Originally Posted by mrcase
I did the 20 mile today (I'm still a newbie). This was my first ride like this, so I guess I don't have anything to compare it to, but it was a great time. The weather was perfect. They had police blocking off the route. It was sort of a trip riding the parts of the route that took you through some major city streets that I wouldn't normally feel comfortable venturing on with a bike. The view off the bridge was beautiful and the incline wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Luckily, it was the first thing you really do.
There were all sort of people out there. There were some people that appeared to be grandparents with their pre-teen grandchildren and moms with their kids. There was one couple that did the 20 mile on a tandem bike with a little cart off the back presumably with their kid. They actually finished towards the front of the 20 mile pack!
Personally, I thought it was a great time!
Sounds like you had a good time and the route was well prepped.
Tandems can be quite fast if the two doing the pedaling have been doing it for awhile. Twice the power but without the drag. They tend to be slower on the hills going up but make up for it when the slope goes the other way. I'm riding with a tandem in the Seagull Century on Saturday (we'll see if I can keep it up with them).