aixaix 

So are we settled on the 26th of April? Can I camp in somebody's driveway Friday night?

pastorbobnlnh 

Top,

This might just end up being the deal we work out for my '65 SS which is too small for me. I'll email you later this weekend.

ScottRyder 

Do you mean real camping? Great place minutes from the start of the ride:

https://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr...tate-park.html

You could camp in my driveway but I'm north of Boston and two hours away from the Cape. My summer place won't be open till mid May ..

Scott

aixaix 

Thanks, Scott.
I have a VW camper that just needs a parking space to be a bedroom. Don't know if this qualifies as real camping, but it sure is comfortable & convenient. Looks like Nickerson is a good option.
I am hoping my wife will do this with me on our tandem.

pastorbobnlnh 

Update: If I can find a 22" Super Sport, Top will trade me his 24." Bring them on!

jimmuller 

Cool! Two vintage tandems! (Yours is vintage isn't it? I mean, it doesn't have to be, I guess. But it would be cool if it was, now wouldn't it?)

aixaix 

It is vintage 1980: a Bob Jackson. (Not a great choice of background, I know.)
My fierce and delicate wife will come. Barring disaster and foul weather, we will be there.
In our even more vintage (1976) VW Westfalia.

otg 

Ooooh!!

aixaix 

Well, my posts on this topic have elicited an ACK, an uh oh and an Ooooh.
I am proud of me.

I see a tandem in the photos on page one, but do not recognize it or its crew. Enlighten me, please.
BTW, I have a white beard as well: not as vigorous as that one, but with a similar philosophy. Should make for some amusing pix.

pastorbobnlnh 

The vintage tandem and its crew are Jim Muller (in the white beard) and his very petite wife.

otg 

The white beard belongs to Jimmuller, his co-pilot is Sharon, very nice folks.

jimmuller 

Thank you, otg (Dave).

In the first pic (post 4), Top506, a.k.a. Top, a.k.a. Mark, is in blue on the left, otg, a.k.a. Dave, is on the right. That's Sharon and myself in yellow. In the next pic (19), L to R is Pastor Bob, Neal Lerner, someone unknown to me, Scott Ryder. In the next pic (21) L to R is rootboy (Scott), a non-BF friend of ours from Connecticut (Bill), otg (Dave), Bill's wife Dee (or Di) who rides triathlons for fun, Pastor Bob, Scott Ryder, Sharon, and myself.

I do not recall Scott's lady friend in post 38. My bad. Something exotic like Heather or Joy or something. In the second pic is Top in blue and Dave in yellow.

There will be a quiz on this next week.

aixaix 

Thank you for attaching names to the pix, Jim. What is your tandem?

jimmuller 

That is a Peugeot TH8. Tenuous details suggest it is an '82 but we have no proof. I built it up from a bare frame that we obtained from (whom else?) Scott Ryder! It was raining, a gray dismal overcast day, with a steady wind blowing the steely mist through our trench coats and into our bones, a day only ducks could admire, a day for sitting at home in front of a warm fire with a glass of 12-year-old Scotch or double-punch IPA. Except we weren't, we were meeting Scott in a non-deserted parking lot to transfer bike parts and a frame with a past and until then little future. (I'm not making this up.)

Building up a vintage French tandem is a serious challenge. I've told the story before here in BF. First we had to make sure Sharon would fit, tough to do with no wheels. Then it needed painting badly because it had already been painted badly once before. The drivetrain was another hurdle, two BBs, gearing decisions, derailleurs. The derailleurs are Simplex, the brakes MAFAC cantis and Atom drum rigged as original, the captain's crank and pedals the original Peugeot-branded Stronglight and the original Lyotard. The stoker's crank is 140mm from Bikesmith Design. Some parts came from Tom Reingold.

Scott, you really need to ask your neighbor when she bought that bike!

Michael, if you need to you could park your VW in our driveway, and that of course would mean you are here to visit and use whatever facilities in the house would be convenient. We don't have a spare bedroom however, just a living room floor and a sofa which you are welcome to sleep on. We aren't close to the Cape however, about 1hr 10min away, just west of Boston.

I looked up the .com in your signature and turned up an interesting website with your picture. Nice stuff. I can see how you manage to maintain a Westfalia. FYI, we have an Aston-Martin/Lotus dealer about half a mile from the house. Iron far more interesting than my Spitfire and GT6 are occasionally seen roaming the neighborhood. From your BF name I had assumed you worked for IBM at one time. Shows you how much one can be mistaken from Internet clues!

aixaix 

A French tandem. My hat would be off to you if I were wearing one. A tug of the forelock will have to do; as much for your channeling Chandler/Hammett in your description of the transfer of ownership as your taking on and completing the project.
Our tandem came to me from Craigslist. A fellow in the Bronx was selling it. He was not far from our house, so I drove by to see it. The man was a collector. Of everything. The back yard and garage of his attached house was packed with stuff. Dishwashers, ranges, washer/driers, cars in pieces, pieces of car, barrels with blow-driers and other small appliances, shelves of boxes with who-knows-what: you get the idea. There were at least four punching bags on stands guarding the driveway, protected from the elements by inverted garbage cans. How many punching bags does one family need?
The bike was in excellent condition cosmetically, but it clearly hadn't been ridden or maintained in some time. It also sported some delightful period features: 27x 1/14" wheels with Phil Wood 48 spoke hubs and PW disc brakes, wired to Modolo duplex levers that also worked Shimano canti rim brakes. I paid the man and hustled it out of there.
It now has Campy brifters, VO fenders and a Miche headset. I also installed a grotesque but adjustable stem, a period-correct Jim Blackburn rack and some bells. The wheels are now 36 spoke 700c, as my wife and I together weigh less than 300 lbs and we don't carry much with us. If we use it for touring I'd consider heavier wheels. Right now, the bike's lightness is a blessing when sticking it on the roof of the car.
Do you tour with yours?
Thank you for your kind offer of driveway space and a bed. I think staying at the SP on the Cape makes more sense, as we will be getting in late Friday night, and Nickerson is so close to the trail we can sleep a bit later in the morning.

Aixaix has nothing to do with IBM. Aix is the genus name of the wood duck, one the most beautiful creatures on earth. I am not nearly so beautiful, but I pay it homage, hoping some of its pulchritude rubs off.

jimmuller 

First, thank you.

I am slightly familiar with the wood duck, a beautiful bird indeed. AIX was also the name IBM chose for their version of Unix a few decades ago. Though I like Unix I prefer the wood duck scenario.

We have toured a little on ours, the latest being chronicled here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...e-some-C-amp-V
We hope to do some more this summer but probably not camping the same way. We are somewhat limited by how we can get in and out in a day from our house. Plus, for our two rides we loaded the bike to 100lbs. We managed ~40 miles a day but it's not my favorite way to ride. Still, it affords flexibility not available without tent, bedding, and stove. Our team weight is about 275-280lbs so the bike has not too much trouble. The wheels are front 32-spoke 105 hub with A319 rim, the rear hub the original Atom on which I restrung a new A319 when the Matrix that was on when we got it started cracking maybe 1000 miles ago. That bike has been a good friend for several years now!

I don't think I'ver owned a punching bag. In fact, I'm sure of it. Yoiu should be glad you made it out with that tandem! You and photogravity should talk.

ScottRyder 

wow, what an interesting crew of people!!

Jim, my lady friend's name is Jennifer ... she'll hopefully meet us again this year on the trail at Nickerson after she get's out of her Saturday morning work .. Can't wait to see two vintage tandems on the trail!

Scott

top506

Nickerson is a lovely spot, and that early in the season you shouldn't have any trouble getting a campsite. Summer can be tough. Several years ago when my daughters were still little we managed to beat the odds and book five nights on one of the Flax Pond campsites.

Top

rumrunn6

for what it's worth the trail looked rideable yesterday in Eastham & Wellfleet. just some leaves and small mounds of snow

noglider 

Hmm, your question makes a point. Well, you could bring your folding bike, which is not a clunker. Or hey, I could loan you my Raleigh Twenty!

i really hope Carol and I can make it. The school districts are off that week, so it is conceivable. Would anyone want to take a ride on the 27th as well, to make it even more worthwhile? I'm going to invite Carol to read this thread, so behave.

I also would love to be there when Jim and Michael meet. The wit will make my head spin or my jaw drop.

Maybe we should bring some sheet music and instruments and have a jam session. Too often, we regret not being ready for that.

Should we be concerned about motel capacity in April?

aixaix 

Hi Tom,
Amy & I will stay on through Sunday.
A motel room shouldn't be difficult to find, since Cape Cod hosts tons of visitors in the summer. Car camping at Nickerson State Park is an option you might consider.

I understand Rootboy has built a guest cottage on his estate. Perhaps he will rent it to you. It is early enough in the season that the rattlesnakes living in the foundation may still be dormant.

I'm glad Carol is coming. This is shaping up to be a ride with a high percentage of women, which is a welcome change from the usual testosterone-drenched torturefests.

pastorbobnlnh 

Tom & Michael,

It will be great to see both of you again and a bonus to meet your wives! Just tried to convince Mrs. PB to join us and she says she will be in FL at that point--- even as much as she likes Cape Cod. So I'll be flying solo. I'll stay in Sandwich at my regular Inn. I like it there in that it gives me an easy ride to the CC Canal path to ride. I'll come down late Friday morning and stay through early afternoon Sunday before heading back to NH.

There's another Rail Trail (Shining Seas Bikeway) which runs about 11 miles from Falmouth down to the Harbor in Wood's Hole. A nice leisurely 22 mile round trip ride with a lunch possibility at a Seafood Sam's just off the trail. Part of the trail runs along the seashore.

nlerner

Hmm, depending on my daughter's spring crew schedule, I might actually be able to do this ride. Maybe I'll take this one:

pastorbobnlnh 

Neal "Fixter" Lerner?

Actually, it would be great to see you.

top506

I don't want to twist your arm, but I still owe you a beer or three for the Mafrac levers and Viscount fork.

Top