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Scary Things
Riding a tandem bicycle is possibly the SCARIEST thing I have done all year. I mean I knew going in that the balance would be iffy, and that if I rode on the back I would have to trust the steering and speed control to the person in front, but that was the least of it.
(I ended up on the back all afternoon because we couldn't manage at all with me in front, we haven't figured out why yet, I suspect it's because he was even less capable than me of relaxing and letting person in front have full control.)
Anyway, things to note if you have never been a short person riding second seat on a tandem: the scariest part is that you have zero visibility. Not only can you not control where the bike is going, you can't *see* where the bike is going. When were were on the rail trail, it was okay, but on the part of the trip that was on the road, I had no idea obstacles were coming until they were SIX INCHES FROM MY FACE. *And* I didn't dare physically react to being startled, because that might swerve the bike off course and kill us both. (Since the second rider doesn't steer, all the instincts you might have about leaning and balance are completely off kilter.)
I want someone to write fanfic about this now where partners who trust each other with their lives can't ride a tandem together without swerving into ditches. Or, like, pacific rim crossover where it's test #1 for drift compatibility. Because I suspect that's basically what drift compatibility is: ability to ride a tandem bike together first try. (note to fic writers considering this: the second-seat person's visibility is limited because all they can see is close-up view of first-seat person's ass. if that's relevant at all to fic writers' interests.)
Anyway we did about ten miles and by the end were were a lot better? Mostly because our instincts adapted, and because lead rider got better at warning me about things. The lack of visibility on the roads on the last stretch was still REALLY SCARY, though.
And speaking of scary things - National Novel Writing Month! Yes, I'm planning to do it this year. I'm going to go back to my science-fiction setting from, uh, 2010? But instead of attempting to do, like, a plot or a coherent story, I am going to use this thing I just programmed:
I don't see what could possibly go wrong here.
If anybody would like to be my writing buddy on the nano website, here is my mostly-unedited-from-last year profile on the nano site: melannen@nano. I'm basically just adding everybody back. If anybody would like to join me in random-chapter-ing, I am sure it will be delightful. And, as always, I will probably never get around to spamming my original fic filter with excerpts, but if you would like to be on it just in case, just let me know.
Okay, that's done, five minutes to midnight! Time to stare with despair at that three-year-old scrivener file.
(I ended up on the back all afternoon because we couldn't manage at all with me in front, we haven't figured out why yet, I suspect it's because he was even less capable than me of relaxing and letting person in front have full control.)
Anyway, things to note if you have never been a short person riding second seat on a tandem: the scariest part is that you have zero visibility. Not only can you not control where the bike is going, you can't *see* where the bike is going. When were were on the rail trail, it was okay, but on the part of the trip that was on the road, I had no idea obstacles were coming until they were SIX INCHES FROM MY FACE. *And* I didn't dare physically react to being startled, because that might swerve the bike off course and kill us both. (Since the second rider doesn't steer, all the instincts you might have about leaning and balance are completely off kilter.)
I want someone to write fanfic about this now where partners who trust each other with their lives can't ride a tandem together without swerving into ditches. Or, like, pacific rim crossover where it's test #1 for drift compatibility. Because I suspect that's basically what drift compatibility is: ability to ride a tandem bike together first try. (note to fic writers considering this: the second-seat person's visibility is limited because all they can see is close-up view of first-seat person's ass. if that's relevant at all to fic writers' interests.)
Anyway we did about ten miles and by the end were were a lot better? Mostly because our instincts adapted, and because lead rider got better at warning me about things. The lack of visibility on the roads on the last stretch was still REALLY SCARY, though.
And speaking of scary things - National Novel Writing Month! Yes, I'm planning to do it this year. I'm going to go back to my science-fiction setting from, uh, 2010? But instead of attempting to do, like, a plot or a coherent story, I am going to use this thing I just programmed:
The Les Miserables Random Chapter Generator
and let an extremely wordy 19th century French novelist decide what is going to happen in each day's writing, by way of pastiching said random chapter. Into pulp SF setting with characters vaguely based on 21st century European politicians. In plot based around the excitement and pageantry of economics. With bonus Stupid Language Tricks.I don't see what could possibly go wrong here.
If anybody would like to be my writing buddy on the nano website, here is my mostly-unedited-from-last year profile on the nano site: melannen@nano. I'm basically just adding everybody back. If anybody would like to join me in random-chapter-ing, I am sure it will be delightful. And, as always, I will probably never get around to spamming my original fic filter with excerpts, but if you would like to be on it just in case, just let me know.
Okay, that's done, five minutes to midnight! Time to stare with despair at that three-year-old scrivener file.
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There may be a window in which to teach tandeming, though. We put Catboy up on the tandem a couple of weeks ago, for the first time, and he took to it like a duck to water. Meanwhile we are trying to teach Herself to ride a solo bike and it is freaking her out.
I don't know how I would do with another adult, though. I would probably want to captain, but then I always want to drive, too...and the adult I'd probably be with is C., and I have spent a lot more of my life on bikes than he has. When Herself is bigger (and has learned to ride a single bike) I expect I'll stoke for her, though. But she and I have spent four years now tandeming and we're really good together.
ETA: Although, thinking about it, a frequently-bicycling friend and I were talking tandems the other day and she said that when she and her fellow-bike-fiend husband tandem, they have to talk constantly. I remember thinking that sounded very strange because about all I ever say is "push" when we've got to get up a hill or through an intersection or something, and "toe" when we've got to pull up the left pedals. So perhaps Herself and I are the weird ones. But then I can't hear worth a damn in traffic, so if we couldn't do it on instinct we'd be dead.
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Are you using a bike manufactured as a tandem, or one of those extensions that lets you attach a wheel and a kid to the back of a regular bike? Those put the second rider a lot farther back than a standard two-wheel tandem, so they also probably have much less visibility restriction problem for the second rider, I'd imagine.
But really I think if I tandem-biked regularly I'd get used to it pretty fast! It was just not being used to it, and not really having our coordination together yet, that was scary. (Also I was really slow and freaked out when I learned to ride solo, too, although I'm not sure how much of that was actually being scared and how much of it was enjoying feeling like I was allowed to be scared of something...)
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The Fridays have a really low standover height, which makes them extremely adjustable for kids and as kids grow.
Oh, I think tandeming for the first time with anyone who I'm not big enough to counterbalance, if they started to take us over, would be a long-pants-and-sleeves-and-no-traffic-at-first situation. But when you're going from a trail-a-bike to a tandem, it's MUCH easier.
ETA: Oh yes, I always captain. I love them but I've been riding in traffic for almost 30 years; they can try it once they're bigger. I think they'd have to be over 5 feet to captain even on a Friday, and Herself is still about six inches off that.
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If it's a fixed-speed tandem and it's dropping a chain, that's...not good. Is it dropping the rear chain (back pedals to rear wheel drive cog) or the timing chain (connects the two sets of pedals)?
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Boy says he's going to fix it before we try riding again! ...Boy is talking about things like switching it out for a fancy adjustable modern chain tensioner. I have my doubts.
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(I think the bike is basically this one - color's even the same - you can see the little gear down at the bottom of the timing chain.) ($500 antique? oh dear.)
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I kind of drool over these: http://www.co-motion.com/index.php/tandems/models/all_tandems They've come up with a completely different way to handle the small rider problem than BF has (and you can tell which I think is smarter by what I put my money into....)
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