Join in with your itch, what is it**********?

Part 1:

I got this itch to ride our tandem up GMR! Yeah, I know, a few others have climbed it on tandems but the teams I know are lightweights and good climbers. I'm talking a heavy weight team here!

Of course my plan would be to ride up but hitch a ride down to my truck. No way am I doing the GMR descenton the tandem. On Grand Ave we hit 56 mph on the downhill without pedaling and it was only about 3/4 mile long. So 8 miles with switchbacks, no thanks!

Back in 98, we did Baldy Rd to Shinn Rd (2 miles) but that was short. A couple of times we climbed Cajalco in Corona (76 miles into a century), more like GMR but only 3 miles in length. But we were younger then.

I'd try the 8 miles to the shack Jack! I say we make it but Gina has doubts. But again, I ain't coming down with V brakes.

Any of you "not so skinny", "not so good climbers" ever work your way up on a tandem?


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Part 2

What is your itch? Been wanting to try a ride that you "would like do" but have doubts?

I would "like to " ride my bike to the liquor store, but I "doubt" I have room on my handle bars for 2 six packs of beer.

Something tells me you've scratched that itch before!

Maybe a time or two.

You can't be serious about not wanting to ride back down. I say you let Gina ride shotgun in the truck and you find one of your "crazy" ride partners to bomb both ways with you. Heck, I would pay good money to see something like this. You might even get spectators, like at the Indy 500, hoping to see some kind of a fiery crash. I bet you could even charge money for the chance, just say you are doing it for charity. The possibilities are endless here Mr. Beanz. Put that always thinking mind of yours to work.

Fiery crash, yeah that's what scares me. The handling is a bit different on the tandem and I'd need practice before acing the descent at any kind of speed. GMR ain't the place to learn downhill on the tandem.

Take train to Seattle and ride home.

Hang with my parents in L.A. for the weekend and pedal home to San Diego.

Might take longer to "get" to Seattle than riding home.

Yes. I can't take a vacation until I retire. I'm hoping to do the trip in late summer 2014.

If you do this on a weekend let me know what day. I'll ride up with you two. I might be able to finally keep pace.

As for my itch, well penicillin took care of it, so it no longer itches.

Not sure if I can talk her up this weekend on the tandem but you'll be faaaaar ahead of us.

I meant any weekend, it's really the only chance I get to ride, oh and I beg to differ. I think you could pedal a full sized tractor trailer up the mountain faster then I can pedal my aluminum steed.

.....Cool! I'll let you know when she allows me to commit ourselves to this punishing event!

What?? You live two blocks from the beach in Oceanside. What the **** you going to do for retirement??

LOL Some people just never realize how good they have it.

Totally doable - although that's going to eat up at least 1/2 of the weekend :-) Of course, it also depends on what part of L.A. and what part of San Diego. There could easily be 25 miles difference there. You take the 1st half of the 70 mile LA River Ride down to Long Beach, and then you cut down 15 miles to Irvine and then The Amtrak Century covers the rest of the distance. 150 miles get you from Griffith Park to Petco Park.

Itching to take a ride from Irvine here down to Stone Brewery, hang for a few hours and take the train back. Haven't done it because I've heard that it's hard to get a spot on the train with a bike these days. So I'm sort of contemplating the ramifications of doing that round trip with a long stop in the middle

Get a motorhome and move to Niland.

You'll be a bit further from the Sea, and I hear people who live in Niland have to pay homage to Mecca.

Like to have 30 century this year & I'm almout there, 8 or 9 more to go

I'm in the mood for Palomar and Kitchen Creek in one ride. And yes, there will be pie in Julian.

I have an itch to buy a beach cruiser. I sell them at work and they look really nice for getting around town. I'm afraid I would feel like a traitor though.

Way to go Alex2. Wish I had even one.

My itch to scratch would be one of these two: A) to get Beanz to do Badwater in Death Valley to Whitney Portal in one shot. 138 miles with a gazillion feet of climbing, or B) get Beanz to go up to Lone Pine and do the 3 classics up there. Horseshoe Meadows, Whitney Portal, and Onion Valley. All 3 of them are killer rides with some of the best scenery you could imagine on a bike. (Not bad in a car as far as that goes.) Seeing how I have been slowly getting him to try rides he has never done before lately, this might not be as far out of the question as it sounds. Maybe turn it into a "anyone that wants to go" type thing. There has to be a few crazies out there willing to try.