Tandem Tumble

Lots of rides out on the tandem now. We're touring the beautiful country around Pleasington - Whalley, Rivington, Pendleton and all over the Ribble Valley. The trips are ranging from 15 to our trip yesterday of 37 very hilly miles!

Really enjoying the tandem experience and starting to get our act together as a team (mostly!). There's a bit more to riding a tandem than simply hopping on a single bike and taking off. There's the synchronization aspect of two people of different capabilities trying to do the same thing at the same time and the compensation factor particularly for the person in the rear (the stoker) who cannot see the road. We're starting to come closer capability-wise, or to be fair I should say my capability is growing. I can tell my legs are getting stronger and am less bothered by the hills. Steve's getting the gear shifting down, he says he uses a lot more gears a lot more often than you would on a single bike. He's also getting very good at with the running monologue that he needs to communicate the conditions of the road and what he's about to do gear-wise to me - "Big change up," "Big change down," "Bump," "Another bump," and "Lots of bumps!"

We've also discovered that the tandem is not as maneuverable on corners as a single bike as we took a tumble as we turned a corner in front of the Black Dog Pub in Belmont. We now know not to take corners so fast and not to change gears while cornering! No major injuries other than a skinned knee and a sore wrist, and pride - of course there were people sitting outside the pub who witnessed our tumble!

Did our biggest day yet yesterday leaving Pleasington and heading towards Abbey Village, through Belmont, Chorley and Withnell. This trip involved lots of hills, but particularly several long climbs up into the Pennine Moors with spectacular views at the top (which we really enjoyed once we got our breath back!). We had thought that it might be close to 30 miles, but when Steve added it all up it was 37 miles total. With all those hills, we figure we're getting close to being able to handle some of those Brittany days of 45 to 50 miles!