I've been busy with work and work-related stuff, and Cindy and I have both been busy (although she's been busier) with home improvement (we hope) projects. We also saw the demise of our old computer, which has made the management of images more challenging. Eventually we'll figure out how to replace it. So the blogging is behind.
We're still working on getting the girls' mountain tandem ready for off-pavement use, and in particular the Iceman Cometh in November. The green tandem, our girls MT800, got a suspension fork to make riding on rugged terrain more manageable. Since it's really hard to do a wheelie on a tandem, getting over obstacles without some front squish is more difficult than it is on a one-person bike.
We've been talking about upgrading the old bike for several years, and we finally took the first step with that new fork. Since the fork seems to be working well, I think we'll soon take step two, which will be a new tandem disc wheelset. Note that at the moment the front and rear wheels don't match. We're using a spare front wheel we had that was disc-compatible so it would work with the new fork (although it is not a tandem-rated wheel), but the rear is still the stock non-disc wheel.
These photos were taken on our new 'training loop.' We'll be trying to ride it a few times a week in order to stay (or get) in shape for the fall rides. Cindy and I tracked the loop when we rode it together on the big black tandem last week. It's a nice route on a few miles of paved roads and some easy trails through our parks. Most importantly, we can do it from home without loading the bikes on the van. Click here to link to the route.
