mum & dad go tandem
monday, 12 september, 2005 10:00 MAT
so mum & dad are going adventuring once again. no surprises - they make use of the perks of dad now working at rei.
A happy Saturday to all of you,
Well, Mom thought maybe a tandem bike would be a good thing since she's not much of a solo rider. So Rich, the Master Tech at REI - Tacoma, lent us his since he and his wife will be on vacation for 2 weeks. It's a Cannondale mountain tandem with disc brakes.
Today when the sun finally shined we took the bike out for a test ride. After setting the saddles to the right positions and getting the helmets adjusted, we departed from the drive way. I used the slope to gain speed and then headed up the cul de sac with Mom asking why I wanted to go uphill. We had the speed and I wanted to load test the gearing before we venture too far out. After making the turn at the top of the cul de sac we started down the street with Mom yelling to put on the brakes! We're going too fast!!
We just got started!! So I asked if she can see how fast we were going on the computer on her handlebar. She said she didn't want to look down but anyways she can't see it 'cuz my butt was too big and in the way. OK, I wasn't offended.
I then took a left and went on down the street and just allowed the bike to run. Mom is yelling that it's too fast. I had the wind in my face and felt pretty good. She was drafting and I think she can only see the surroundings zipping by and felt terrified. I'm sure we weren't doing more than 10 mph. I wanted the speed to take us up the slight incline as we make the curve. So I braked to slow us down. You guess it! Now we have to pedal harder to make the incline.
We turned right at the T and coasted to the silver bus motorhome at the end of the street. Made a turn at the intersection and started back up the now incline we just coasted down. Clicking the gears to get the right combination for the attack, Mom's wondering what's that noise. I told her I was changing the gears.
She said she didn't like riding on a tandem. It was a bad idea. She rather ride her own bike. OK, that was fair! We gave it a go and it's not what she thought it to be even though I relayed to her what Rich's wife, Susy, had told me to tell her to trust the captain in the front. That she can't go looking around the guy in front to see where she's going. And to lean with the bike when going into a turn.
So I steered us toward home coasting down the long straight stretch and then turning the curve to head for Wendy's place and home. I started to pedal since it was uphill in that section. I heard noises and felt what was like Mom putting her foot down to drag the bike to a stop. She yelled that her leg is caught in the chain. So I stopped pedaling and put on the brakes. Disc's are so nice!
Well, her left pant leg was caught in the chain and also part of her socks. After freeing the pants and socks from the chain and chain ring, there's a big rip on the pant leg and grease stains on the pants and sock. It appears that that her foot came off the pedal when I started to crank and she tried to get her foot back on the pedal. But with me pedaling, her pedals were spinning and she couldn't keep her foot on the pedals.
We walked the bike home. Mom being thankful we got a chance to try this out before buying one.
So no tandem biking for us. Mom said she couldn't see where we were going and she wasn't in control of the speed. And the view wasn't very good! Hmmm, I think that's the main reason.
Thus was our tandem experience - all 8 minutes of it.
D
,` )
so mum & dad are going adventuring once again. no surprises - they make use of the perks of dad now working at rei.
A happy Saturday to all of you,
Well, Mom thought maybe a tandem bike would be a good thing since she's not much of a solo rider. So Rich, the Master Tech at REI - Tacoma, lent us his since he and his wife will be on vacation for 2 weeks. It's a Cannondale mountain tandem with disc brakes.
Today when the sun finally shined we took the bike out for a test ride. After setting the saddles to the right positions and getting the helmets adjusted, we departed from the drive way. I used the slope to gain speed and then headed up the cul de sac with Mom asking why I wanted to go uphill. We had the speed and I wanted to load test the gearing before we venture too far out. After making the turn at the top of the cul de sac we started down the street with Mom yelling to put on the brakes! We're going too fast!!
We just got started!! So I asked if she can see how fast we were going on the computer on her handlebar. She said she didn't want to look down but anyways she can't see it 'cuz my butt was too big and in the way. OK, I wasn't offended.
I then took a left and went on down the street and just allowed the bike to run. Mom is yelling that it's too fast. I had the wind in my face and felt pretty good. She was drafting and I think she can only see the surroundings zipping by and felt terrified. I'm sure we weren't doing more than 10 mph. I wanted the speed to take us up the slight incline as we make the curve. So I braked to slow us down. You guess it! Now we have to pedal harder to make the incline.
We turned right at the T and coasted to the silver bus motorhome at the end of the street. Made a turn at the intersection and started back up the now incline we just coasted down. Clicking the gears to get the right combination for the attack, Mom's wondering what's that noise. I told her I was changing the gears.
She said she didn't like riding on a tandem. It was a bad idea. She rather ride her own bike. OK, that was fair! We gave it a go and it's not what she thought it to be even though I relayed to her what Rich's wife, Susy, had told me to tell her to trust the captain in the front. That she can't go looking around the guy in front to see where she's going. And to lean with the bike when going into a turn.
So I steered us toward home coasting down the long straight stretch and then turning the curve to head for Wendy's place and home. I started to pedal since it was uphill in that section. I heard noises and felt what was like Mom putting her foot down to drag the bike to a stop. She yelled that her leg is caught in the chain. So I stopped pedaling and put on the brakes. Disc's are so nice!
Well, her left pant leg was caught in the chain and also part of her socks. After freeing the pants and socks from the chain and chain ring, there's a big rip on the pant leg and grease stains on the pants and sock. It appears that that her foot came off the pedal when I started to crank and she tried to get her foot back on the pedal. But with me pedaling, her pedals were spinning and she couldn't keep her foot on the pedals.
We walked the bike home. Mom being thankful we got a chance to try this out before buying one.
So no tandem biking for us. Mom said she couldn't see where we were going and she wasn't in control of the speed. And the view wasn't very good! Hmmm, I think that's the main reason.
Thus was our tandem experience - all 8 minutes of it.
D
,` )
posted by melanie at 4:51 PM
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