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A picture of four mountain biking students on a rocky outcropping sitting on their bikes looking out on the Sedona, Arizona landscape.

Some preparation is involved in a Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) break trip. This starts with writing an application to the trip and hearing back about whether you have been accepted. Then, in the case of the trip I was on we had a meeting mid-way through the fall term to make sure that everyone was committed and ask people if they needed any help with gear and costs. The DOC will help provide most or all gear if that is needed, and if you are on financial aid there is assistance with the trip fee (includes food) and airplane ticket costs. Even if you are not on aid this trip will cost you less than it would to do on your own since the fee is supported by the sub-clubs and larger DOC funds. After that meeting our tasks were to arrange for our plane tickets, get our gear together, and put in the effort to finish out the fall term well.

This photo was taken on a rather precarious trail for mountain biking in Sedona, AZ where the side of the trail is a cliff.
We stopped here as a group to let some walkers by and appreciate the landscape. This trail was a challenging and fun ride on our second day.

This is a photo of the upper torso of four mountain bikers in Arizona. This picture was taken on the top of a mountain plateau after a long climb and everyone is wearing their helmets.
We took this picture on the last day of riding after doing a substantial uphill climb. Half of the group split off to do some harder trails and the rest of us opted to take it easier thanks to the riding from the days before.

Going on the trip was an incredible experience and one that I hope other people can have as well. However, sleeping on a sleeping pad in a tent on the ground after a tough day of mountain biking is not for everyone! Between getting acquainted with the terrain, other people in the group, and the rental bikes, it took a bit of time to get settled in, but once I did I had a blast. Shredding trails, getting some seriously chapped lips from the dry air, and laughing around a campfire while eating a homemade meal allowed me to detach from the world for a little while and get to know some Dartmouth students who I previously did not know well. This is also in the context of enjoying some mountain biking which I had not had the opportunity to do outside of my familiar turf of New England.

This is a photo of Lily sitting astride her bike on a short break with the landscape and a couple of other riders from the group behind her.
This photo was snapped of me on the second day of riding before we did a steep and somewhat demanding downhill section.

This is a picture from the mountain biking DOC trip to Sedona where the trip members were standing and sitting around a camp fire at night talking and laughing up a storm.
A huge part of enjoying the trip came from the social time around the campfire at night. This is where we enjoyed our meals and just had fun hanging out and relaxing a bit after a good day of riding.

My next goal after going on this trip is to finish up becoming a leader in the Dartmouth Mountain Biking Club (DMBC) which is a DOC sub-club. I have co-lead some trips, so now I need first aid certification, seminar training, to complete some trail work, and ideally becoming driver certified with the Outdoor Programs office.

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