Introductions - Jan and Scott from Ohio

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg2/scube54/2007Vacation024.jpg
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg2/scube54/2007Vacation108.jpg

Nice photos!

Is that where you live? Looks charming :) .

East Hill

No, I wish.
The picture of Jan is in north east New Hampshire, right on the VT border.
The picture of me is in Peachum, Vt.

Is that a Trek T1000?

Edit: actually it looks like an earlier model.

Love the photos of you and your daughter.

:D

No, it is a T50, a '93 model, I think. We decided not to spend alot until we knew for sure that tandeming was for us. Purchased it for $500 from the second owners, they had not ridden it very much. The original owners were avid riders in a local club who evidently had maintained it very well. It had all original parts.

You just made my wife's day, not bad for a 1955 model, eh?

You just made my wife's day, not bad for a 1955 model, eh?

:eek:

Welcome Jan & Scott, My wife won't ride with me but we have a few times rented a tandem and she seems not to mind going on the tandem. I was wondering if you both rode before the tandem or if you just started cycling. If I thought for sure that my wife would go with me I would buy a tandem tomorrow, I would sooner have her on the back than leave her at home even if she wasn,t really pedaling. I would ride a lot with one of my boy's but we now have a empty nest and I feel a little guilty leaving her behind. We seem to be about the same age as you so I am very interested in how you are making out riding tandem.
Lorraine & Scott

Hi Lorraine & Scott,
I first got into cycling through mountain biking about 20 years ago. I rode a fair amount on the road in the off season to try to stay in shape. I would put slicks on my mountain bike for the road. Finally, a couple of years ago I decided to start commuting to work and I bought my first road bike. Jan was never really interested in riding with me in the woods or on the road. She liked to ride on designated bike paths, but unfortunately we do not have any close to home. I started lurking here and learned about tandems and approached her with the idea last winter. We, too, have recently become empty nesters, and both love to spend our free time outdoors. It didn't take much to convince her to give it a try. Even though she had not cycled much, she was in pretty good shape physically. The popular opinion from the folks who frequent the Tandem Community here is: buy used or rent when getting started. We live in a rural area, so renting was not an option. We found an older used Trek through the Cincinnati Cycling Club for $500. We have really enjoyed riding it. We struggled a little in the beginning with starts/stops. We used alot of verbal commands until we got the hang of things. Now we are pretty used to riding, about the only problem we ocassionally have is with Jan anticipating my changing gears. I decided it was time to quit the verbal shifting commands, that will work out with a little more saddle time. We started out just doing 20 mile rides, and within a month or so, were doing 40-50 mile rides. We would usually go out for 3-5 hours at a time, stopping alot, and just enjoying the ride. Toward the end of the season we did a few 70 mile day trips. Jan is very comfortable riding stoker, she says because of my previous cycling experience, she trusts me as captain. She has asked me slow down a few times during some steep downhills. I do adhere to the "Stoker is always right, no matter what" theory. This year we plan on doing some touring. This is a great place to learn about tandems. Hope this helps!
Scott

Thanks for the advice Scott, it was helpfull hearing your story. I really enjoy doing loaded tours and I also commute to work, 109 days @ 25km last year. I don't do heavy rain, snow or temperatures below 5 celcius. I know that I will never get her to tour with me as I like to camp and her idea of roughing it is not getting the Holiday-Inn but rental is certainly a option for us. We have a shop about 45 minutes away that has 4 different types of tandems that they rent, mountain, road, road where the pedals are independant of each other and a tandem where you sit beside each other. I love the tandem with independant pedals, if she decides to stop pedaling then it doesn't affect me. The deal with this shop is they give you a rental card and if you end up buying a bike during that year they deduct your rental costs off the price. They have sold a lot of bikes that way. I guess come spring I'm going to persue the tandem option and see if I can get her to catch the cycling bug.
Thanks and happy cycling.
Scott

Nice pictures, where at in Ohio do you call home? Me Gahanna, just east of Columbus
Dave

Welcome! Yay more Ohioans!

scube... I thought I saw you over in C&V so you might appreciate what a real '55 model looks like.

There's a patina of age and use on the bike, it's a little heavy, and it's not as shiny as the newer models.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/lentonshop4.JPG

Jan - You do not look anything like a '55 model.

:D

scube - You are looking pretty good yourself.

Nice pictures, where at in Ohio do you call home? Me Gahanna, just east of Columbus
Dave

Hi Dave,
We live in southern Ohio, little village of Aberdeen (affectionately known as Scaberdeen). It's right on the Ohio River, across from Maysville, Ky. It's about 1 hour up river from Cincinnati. Have you ever ridden TOSRV? We're planning on riding this year.
Scott

Welcome! Yay more Ohioans!

Hi fuish,
Where in Ohio do you reside?

scube... I thought I saw you over in C&V so you might appreciate what a real '55 model looks like.

There's a patina of age and use on the bike, it's a little heavy, and it's not as shiny as the newer models.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/lentonshop4.JPG

Jan - You do not look anything like a '55 model.

:D

scube - You are looking pretty good yourself.

Hi 65er,
Yea, I posted photo of my Stingray. Nice '55 model you have. Is it pretty much original equipment? Is it English? Do you ride it much? A little history, please. You are very kind, Thanks!
Scott and Jan

scube - The bike is a 1955 Raleigh Lenton Sports fixed gear (English) and is pretty much all original save for the pedals and saddle.

I consider this to be my short tour bike and logged a fair number of miles on it last year.

Hi fuish,
Where in Ohio do you reside?

My husband and I reside near Columbus. :) You?