weekend adventures and some bike porn

hi everyone!

hope everyone's week is going awesomely. this past weekend we tested out gilbert, our tandem and boy was it super weird but nothing i can't over come. a tandem is set up a little different then a normal bike. the person in the front, the mister,  is called the "captain". this person has full control of the bike, meaning that they steer, brake and shift. they are also in charge of pedaling although the person in the bike ME called the "stoker"  pedals as well but our pedaling is in unison so if the captain is pedaling that means i am pedaling...if the captain is coasting then the stoker is coasting. that all was easy but also a bit awkward as i have no control over anything...so the mister aka the captain has to call out what he is doing so that we can ride as smoothly as possible. once we get used to riding as a unit then he won't need to call out what he is doing. since the captain has so much control of the riding it is hard for me, someone who likes being in control very hard not to want to help turn the bike or pedal when he coast or the opposite...when we turn i tense up which is not good and it makes it harder for the captain to make a smooth turn...we definitely need to practice more as stopping and starting is kinda awkward too...we both have to start and stop at the same time but it will get easier as we practice more and more....we road around the park which was empty thank god! gilbert has two sets of chains and in the back there are two on either side of me and at one point my shoelace got stuck which frightened the bejesus out of me...poor shoelace! after riding around a bit we had to switch the handle bars as i hate drop bars and i was putting way to much weight on my wrists...we went back to the house to change the bars for me which made turning more balanced for me.

it was too much trying to take pictures of us riding gilbert so here is some bike porn of gilbert looking so pretty in the park with the fall leaves...

we didn't take the tandem out on the iron horse trail as i just didn't feel comfortable yet being on the road with cars and not being familiar with riding gilbert yet so we took mary and bob out. we stopped at the farmers market and the library before we jumped on bart and bought the YUMMIEST samosas at the market!!

the ride was really great but since the trail cuts through neighborhoods we had to stop and start again every mile or so which got kinda of annoying but it was such a great workout that i woudl totally go again. a nice 20 something mile on a BEAUTIFUL day is sublime! also the scenery was so pretty , all the trees changing colors and the air smelled so sweet and fresh from it raining the day before. we had a great time...although i have come to the conclusion that i am terribly out of shape! so i gotta crack that whip and feel the burn! here are some pictures of our ride...check out my funky outfit! i loved riding around in it!!!

taking a break to eat some pb&j

at one of the many stops...waiting for the light to turn green

a little sweaty after the long ride :

i hope you all have a fantastic weekend! we are off up north to hang out with our little niece who is turning two and then it is craft time on sunday for me!!


xo,
cb