Pics From our First Ride on the New Tandem-453 Miles!!!
10-12-17, 12:55 PM
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Pics From our First Ride on the New Tandem-453 Miles!!!
My sweet wife signed us both up for Cycle NC back in January. She was going to train, lose weight etc. The two grandsons became priority #1 and her plan never got off the ground. I was worried she'd still try and do Cycle NC on her road bike so I came up with Plan B. I recently bought a 2004 Cannondale Tandem so I wouldn't have to worry about her being on the road without me. You might remember me asking advice from some of you who rode tandems???
We did two training rides---both on super flat roads and about 20 miles each. She tried toe clips the first time and platform pedals the 2nd time. Neither worked that great for her. On a whim, she bought some Shimano MTB shoes along with pedals. The first time she used them was last Sunday, the first day of Cycle NC?!?!?
She did great with them and rode all the 453 miles of the 7 day tour. The first couple days had some pretty good hills coming our of the NC mountains. The last couple days were headwinds. We weren't fast but we made it. Great tour---the rest stops were really good venues and tons of food.
Here are a few photos:
The tandem at work:
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on Flickr
At Brock Mill Pond in Trenton-note the Spanish Moss hanging off the tree in the background. Getting closer to the coast!!
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on Flickr
Several Rest Stops at Breweries--this one at Duck Rabbit in Farmville
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on Flickr
Start of 20 miles of bike trails at the end of the 3rd day from Chapel Hill to Knightdale
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on Flickr
There were some really tight turns for this big rig at several places along the trail but we did okay.
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on Flickr
The towns went all out at our rest stops. Some went to extremes!! This one was in Spring Hope where they served us freshly cooked sweet potatoes with all the trimmings.
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on Flickr
One of my all time favorite photos. A NC Highway Patrolman deputizing a young girl--she was thrilled. We had a number of Patrolman riding their BMW motorcycles with us all week. GREAT group of guys.
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on Flickr
A rest stop at Bull Durham Stadium in downtown Durham. Remember the movie???
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on Flickr
The end at the coast in Swansboro!!!! Really proud of my riding mate for riding every mile!
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on Flickr
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on Flickr
We did two training rides---both on super flat roads and about 20 miles each. She tried toe clips the first time and platform pedals the 2nd time. Neither worked that great for her. On a whim, she bought some Shimano MTB shoes along with pedals. The first time she used them was last Sunday, the first day of Cycle NC?!?!?
She did great with them and rode all the 453 miles of the 7 day tour. The first couple days had some pretty good hills coming our of the NC mountains. The last couple days were headwinds. We weren't fast but we made it. Great tour---the rest stops were really good venues and tons of food.
Here are a few photos:
The tandem at work:
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on FlickrAt Brock Mill Pond in Trenton-note the Spanish Moss hanging off the tree in the background. Getting closer to the coast!!
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on FlickrSeveral Rest Stops at Breweries--this one at Duck Rabbit in Farmville
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on FlickrStart of 20 miles of bike trails at the end of the 3rd day from Chapel Hill to Knightdale
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on FlickrThere were some really tight turns for this big rig at several places along the trail but we did okay.
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on FlickrThe towns went all out at our rest stops. Some went to extremes!! This one was in Spring Hope where they served us freshly cooked sweet potatoes with all the trimmings.
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on FlickrOne of my all time favorite photos. A NC Highway Patrolman deputizing a young girl--she was thrilled. We had a number of Patrolman riding their BMW motorcycles with us all week. GREAT group of guys.
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on FlickrA rest stop at Bull Durham Stadium in downtown Durham. Remember the movie???
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on FlickrThe end at the coast in Swansboro!!!! Really proud of my riding mate for riding every mile!
Cycle NC 2017 by joe price, on FlickrCycle NC 2017 by joe price, on Flickr
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10-12-17, 01:49 PM
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Damn ... that is AWESOME.
You're a brave man giving the tandem a try. I've toyed with the notion of doing that myself. That way, I could take my wife and do most of the work. I actually think she would enjoy shorter rides.
What's given me pause is the fact that friends have dubbed tandems "divorce bikes," or "relationship magnifiers."
One of these days, I'm gonna risk it and take the dive.
You're a brave man giving the tandem a try. I've toyed with the notion of doing that myself. That way, I could take my wife and do most of the work. I actually think she would enjoy shorter rides.
What's given me pause is the fact that friends have dubbed tandems "divorce bikes," or "relationship magnifiers."
One of these days, I'm gonna risk it and take the dive.
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10-12-17, 02:06 PM
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Damn ... that is AWESOME.
You're a brave man giving the tandem a try. I've toyed with the notion of doing that myself. That way, I could take my wife and do most of the work. I actually think she would enjoy shorter rides.
What's given me pause is the fact that friends have dubbed tandems "divorce bikes," or "relationship magnifiers."
One of these days, I'm gonna risk it and take the dive.
You're a brave man giving the tandem a try. I've toyed with the notion of doing that myself. That way, I could take my wife and do most of the work. I actually think she would enjoy shorter rides.
What's given me pause is the fact that friends have dubbed tandems "divorce bikes," or "relationship magnifiers."
One of these days, I'm gonna risk it and take the dive.
I think my wife learned she did have more control than she thought she might have.....she should "stop" our pedaling by her stopping to pedal......she also knew that if she needed some type of change I was willing to do it her way. Example, my cadence would get too high for her and she wasn't shy about letting me know!! 7 days was probably too much for her but she'd be happy doing 2-4 day tours know.
BTW, this was my 4th week long tour this year---RTR, BTC, Wyoming and now NC. I had hesitated to do Cycle NC as I'd ridden it in it's early years but they have done a great job of picking up their game over the years. Things like terrific rest stops, outstanding camping facilities, mobile showers and Highway Patrol Support are examples of enhancements. Plus 1000 riders didn't seem too many, never had any issues with lines.
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10-12-17, 04:24 PM
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Excellent, Jppe. Don’t stop now; there’s a tandem rally in Florida the weekend of the 20th.
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10-12-17, 04:42 PM
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Cool!
10-12-17, 09:33 PM
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Awesome! From the pics, looks as if you were both enjoying yourselves way too much! 
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10-13-17, 01:44 AM
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Looks like lots of fun. What a great sport your wife is to hop on and ride without training or experience. Decades ago, shortly after we got our first tandem, we took off on an extended tour. I hadn't had time to do any riding other than commuting for the prior four months, but my commute was fifty miles round-trip. I remember needing bum breaks every forty miles or so for the first four days. We still laugh about that.
This reminded me of a story the builder of our first tandem told us. He built a tandem for a couple and was confused as to why the husband insisted on the stoker compartment being built to fit someone taller than his wife. A few months after the bike was delivered, the builder found out why. That marriage ended and the husband got the bike. It just happened to fit his new partner perfectly.
Yep, they take your relationship where it's going, only faster.
Yep, they take your relationship where it's going, only faster.
10-13-17, 07:17 AM
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Now that the test ride is done, planning to take it out for some longer rides?
Crazy you were willing to risk this ... crazier your wife was ... always good when crazy people succeed. Big congratulations.
"Don't worry! if you don't like it or something goes wrong you will be trapped on the side of the road hundred of miles form home--and even if nothing goes wrong, making it through each day will depend on you basically doing what I say."
I'd suggest this to my wife but it so hard to keep a person a way from both sharp and blunt objects.
Crazy you were willing to risk this ... crazier your wife was ... always good when crazy people succeed. Big congratulations.
"Don't worry! if you don't like it or something goes wrong you will be trapped on the side of the road hundred of miles form home--and even if nothing goes wrong, making it through each day will depend on you basically doing what I say."
I'd suggest this to my wife but it so hard to keep a person a way from both sharp and blunt objects.
10-13-17, 12:09 PM
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Now you're a tandem team, congratulations! Glad it went so well. We've hardly ridden our singles at all since we got our tandem in '07.
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10-13-17, 07:39 PM
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Awesome. You both look totally happy! Looks like a fun tour and you did well with two training rides I must say.
10-13-17, 08:44 PM
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2 20 mile test rides and then a 453 mile 7 day tour on a tandem, wow! That's the most awesome thing I've read since I don't know when.
10-15-17, 12:31 PM
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Great pictures and a great story. That looks like an event I'd like to do.
Wonderful that your wife took to tandem riding. I bought a tandem several years ago thinking my wife might enjoy coming with me on rides. Let's just say it turned out to be the perfect vehicle to get our 10 y/o son hooked on cycling.
Wonderful that your wife took to tandem riding. I bought a tandem several years ago thinking my wife might enjoy coming with me on rides. Let's just say it turned out to be the perfect vehicle to get our 10 y/o son hooked on cycling.
10-16-17, 06:00 AM
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Great pictures and a great story. That looks like an event I'd like to do.
Wonderful that your wife took to tandem riding. I bought a tandem several years ago thinking my wife might enjoy coming with me on rides. Let's just say it turned out to be the perfect vehicle to get our 10 y/o son hooked on cycling.
Wonderful that your wife took to tandem riding. I bought a tandem several years ago thinking my wife might enjoy coming with me on rides. Let's just say it turned out to be the perfect vehicle to get our 10 y/o son hooked on cycling.
I think you'd really enjoy this tour. For you it's not that bad of a drive. I'd ridden this tour in its infancy but wasn't very impressed. I've done a lot of week long tours and when talking to others Cycle NC was not that high on my list. However, they have really stepped up their game and if the route is nice I'd now highly recommend it. The only issue is getting back to the start....but they provide a bus that will take you back the day after the finish. When you are retired riding the bus is just another day at the office!!!
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10-22-17, 05:20 PM
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Went the same route way back in 1975 . . . .
Now on tandem #5!
Been riding as a duo for over 250,000 (quarter million) miles including 100+ centuries and a couple double metric centuries and lots of multi-day/week tours.
Now at ages 85 and 82 we still ride TWOgether . . . just not as far, fast or often.
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem
Now on tandem #5!
Been riding as a duo for over 250,000 (quarter million) miles including 100+ centuries and a couple double metric centuries and lots of multi-day/week tours.
Now at ages 85 and 82 we still ride TWOgether . . . just not as far, fast or often.
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem
11-07-17, 07:01 AM
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Congrats. Looks like a really fun event. Nice tandem.
11-07-17, 05:46 PM
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. . .oh yeah . . . Divorce machine???
HAPPILY married for 62+ years.
Still pedalin' TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem
HAPPILY married for 62+ years.
Still pedalin' TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem
11-10-17, 09:04 PM
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Thanks for posting. That looks like a really great event, and it seems that the two of you are well-suited to tandeming, so keep it up!
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11-15-17, 03:22 AM
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Welcome to the club, jppe! My wife and I have been riding tandem for years and have just bought an etandem, which we are really enjoying. We do still ride our Comotion.
And if anyone is interested, we have a 2015 Cannondale T2 for sale. It has less than 300 miles on it. Lovely machine, bought on a whim, but don't have room for it.
And if anyone is interested, we have a 2015 Cannondale T2 for sale. It has less than 300 miles on it. Lovely machine, bought on a whim, but don't have room for it.
11-18-17, 04:38 PM
#24
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That's really outstanding. I got our tandem because my wife doesn't have much stamina on a bike. I'm hoping this helps, but it is yet to be proven. One nice handicapping thing is that I have less stamina for captaining the tandem than I do on my single bike. The farthest we've ridden the tandem in a day so far is 36 miles, but we're both eager to push that up.
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11-19-17, 08:27 AM
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Great ride report! I was given an antique tandem a number of years ago, and gave it a makeover hoping my wife would enjoy riding it with me, and we could get into longer distance rides together.
Bottom line, didn't happen. I don't think she gave it enough of a try to even step onto the learning curve, but she just hated that she did not have independent pedaling. I worked out how I could engineer the bike to have independent pedaling, but I wasn't sure enough the time and expense would be rewarded, so we continue to do our short rides together on separate bikes.
Bottom line, didn't happen. I don't think she gave it enough of a try to even step onto the learning curve, but she just hated that she did not have independent pedaling. I worked out how I could engineer the bike to have independent pedaling, but I wasn't sure enough the time and expense would be rewarded, so we continue to do our short rides together on separate bikes.