We took our tandem out the other day and rode the path parallel to Marine Drive along the Columbia River. We only did about 10 miles, but it was a gorgeous 10 miles. (At home we have a shiny aluminum Santana Sovereign tandem that we sometimes ride…)
The nice thing about riding in the stoker position on a tandem (also known as "the back") is that I can whip out my camera (or iPhone, in this case) and take photos while pedaling.
There's an RV park out there that I know some of you have stayed at when in Portland, and if you go back and want a nice bike ride from the park, this is it. You'll even get the occasional great view of a huge plane flying overhead! (We saw a few hawks and herons, as well.)
We've decided to replace our Dahon folding bikes with some custom-made Bike Friday folding bikes that we test rode down in Eugene a couple weeks ago. We're going with the Bike Friday Silk … they are SO smooth (belt drive) and they ride much more like a regular full-size bicycle than our present folders do. We didn't skimp much on the Dahons when we bought them (seems we paid 600-700 bucks each for them about 5 or more years ago, using the $1000 I won on penny slots with $20 in Vegas). We get a lot of use out of them when we're on the road but they're a fairly basic folding bike.
The way we're outfitting the Bike Friday Silks is not at all basic. We're going totally high tech bike with vintage old school styling and they're gonna be SO cool. I'm going glossy white with darker leather saddle and accessories, and Kevin's going black with honey leather accessories. Here, I'll even be geeky enough to show you the super nerdy mood board I've been making while adding links to the "things I might want for my new bike" Pinterest board (which you can see here if you're into geeky stylish bike stuff):
I'm so happy to finally have found the bell that was on my bike in Holland, too!! The Crane sakura springy bell…this bell has the best tactile bell action! Remember when you were a kid, laying on the floor in your room, doinging that little thing behind the door that kept the door from hitting the wall…over and over again so it made that sound and you got to feel that springy action?
It's like that, only smaller. And it makes a nice clear "ding" sound to alert those on the path ahead of you. (I'm hoping I can limit myself to using it only when necessary so I don't drive Kevin insane OMG enough with the bell already!!!)
Crane Bell Co. makes these bells, and they come in spring versions and lever versions (but why bother with a boring lever, really?)
So there you go. Update on the Airstream's folding bikes!
