Tandem Cycling - What are your planned cycling vacations, rallies, events and races?

As daylight savings time approaches and Spring is around the corner, what our your cycling plans for 2007.

For us, the following:

March 10th – Solvang Century; Tandem

March 17th – Beat the Clock Time Trial; Tandem

March 25th – The 2007 Berkeley Bicycle Club Team Time Trial; Tandem

April - Club rides :)

May 6th – Tour de Cure Napa; Tandem

May 26th – Beat the Clock time trial; road bikes or tandem

June 10th – NorCal/NV Time Trial Championships (40 Km):eek: ; Tandem

June 30th – Old La Honda Hill Climb Time Trial;:eek: road bikes

July - Club rides :)

August - Club rides :)

September 1st – Beat the Clock time trial; road bikes or tandem

September 17th – 26th Tour of Tuscany:) :) :) ; Tandem

Starting April 21 my stoker/wife and I will be heading out on a 3-4 month loaded tour of about 6000 miles. We have friends and family spread around the country so we're packing up the tandem and heading out to visit as many as possible. The route starts at our home in Florida, goes to Colorado, then to Pennsylvania and finally back to Florida. You can read more about it here:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=lt&doc_id=2119&v=5i

We don't plan too far ahead at our age!
Possibly the Southwest Tandem Rally in LaGrange, TX at end of April.
Then 3 months in Idaho to get away from everybody and Tucson's 'warm' summers. . . then the El Tour de Tucson (done 15 of them on the tandem plus 9 on the single) and whatever else strikes our fancy.

The Icefield Parkway in Alberta, Canada in August. Banff to Jasper & back. 360 miles of the most beautiful scenery you have ever seen!

End of May in Boston we take delivery of our new Mocha, and will take some rides around there while attending our daughter's college graduation.

Mid July will be vacation in San Sebastian, in the Basque Country (Northern Spain). Nice country to run around, perhaps go San Sebastian to Bilbao along the coast of the Bay of Biscay.

Regular Buenos Aires city rides 40-70 K with a local cycle group Wednesday and Friday nights and Saturday afternoons (try to get in two out of three). This Sunday they are doing Buenos Aires-Lujan and back, 160 K total, so far my stoker is refusing.

Some long weekend we will go across to Uruguay and do Carmelo-Colonia, very pretty rolling hills country. Perhaps Punta del Este for Easter.

We are bound for Solvang on our black Raleigh Coupe, Double Trouble. What are you riding so we can look for you.

Is anyone here planning on attending Santana's Big River Rally?

Is anyone here planning on attending Santana's Big River Rally?

No, but we did the Sanoma tour last year and with them and it was great. We are doing Tuscany with Santana this year.

We are bound for Solvang on our black Raleigh Coupe, Double Trouble. What are you riding so we can look for you.

We will be riding a silver Santana leaving around 8AM. We are riding with a group from the local bike shop and you are welcome to join us. We are planning to be pretty relaxed. Hope to see you there.

The first two posts sound like some of my dreams: months of touring, or a season full of semi-competitive rides including tandem TT.

Me and my stokers will ride the Pedaling Across Lower Michigan (PALM) in June and then the Kansas City MS 150 in September. In addition we will ride 3 times a week with our local group and will likely do a trip to part of the Katy Trail (Rail to Trail).

Each Sunday my club participates in organized rides. THe club plans a tour of Valencia, Spain in the Fall. My wife and I will do some riding about Hungary and Romania come May.

The first two posts sound like some of my dreams: months of touring, or a season full of semi-competitive rides including tandem TT...

Retirement = Living our dreams!

Is anyone here planning on attending Santana's Big River Rally?

We did Santana's Asheville Tour back in '98 and it was outstanding. However, as tempted as we always are to take in other Santana tours, we find that they are just a bit too rich for our modest means.

The regional tandem rallies have proven to be very cost-effective get-aways for us and we have several friends who share hotel rooms to make them even more economical.

As for our plans, 3 State/3 Mountain, Georgia Tandem Rally, a 10-day excursion bookended by the Horsey 100 and the Tennessee Tandem Rally, and the Southern Tandem Rally are the only "firm" plans. We're still looking at some of the other rallies and the local charity / organized rides will always fill in many of our weekends along with our monthly tandem club's rides.

We're still up-in-the-air on the Springfield, Illinois Prarie State Tandem Rally in June. We're doing a week long Wisconsin northwoods trip in early August and the Midwest Tandem Rally over Labor Day.

Our family of 5 riders have a summer of riding planned once agian. Starting in Montreal we will head south to NY,east to Vermont, NH, Maine then north east into NB, NS, PEI, NFL then somehow back to Montreal. I am the worst planner in the world and we will likely just wing it as usual. If you see a couple of grey haired people on a tandem with with a couple of cute 17 year olds and 10 year riding solo wave its us! This is moms first big tour in 25 years. All the women in the family are about the same size so we may actually take two tandems and a single, as ususal we will wait till the last minute to decide, regardless we will be 5 happy riders in the east.

The wife and I will be traveling across Missouri this June on the " Missouri DNR KatyTrail Ride" on our Trek T900. Can't wait! Very well run ride!

Don

In April, 1995 we were asked to help set up 'tana's routes for their first rally, here in Tucson. Bill and Jan attended but the details of the routes/rally were left to Roger Haga who set it up. Roger ignored us locals advice and prombtly did rides with lots of left turns during heavy traffic and that first day's ice cream ride ended up finishing after sunset . . no one had lights. For folks who do not live in the desert southwest, when the sun sets, it's minimal time of twilight/dusk . . .
The next day, the planned ride was run in reverse (!) so the map/cue sheet didn't do much good; local bike shop owner and fellow tandem rider, Jerry Pitcock, actually went just ahead of the group in his VW painting Dan Henry arrows on the road and saved the day. To Bill's credit, Roger did not set up too many more rides for 'tana!
While these tours are a bit expen$ive, they are all first class accomodations/events and you do not need to ride a Santana to join in.
We've always enjoyed regional tandem rallies; they are not quite as pricey and lots of fun and organized by the locals who know all the good places to ride and stuff to see/do.
Depending how deep your pockets are or how high you want to ' just charge it' there's many choices out there for us tandemistas!

While this is a ride held last month, we enjoyed doing the Rice Valley Tandem Rally in northern California. This ride -- put on every year by Chico Velo -- apparently keeps getting more and more popular. It still draws a relative small crowd --- we saw maybe 150 riders and about 50 tandems. It was the first sunny and dry day in several weeks, a perfect day for cycling. Yea, there were some half bikes on the ride and the occasional bents. Here are some pics:

http://upload.pbase.com/g2_steve/rice_valley_tandem_rally

So far, we have on the schedule;

St. Petersburg Times Annual Bike Tour, March 11, Dade City, FL

Foresters Miracle Bike Ride, March 18, Indian Harbour Beach, FL

Sebring Tandem Rally March 23-23, Sebring FL

Florida Freewheelers Bike Safari (3 day), April 21-23 Live Oak, FL

Suwannee Bike Fest May, 4-6 White Springs, FL

Tennessee Tandem Rally, June 1-3, Alcoa, TN

And I'm sure more will be added later.

We'll miss the Georgia Tandem Rally. We had a great time there last year but we'll be fishing and diving in the Bahamas during their event this year, hope to make it back in 2008.

Is anyone here planning on attending Santana's Big River Rally?

We're doing the Big River tour. It will be our first bicycle tour and we're looking forward to it.

We're doing the Big River tour. It will be our first bicycle tour and we're looking forward to it.

Where are you coming from Rozinante?

We're still up-in-the-air on the Springfield, Illinois Prarie State Tandem Rally in June. We're doing a week long Wisconsin northwoods trip in early August and the Midwest Tandem Rally over Labor Day.

This week we locked ourselves into the Prarie State Tandem Rally but we're rethinking if we want to attend the Midwest Tandem Rally.

MTR is fast approaching our price gag point. $100.00 for registration fees, $29.00 per person for the banquet, $115.00 per night for the host hotel and $14.00 per person for breakfasts. We're going to talk with some of our tandem friends this weekend and we'll make a decision after that.

Like Capt. cgallagh said, this weekend it's the Solvang Century.

April=Chico Wildflower century, and club rides Tues/Thurs/Sat.

May=Santa Rose century, and club rides as above

June=? +club rides

July=Healdsburg century + club rides

August=Napa century + club rides

Sept.= Lake Tahoe century + club rides

Oct. = Foxy's Fall Century + weekend club ride

Nov. & December = ???

Our goal is a century a month this year. We missed January so one of these months we'll have to find another to do, just because.

Perhaps next year we'll make the Rice Valley Tandem Rally. I'd like to ride a tandem rally, esp. one so close to us.

Touring, if we ever do it, will remain on the back burner for now. We're not retired enough to take more than 2 weeks at a time off from our careers.

Something to look forward to...

We're heading to the SW Tandem Rally in La Grange, Texas this April. That's the only big tandem ride planned so far. I'm hoping to ride from Missoula MT to Jasper AB this August with folks from my club. Other that that, it's ride whenever I/we have the time and energy to do it. Darn this working for a living thing!!

We'll be at the Tour de Chesapeake in VA this coming May and the MWTR over Labor Day.

We also hope to hit the Horsey Hundred in Lexington, KY and the Old Kentucky Home Tour this year as well.

May 5 - 3 State 3 Mountain Century in Chattanooga, TN (first real test of our new rear disc brake)

May 26-27 Horsey 100 - Lexington, KY

June 1-3 Tennessee Tandem Rally - Alcoa, TN (near Knoxville)

June 17 - 23 TRIRI (Touring Ride In Rural Indiana)

August 10-12 Eastern Tandem Rally in Dellroy, OH (near Canton)

Aug 31 - Sep 3 Midwest Tandem Rally in Appleton, WI

October 13-14 Hilly Hundred in Bloomington, IN

and hopefully many other informal miles on our own and with friends this year.

Bloomington, IN

April - Party Pardee, Ione CA.
- Wildflower, Chico CA.
May - Wine Country Century, Santa Rosa CA.
- NWTR, Yakima WA
June - Club rides TBD
July - Deathride, Markleeville CA (single-bike)

I will need to make a lot of club rides to be ready for the deathride. The organized rides are nice,
but the registration $ sure add up.

I enjoy hearing about peoples' overseas trips (maybe next year..)

Horsey Hundred
Prairie State Tandem Rally
Santana tour of the Rockies
Midwest Tandem Rally

Just mailed off our entry fee for the SouthWest Tandem Rally in LaGrange, TX for the last weekend of April.
This'll be our 3rd time attending this event in that neck of the woods.
Did the SWTR in Brenham in '94 and the one in Waco after that. Smaller than the mega events like MTR or NWTR, but lots of fun.
Cost is quite reasonable, comparatively speaking. Entry of $200 per team includes: Fri. social hour and dinner; Sat. breakfast, lunch, social hour + dinner, and Sun. breakfast and lunch. Plus a nifty polo shirt and the usual maps and great camaraderie. Food alone would cost a team more than that!
Motel/camping is very reasonable, ranging from $44 to $72 per night. Try that at the Marriott!
The advantages of holding such an event in a TX-friendly small town!
Who else besides the Handy team is coming?

We are planning to ride TOSRV (http://www.tosrv.org/07/index.htm) May 12 & 13 from Columbus to Portsmouth and back. It will be our first organized ride on a tandem and our first century as well. Kind of ambitious given that we just bought our first tandem in Nov and only got two rides in early Dec before the weather closed in. We are watching the rain melt the last (I hope) of the snow today, and hopefully wash most of the salt and crud off the road. Tommorow may be our first outdoor ride of the year, though probably on our singles. Its supposed to get into the mid 40s and sunny. Next week in the 50s!!! Got to get some miles and saddle time before May....

Rudy & Kay-We look forward to meeting you in La Grange! 'Young-at-Heart Seniors' like yourselves are my inspiration for later in life. How can you be old if you ride a bicycle, especially a tandem?

Old is only a frame of mind. I know 40 year olds that are old in their looks and thinking and 70+ year olds that are young. We moved to Florida to find the "fountain of youth" and we found it in tandeming.

George Handy team: Looking foreward to see U-2 in LaGrange; we'll be doing the senior-friendly shorter rides . . . inspiration = part perspiration!
CGinOhio: enjoy TOSRV . . .that was our first back-to-back century on a tandem way back in (gasp!) 1975.
It's rather tandem-friendly terrain with some rollers but do bring some raingear as it usually gets wet in that neck of the woods on Mothers Day weekend. We got lucky and had 2 dry days, the next year they had a tornado!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

Horsey hundred
Prarie state tandem rally (PSTR)
Eastern tandem rally (ETR)
Midwest tandem rally (MTR)


Benjamin

Horsey hundred
Prarie state tandem rally (PSTR)
Eastern tandem rally (ETR)
Midwest tandem rally (MTR)


Benjamin

Wow, we'll be at three of those. :)

May 10 - 13; Mother's Day Tandem Rally in Kentucky (Santana)
June 1-3; Tennessee Tandem Rally
June 17-23: TRIRI - Southern Indiana
Aug 10 - 12: Eastern Tandem Rally
August 31 - Sept 3: Midwest Tandem Rally
Hilly Hundred in Oct. if I can talk my stoker into it.

Looking forward to a great season of riding. Went with our friends today on a beautiful, sunny 60 degree day for the first time this season. It was great, and on Tuesday, I hope to pick up my new Calfee Tetra Tetra. I will post it on " show me your tandem" shortly.
Counselguy

-august 4 to 10, Le Grand tour, about 100km every day, 2000 cyclists, by velo quebec in the charlevoix-saguenay region in Quebec.

Other than that, nothing planned, maybe cape cod april 6-9
some club rides imporvised trips.

Touring Ride In Rural Indiana......http://www.triri.org/isp-triri.html...

My first time ever to Indiana. Somehow have missed it during the years. I hope its cooler in June than Texas.

trsnrtr, what make and color of tandem do you ride? and what are your names, I ride on a green cannondale, the captian has drop handlebars and the stoker has a sort of bmx style bar, we als run a license plate on the back of our's and it has my name and my stokers name on it also, maybe we'll meet you at some of those?

Benjamin