Practice ride

Short Practice Ride

So, with last week’s beautifully warm weather, sunny skies, and dry roads, we decided to make a short practice ride with the tandem and trailer.  The idea of “practice makes perfect” has a bit of truth to it. 

The first leg of the trip was to be only about four miles, doing an errand and helping out a relative.  It started easy enough, with no problems going from Portland to South Portland except the usual unison and togetherness issues we experience at the beginning of the season.  We love each other dearly and do have some similar traits, but biking styles isn’t one of them.  When riding a tandem communication is key, such as warning your riding partner when shifting gears, the sudden appearance of pot holes and dips (of which there are many here in Maine), and of course the need to “glide” so as to reposition oneself on the seat.  Let’s just say that we have some work to do. 

The ride home was going to be a longer ride as we planned to head down the Greenway into Scarborough, back through South Portland, and then Portland.  Nice idea, great day, what could go wrong?  Yeah…about that.

The South Portland Greenway, part of the Eastern Greenway, is a lovely paved path winding through very picturesque areas of the city.  It does follow an old railway line and as such crosses many city streets and business driveways.  As such, there are quite a few of the “vehicle barriers” along the path.  You know, the large wooden posts inserted in the ground to discourage motorized vehicles from traversing the bike/ped path.  Can you see where this is going?

As any bicyclist will tell you, there is a comfort level one must reach when getting back on the road in the spring.  That hasn’t quite been reached yet.  The captain of the tandem’s job is to guide the bike, with riding partner and trailer, through the many obstacles of the ride – in this case the vehicle barriers.  In the immortal words of Get Smart’s, Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, “Missed it by that much.” 

You see, the trailer is offset to the left of the bike by a bit, so the alignment wasn’t quite as correct as needed and the speed was a bit too fast.  Now, no cause to worry as there were no personal injuries to report and the trailer seems fine.  Unfortunately, the tandem had to be put out of its misery.  They shoot horses don’t they?  Just kidding.  We were able to contact the local bike rescue squad, our daughter Becca, and she helped to load the poor baby up and take her to the bike hospital for repair of the rear wheel.  It seems that five or so of the forty eight spokes were “taken out” in the incident. 

The doctors and technicians at Back Bay Bike Shop on Forest Avenue in Portland have her now.  It is encouraging to hear their comments, such as “We have the technology.  We can rebuild her.”  That sounds familiar, doesn’t it?  Anyway, we look forward to getting her back and enjoying the pleasures of tandem cycling; and yes, I know, stay to the right more.