What a horrible pun to use as the subject for this post. But, it really has been some time since we both jumped onto the tandem and went for a ride. A very long time.
We've had good excuses, like changing of jobs and being out of town for extended periods, but I (adjusts halo) have been riding up hills and commuting almost every day, Logan has been eating pies and making an arse-print on the sofa.
So, after a bit of cajoling, I managed to encourage Logan to detach himself from the couch and come out riding. Well, actually, not a lot of encouragement was required. He'd almost made it to the stage where he'd become fully inert but recognised his state before fossilisation had set in, and a ride was planned.
My preparation was a tramp over Bridal Path the day before, meaning my legs were good and sore. Logans preparation... well, he got dressed. Tracey (the wife) and I arrived on his doorstep, ready to go. A quick check of the bike, adjustment of the timing chain and we're off. It was decided to have a short, easy reintroduction to the tandem for Logan. Not too far, not too fast, not too hard.
The plan of attack was to do the short-cut ride to McLeans Island, and if time/bodies allowed, do a quick lap too. I was really impressed how quickly I got back into the groove on the bike, and even when just spinning the pedals, we were leaving poor Tracey behind. Once we got to the long straight gravel road to the river, we applied some speed and left her in our dust. Tandems can go fast!
We were still taking it easy as we turned left and followed the river all the way to McLeans Island track. A bit of gossip, a bit of grumbling, a bit of tinkering with the wheel and gears and before we knew it, we were at the McLeans Island track. I had been txting Tracey directions, but neither of us knew where she was, so we all turned tail and headed back.
Now, however, I thought it would be good to apply some power. I remember us hooning down this road at a great rate of knots, legs a blur, speedo spinning, lungs burning, and able to keep at it for a good long while. So, I cranked up the pace to 30kph and we tried to hold it. Slowly, we dropped to 29, then to 28, then Tracey called, slightly lost, and was directed back on track. She was less then a kilometer in front of us, so we'd expend the last of out energies catching her and would slowly spin to home. Back up to high speed, onto the short-cut road, and eventually we caught her and slowed down.
As we were going slowly, I decided we'd ride through the deep gravel a few times. When it's about6 inches to a foot deep, it eats all of your speed and takes a massive effort to keep riding. So I only did a few hundred meters like that. A couple of times. Logan appreciated it I'm sure.
We spun home and checked the clock. 33km for a reintroduction ride was not too bad. Done in about 90mins, top speed of 34kph. A couple more like that then we'll be hitting Rapaki and Kennedys Bush again. But which event to train for? Molesworth Muster in early November? Rainbow Rage in March next year? Tekapo in a years time? A few more rides and we'll know for sure. (If you see us gasping up a hill sometime soon, you'll know we picked Molesworth Muster!)
