Sunday, March 18, 2007

musings on the tandem

Fred and I have been going out on the tandem for the six weeks I have my cast. It is nice I can still go on the road, but not so fun being on a tandem. Some people love it; I am not one of them. We look like such a funny pair - white bearded man in front and girl with cast in the back. Here are some thoughts on the tandem. I wish there was a tape recorder on the tandem because we definitely sounded like an old married couple.
  1. You have no control. You can't shift when you want, coast when you want. You just get to peddle. And that really sucks when the person in the front decides to soft peddle all the way up Redwood Road on the way back.
  2. Tandem riding breaks up relationships. A couple on the Yellowjackets told me that tandem riding is a strain on relationships. This is true. Usually when you get annoyed, you can just speed ahead. Not so with tandems. You are stuck. And all you can do is beat them in the back with your cast arm.
  3. Regardless of the bike being a custom frame, it is wobbly going downhill in the back. The people in the front just don't understand!
  4. You know you have a problem when you keep make competitions like "who can clip in first after a light" just so you can beat someone who is 64. I won.
  5. People love tandems. Everyone waves and is happy to see you on the road.
  6. You feel like a total bad ass passing people uphill on the tandem. Like that California Triple Crown jersey we blew by on Dublin Grade. That was sweet.
  7. Whatever Fred says, he totally over-inflated the tire when we were changing the flat, popping the sidewall. He says it was getting blown while going down Dublin Grade to begin with, but we all know he totally popped it by over-inflating. Then he did a cool trick with a dollar bill in the between the tube and tire, under-inflating, and then we went real slow 5 miles to Dublic/Pleasanton BART. So we didn't get to do Calvares.
To be honest, tandem riding gets better and I started to like it (a little) by the end. But I can't wait to get my cast off and reap havok on the road bike again!

1 comment:

Lorri Lee Lown -- velogirl said...

you know, they say that whichever direction your relationship is going, it will get there faster on a tandem. think on that for a bit.