for the repairs we needed to make.  That morning, we simply taped the broken spoke to its neighbor.  All in all, it was a good morning.  Some of the rolling hills really could break your spirit at the end of the ride, but once we got to our destination, it was all worth it!  Live music, good beer and some BBQ that filled your soul with gratitude.