Debbie and I walked by Steve's on Cannon Street a couple Sundays ago and saw a Raleigh Tandem on sale inside for well under $1,000. We've been talking about getting one for some time now, and looked at a few at the bike swap last year. I planned on stopping by Steve's after work last week but never made it in.
Flash forward to Friday night on our way to The Elk, and we look in the window again. There's a sign that says Steve's is closing and the last day is 3/28. What? So I make plans to stop in Saturday morning. Then we get home and realize the date is the 28th. Oh man I missed it!
I head down there anyway Saturday, and try the door shortly after 10am. It opens and I poke my head in - hello? There's Steve, and he says yes we're open today.
A short time later Steve and I wrangle the two-seater into the back of my short bed truck and Debbie and I are proud owners of a tandem.
Tried to remember all the advice we'd gotten about how to ride a tandem, checked online and found some conflicting info, and took it for a ride Sunday. We started with me straddling the bike and the Rear Admiral seated, then me pushing off. After awhile we coordinated it well enough to both start out standing with one foot on a pedal and the other on the ground. A few wobbly starts, and no crashes or big arguments! Had fun, and we're thinking of taking it on vacation.
Of all the written and spoken advice we gathered, nobody mentioned an important rule: The Rear Admiral has veto power over the Captain's fashion choices, or lack thereof. I wasn't allowed to wear calf-length black grandpa socks with brown shorts.
p.s. I believe Steve is working on getting a new location.
The starting position that's always worked for Kathy and me is this: I get on and hold the bike rock solid. Kathy gets on and clips her pedals in. She spins the pedals backwards to the ready position. (I have to have my legs spread so I don't get nailed by a pedal. She tells me she's ready. I put my foot on the top pedal and off we go.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!