Originally Posted by
Alex & Deya
That is a cool pic
You are so lucky. Were you riding your tandem?
I guess the picture would have been more appropriate had the tandem been in the background, which we were riding.
It was one of those great days of riding that you can not possibly plan. Our original plan was to ride about 50 miles on this particular day. Unfortunately I blew out our front tire due to overinflating and we ended up only riding 20 miles very cautious miles.
As a result of the blowout I spent quite a bit of time with 2 guys at the local bike rental shop that can best be referred to as Daryl and his brother Daryl, I then went and visited their cousin Daryl at the local auto repair shop. The result of this time spent was I learned you can not get a replacement tire for your tandem on this Island. I made a boot for the 1 1/2inch tear in the side wall out of some fiberglass screening that was covering a squirrel hole on the side of the rental shop.
We were about a mile down the road and a guy pulls up next to us in a car and inquires about the tandem. We talk and I tell him we are taking it easy due to the tire problem. He thinks he may have a tire we could use and suggests we stop by his house to take a look. It turns out that any tire he has is 20 plus years old and our booted tire is in much better shape than anything he has. I saw a book of upholstery samples and used a swatch to improve the quality of our boot. This guy suggests a couple of wineries and sends us on our way.
The picture is at Stoney ridge winery where we spent a couple of hours, talking to members of the local croquet club, a real live sheep rancher and drinking some excellent wine. We left Stoney ridge and headed to a nearby beach. After the beach we went to the Mudbrick winery for a great 4 star dinner with a view that rivaled any you might see in Tuscany. We sat down for dinner at 6, our waiter gave us the check at 7:45 and told us we might still be able to make the 8:00 O'clock ferry. We wobbled down the road just making the ferry and catching a sunset on our way back to Auckland.
12 hour day, 20 miles of riding, 3 flats, If we never had another chance to ride our tandem I think both my wife and I would agree that this particular day would have made all the money spent on the tandem an excellent investment.