Tandem Cycling - Centuries, Holidays, and a Greenspeed

Saturday 17 September - Rowan and I rode our September Century on our tandem - 161 km. Total time: 7:45. Ride time: 6:40.

Today was a lovely spring day - high of 23C, light cloud, and (surprisingly) tailwinds most of the day. We did have about 50 km into the headwinds, but not bad.

The route was one we had done before, except that we did it the opposite direction and we exchanged one road for another, quieter, one ... now that an old bridge there has opened again. It's a nice route ... quiet roads, a few little hills to keep things interesting, and very rural.

And we were in a race ... briefly. :D We almost kept up with the slower bunch up front. :D


Minor roadside repair ...
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6184/6154958955_bb794dd89e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-bb/sets/72157627564770835/)

Kirwans Bridge - a historic bridge which was closed for a while, and needs repairs, but they decided it was all right for now and opened it in March ...
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6183/6155503588_6b12538101_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-bb/sets/72157627564770835/detail/)

Machka ...
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6076/6155566878_4f59b60ae4_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-bb/sets/72157627564770835/detail/)


Of the 9 centuries we have done this year so far as a part of the Century-A-Month challenge, we have done 7 of them on our tandem. :)

But for this century, we were also becoming reacquainted with our tandem. We were on holidays in August and the last ride on the tandem was toward the end of July. When we returned, we were not well, so we didn't get back on the tandem till the middle of this week. And I missed riding the tandem. :) I love riding my single bicycle, but I also love riding the tandem.

While we were on holidays, we had the opportunity to ride a Greenspeed tandem. What fun!! :D It would be great to have one of those to play with now and then ... or maybe to rent one for rides every so often. After being warned that they can be a bit tippy at high speeds on corners, I was a little bit apprehensive on the corners, but it was a blast ... so glad we took our friends up on the opportunity to give it a go. :D

Century a month, we are impressed, what a goal! but what we are really jealous of, SPRING!
R&J

Trikes are fun. Bet the tandem trike was a h of a lot of fun.

Comments on that Kirwan bridge . . .
Why on earth would they lay the planks in that direction instead of across?
Looks like a tandem wheel could catch in one of thopse wider gaps.
Heard exactly that happening (crash/screams) on a covered bridge on the east coast in the US.
Have seen a couple Greenspeeds here, but they are rare.
Tailwinds are a rare happening (we had one on today's tandem toot) so enjoy them TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

The bridge is very, very old ... like 100 years or so. That's how they built them back then. And yes, wheels could easily get caught so that's why we walked across.

In fact, the front wheel dropped into one of the gaps as I walked the tandem across the bridge We run 28C Duranos, so they aren't skinny by any stretch. It sure brought me and the bike to a sudden and complete halt. I would not have considered riding across.

The planks are laid that way because the timber beams underneath are lateral, so the planks "span" between them. Most old timber bridges I've seen in Australia were built like that although there is another old timber bridge near us that has the base planks laterally placed, then longtiudinal wheel "tracks" laid over the top. We choose to ride in the middle between the two wheel tracks.

One of the greatest saves I've seen on a bike was the partner of a touring mate of mine. She crossed a bridge planked like this one, dropped a wheel into a gap, swerved violently to the right then back again as she exited the bridge. She stayed upright by some miracle, and everyone's heart was in their mouths.

Good on ya to walk across a bridge like that!
You don't want to dump the bike and the stoker!
Some of the planked older bridges we've crossed are actually covered bridges, so your eyeballs have to adjust pretty fast between sunshine and near-darkness on those type bridges.
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

Century a month, we are impressed, what a goal! but what we are really jealous of, SPRING!
R&J

We've both done Century-A-Months several years since 2003 (I've done it in 2003, 2005, 2006, and missed it by one month (December) in 2008). We're building back up to long distances, after going through a rough couple years, and thought that this year we'd try another CAM challenge to help motivate us to get out there and do longer distances regularly.

It's also giving us a great opportunity to get comfortable on the tandem for long distances.

But yes ... spring is here in this part of the world! :) The temperatures are warming up, and the time changes in just over a week so that we'll have an extra hour of daylight in the evenings.