Busy week; short ride

Well, it was a busy week (we bought a house in Springfield, worked on fixing it up, and started trying to rent it), but we managed to get in a short ride tonight to our friends' house. It feels good to get on the tandem at least once a week, though we hope to do more as things at the Springfield house get settled.

Total for the week: 4 miles.
Fun factor: High.

Our first long ride.

We went on our first really long ride on the tandem yesterday. It was a beautiful way to spend our Easter Sunday. The weather was in the mid seventies with blue skies and a little breeze, perfect for biking!

One of the many clumps of beautiful blooming forsythia we passed on our ride.

Our pedaling took us out of Northampton, through Hatfield along the Connecticut River, up River Road and into Greenfield. Brett's Mom works at the Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield and we stopped in for a quick visit and hugs.

Brett takes a rest and tests out the back seat.

After our visit with Kathy, we got some lunch in town and then biked home along rt. 5. The ride back took us about two and a half hours. Our legs were tired by the end and we were ready to be done.

Taking another break by the side of the road.

We rode almost exactly 50 miles total! This ride was a good chance to work out a lot of little things. We made a lot of adjustments to our seats, both tilt and placement, to find the most comfortable riding positions. We also got a lot better at communication, telling each other when we need to take a break from pedaling, and figuring out which gears work best for both of us. Sure we got tired, but it was a lot of fun!

Ice Screamer.

After dinner tonight, we took the tandem for a ride. Our inspiration and goal? Ice cream! We hooked up the lights, pedaled together though the night to the store, and 6 miles later we were home with strawberries and vanilla ice cream.

It was totally worth it. Yum.

Maybe we'll even visit Canada.

We both sent away for our passports this past week. Jenny's expires in July, so she is renewing hers and Brett will be getting his for the first time! This is a good thing, applying for them now, because it takes more than a month to get them, and we want to have them before we go. Our current route plan takes us through part of Canada, roughly between Buffalo and Detroit. I guess that would make this trip a cross-continent trip as well as a cross-country trip!

In other news, we finished painting a difficult section of our house's exterior today. We work so well together on projects like this. Brett is good at and eager to do some parts, while Jenny is unafraid of other parts that Brett shies away from (like being on the ladder propped on top of the porch roof). It feels so good to accomplish a big part of something that we've been wanting to do for a year and a half. Hopefully we'll soon do the same on the front of the house that we just did on the back side. Also, this teamwork will come in very handy this Summer, as we will be operating a single vehicle together for a LOT of hours, and setting up and breaking down camp day after day, and working through "adventures."

Jenny climbs up the ladder

She's so brave!

Almost done!

Just about every day we tell each other how excited we are for this trip.

My amazing husband.

I am feeling especially lucky today. It has been a long week and we have been so busy. I have had a little cold for the last two days, school and work have taken up a lot of time and there are just always so many things to do and so many decisions to make. We haven't gotten to ride the bike much this week. But, through it all, even in the tough times, life is still great!

I am looking forward to our trip so much! And I'm incredibly grateful to have such an amazing partner to share this life with.

Here we are, the day before we got married.

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!