Hitting the Pavement

Riding a quad-tandem bike in the rain is not very much fun. Riding it in the wind is also not very much fun. However, falling on a quad-tandem bike is the worst.

A few days ago as we faced trying times, we were forced (read, made the decision) to ride the bike through these awful conditions. We decided our best course of action was to draft behind The Tandem Tour trailer. This nice little pocket of calm air allowed us to break through the wind, and increase our average speed. It worked for a little while, until our captain lost his concentration for a split second. In this split second, the bike got a little too close to the trailer, and as we leaned into the trailer to push out, we fell to the ground. 800 pounds of man and bike hitting the pavement in the pissing rain. Our combined weight made for an extra hard impact. Although I've never been dump tackled by a linebacker, I imagine it feels something like hitting the ground on a 4 man bike going 25 km/h.

We dusted ourselves off and carried on our tandem way. We braised the wind and rain, two more cracked rims (yes, the ones we had shipped in from Seattle) and the endless bouncing highway, until we made it to Regina. Bruised and battered, we rested.

Aside from a few tough times, a lot of fun is had on The Tandem Tour. Songs are sung, and silly dances are created daily. We make several roadside breaks along the way, to both rest and consume vast amounts of food, and during these rest breaks, we have fun. Jeff Belanger shows us the ins and outs of The Caribou 2-step, while Mat Murray shows us the delicate art of highway rock-throwing.

Tonight, we rest in Brandon, Manitoba. We were told about an open mic night at the double decker pub, and as we've turned into a bit of a travelling band, we jump at any opportunity to play music. The people at the pub love our cause, and are getting ready to throw us a fundraiser tonight. We will play some music and sing some songs.

Actually, riding a quad-tandem bike is kind of like us singing songs...we just make it up as we go along.

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