Prepping to Ride Across the Country: The Ride

So, when you say you're going to ride your bike across the country, people will typically react in either an excited, skeptical, or impressed manner (or any combination of those three). However, when you tell them you're going to be riding a tandem bicycle to get from one end to another...those reactions get a little amplified. You also get your fair share of really bad jokes about one person doing all the work/couples arguing/etc.

Our mighty steed - we still need a name for it!!

On the back there, you can see our BOB trailer, which we'll be using to carry all of our clothes, equipment, tent, sleeping bag, food, and everything else. There's a flag sticking up off the back to help us get noticed by drivers, too! Sweet!

All smiles

In case you were wondering, the front and the back riders of the tandem have different names. The front rider, which will be me, is called the "Captain" and the rear rider, which will be Erin, is the "Stoker." The Stoker provides a majority of the power and the Captain controls the gears and steering. It's been a learning process and requires a lot of coordination, but we're getting the hang of it. We can start pretty well together, which is awesome.

Special handlebars for a special boy....

We got the bike used for a really good price (tandems ain't cheap), but used bikes come with used parts. We took the bike to a local shop and they ended up replacing the gear shifters and brake levers. I've got a bad shoulder, so Erin found a really cool set of handlebars that allow for some serious customization. I'm able to set each individual bar to different heights and angles, which is super nice. We've also got a drum brake attached to the rear wheel, which really helps slowing down once we've picked up some speed. With the weight of such a big bike, the trailer, and two adults, we can really get cruisin!

Rear axle and drum brake

We're heading off to Maine tomorrow, so we're pretty excited to get started! We've rented a car and will be packing it up with our bike and things, and then making the drive up from here in Virginia. Hopefully we won't hit too much traffic!