Our first few rides!

Since getting the tandem, we've taken several successful rides with it! We've ridden downtown a couple of times, and enjoyed ourselves every time we get on the bike. Guy was nice enough to take some pictures of us on one of those rides.

We're still making small adjustments to the seat positions, and Brett is learning how to shift more effectively on a tandem. Jenny is adjusting to the stoker position where there is little control over the bike. Mostly, we're learning to communicate better both verbally and non-verbally (through pedal strokes and leaning and such) to make the experience both more fun and more relaxing! We're pretty confident that the small kinks will all get worked out well before we depart Northampton this Summer.

For those who've never tried a recumbent bicycle, it allows a more relaxed body position, and a comfier seat. It also allows for more expansive views to the front (for Brett) and to the sides (for Jenny). In that sense, things just seem easier on the recumbent tandem. Of course, going up hills can be at a bit more "relaxed" pace, too, but we have plenty of gears and we never thought we were going to set any speed records. We have three months for this adventure, after all!

In other news, we ordered some new panniers from Ortlieb. They are blue! They'll hold the bulk of our gear on our trip, and perhaps our groceries on local trips before and after. We haven't decided whether to haul the trailer as well, or buy some more panniers instead. Suggestions?

Here we are at the bottom of our first big hill!

Well, Now We HAVE To Go!

Today we agreed with two graduate students from Smith College that they will rent our apartment for the summer! Now we *have* to go on this crazy adventure!

Of course, this is great news, and it will help us significantly with the cost of our trip. Since we are buying the used RANS Screamer (we really need some pictures of it, don't we?), we will have spent quite a bit before we even get to leave the yard, but we're sure it'll be worth it. You only live once, and this is an adventure that we've both dreamed about for a long time.

Some people say that we're especially adventurous to ride a tandem, but we think we're up to the challenge of working together on one bike...for three months. We've spent a few hours on a tandem (and several more in a tandem kayak) before now, and we're still eager for more, having worked out some initial issues. We're really excited to have lined up the machine we'll be riding this early so that we get to practice a bunch this Spring.

It is weird to think of renting out our living space, though. This is where we always come home to. It's where we sleep, eat, and play. It's where all our games are. Those are our pieces of art and dishes and that's our bed. We're really okay renting it all, but it's strange, too.

This might actually happen...

We really might buy a recumbent tandem bike soon! The nice people who let us try their tandems got back to us last night with a figure for selling their RANS Screamer, and it's in our price range!

!!!

A Taste of the Tandems!

Recumbent tandems that is!

We got to test ride two different kinds of recumbent tandem bicycles today! We drove to Connecticut to visit a nice couple who has been riding recumbent tandems for years. The first one we tried was a Longbikes Eliminator. The second was the RANS Screamer.

Our first ride on a tandem recumbent!

This is the Longbikes Eliminator. We liked the RANS Screamer a bit better, though we don't have pictures of us on that one. Either way, we still have a lot to learn about recumbent tandems, and we'll need to do a lot more test riding to be sure of what we want. Unfortunately, we may have to wait for a warmer month to do that.

Wheeee!