New picture.

Spartan stopped by this afternoon and tried out the bike. He also took a nice picture of the two of us.

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!

We own a very cool bike.

Last Sunday, Len and Jan delivered our bike! Brett was still in Boston playing games at Alex's party, but first thing Monday morning we went for a ride.

Our very own tandem recumbent!

Getting ready...

Wait for me!

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!

!!!

Late Night Rearranging.

We decided to move the couch and Brett's computer into the guest/office room tonight. We were both tired, but with some good music to help us along, we moved the couch, the futon, Brett's desk and computer, a bookshelf, some boxes, a table and a dresser to new homes. There are still a bunch of little things to move around and some organization to be done, but the new changes look great!

Here are some pictures of our new setup!

My marbles are now displayed in pretty jars instead of in a box in a drawer!

We have a lot of games.

Pretty plants.

Our new living room.

Our house, is a very very very fine house.

Brett posted an ad on Craigslist a few weeks ago for people who might be interested in renting our house as a sublet for the summer while we're away. We think this will be a good way to help finance our trip.

So far we've had one person come look at the place, and have gotten a bunch of other responses. It would be so great to find someone who wants the place for the summer soon, and get things all squared before it gets even closer to the time we want to leave. It would definitely make the trip seem more real if we found someone to live in our house for the summer. Then we'd have to do it!

Last summer we had a garden with lots of vegetables and many pretty flowers.

We had tomatoes

and pretty morning glories.

If we go away, we won't get to spend as much time making a beautiful garden this year, but I think it would be worth it. Maybe whoever ends up staying in our house for the Summer will take care of the garden while we're away!

We Love Maps!

It's exciting to look at maps. Here is a map with some places on it where we want to stay, or visit, along the way. It's a rough beginning of our route!

View Jenny & Brett's Biggest Bike Trip Ever!! in a larger map

We will keep adding places as we think of them, so check back for more updates! Also, if you know of any good spots to stay the night, or fun places to visit, let us know!