This week I’ve been reminiscing about Felkerino’s and my very first tandem, a dark gray aluminum Cannondale mountain frame.
During our first two years plus of riding together, the Cannondale tandem was our steed of choice. We took it on tour from Rockville, Md. up to Niagara Falls, made it through two Super Randonneur series’, and even rode it on the Seattle International Randonneurs’ Cascade 1200K in 2006. It was a great long-distance touring bike for us.
These days the Cannondale tandem isn’t seeing that kind of action; it’s on another type of adventure. Felkerino and his daughter now use it for getting around the streets of Washington, D.C. (and even Arlington, Va., if we feel really inspired).
Converting the tandem for Felkerino and DF allows us to still use our bikes as our primary mode of transportation. That makes me happy because I only somewhat like Metro and I really don’t like driving. And it makes Felkerino happy because he loves having many velocipedes in the rotation.
A tandem is not something most people see every day, although I have noticed that there are at least one or two tandem commuting couples in the city. People love watching Felkerino and DF ride together and I often hear exclamations from children as well as adults about the “two-people bicycle.”
The Cannondale was a good brevet bike for us and now it is perfect for use on around-town errands and touring about. It’s a great transportation solution for the three of us. Everybody rides happy. Most of the time, anyway!
Hey, did you hear the news that Friday is here? It’s true! Happy mailbox chasing!
