omegabeth

moominmolly

dilletante

• Tandems are way cool. Everyone we rode with seemed to be cheered up just having a tandem on the road. We became known to the rest of the riders, and later, by apparently random people in Provincetown, as "those crazy tandem people."
• omegabeth did not keel over and die from biking on her broken ankle.
• omegabeth actually finished in way better shape than I did.  By the end of the ride, she was doing the bulk of the hard cranking.
• omegabeth is clearly a mutant who has supernormal healing powers and possibly an adamantium endoskeleton.
• Good bike fit is really important.  Really really important. Like, as important as you thought it was, and then more important than that.  I did an okay job of sizing the tandem to me, but "okay" is not good enough, especially for a trip like this.  I finished the ride with severe numbness in the ring and little fingers of both hands, and profoundly diminished gripping strength.  Right now I can barely turn a key in a lock, put on my socks, or write my name.  Calling the doctor first thing in the morning.
• As important as it is to wear sunscreen, for the love of god remember not to wear it on your face. Because then when you start sweating, it melts and trickles down your forehead into your eyes, and it stings and you can't see and THAT WILL MAKE YOU DIE.

keyne

moominmolly

dilletante

soong

sandhawke

bubblebabble

bitty

inseriatim

omegabeth

106.7 miles: Wellfleet, originally uploaded by qwrrty.

The end of the Cape Cod Rail Trail!

90.1 miles: impromptu shift lever fix, originally uploaded by qwrrty.

Awesome Braid Chick's shift lever failed on her. We were unable to
repair it but got her in shape to make it to the next bike shop.

74 miles: Barnstable stretch break, originally uploaded by qwrrty.

I am a lot more tired at this point than I usually am. Bleh! Pace
yourself, I said.

33.03 miles, originally uploaded by qwrrty.

First adjustment!

It's that time of year again! By evening we will be in sunny Provincetown, MA. I will be photoblogging the ride as usual. Please feel free to take me off your default reading list for the duration if the picspam annoys you too much. :-)

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Left Kendall: 4:55pm
Arrived Mosaic: 8:50pm

moominmolly warned me that riding a tandem means communicating constantly about everything. So true! Braking! Shifting! Turning! Stopping!

In our case it was particularly about shifting, since changing gears unexpectedly is really mean to Beth's ankle. By the end of the ride I was getting a lot better at doing it smoothly, but still need practice.

And pedaling! Pedaling needs to be coordinated. The cranks on a tandem are locked in sync, so you can't coast unless your partner does too. So weird!

Notes:
• tighten shifter cables
• swap seats
• rotate stoker handlebars up a bit
• thank Molly and David profusely

On Sunday, a couple of 30-mile loops to see if we think we can make it the whole way to Ptown. Onward!

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