0 comment Sunday, August 17, 2014 | admin
Normally, a jaunt up to Wash Park from my house is not the most noteworthy ride, but today it was.
I was coming home from work, and was thinking, "man, I need to go running, I've been on the bike too much, and need to stretch my legs a different way." I then pulled out my cell phone (yes, while riding. I know, bad citizen) and called my sister Erin to see what she was up to (Erin lives upstairs from me).
me - "What are you doing right now?"
Erin - "Nothing"
me - "Do you want to go running in Wash Park?"
Erin - "Sure, but I have to bring Barkley (Erin's awesome Yorkie), he needs a walk"
me - "OK, do you want to take the tandem?"
Erin - "How will we take Barkley?"
me - I'll put him in my backpack."
Erin - "Oh, OK"
me - "See you in a few minutes"
(Barkley, along with L - R: Sarah, Nick, Angie, Nick, Erin, Me, Karen before the Urban Assault Race in July)
So a little backstory; for graduation from my master's program in June, my dad gave me his 1977 Schwinn Paramount Tandem (here's a similar one). It's a pretty esoteric ride, but has high end components throughout, and rides like a dream on account of the fillet brazed steel construction. The thing about Tandems is you have to seize every opportunity to ride them, or they'll just sit unused in your garage until they find their way onto Craigslist.
Also, about two weeks ago when I was dog sitting, I had to work bike parking at the Taste of Colorado, and didn't want to leave Barkley at home all day. I decided the most obvious way to get him there was to put him in my Speedo backpack (it has lots of vents). At first he hated it, but as soon as he got his head out of the zipper and felt the wind in his doggy face, he settled down and loved it. Now it feels like an old hat to him, and as soon as I put the pack on the floor, he'll walk right over and try to get in.
I don't have a picture of this scene, but imagine this: you are riding home from work on the Cherry Creek bike path, and from behind you hear a bell and an "on your left". Being a good citizen, you move over. You are then overtaken by a dude wearing running tights, a dog sticking his head out of a backpack that the dude is wearing, and a girl on the back who is trying to get the dog's hair unstuck from the zipper.
We road all the way to Wash Park from 8th Avenue this way, same thing on the way back. I got my run in at Wash Park, and the whole enterprise was a total blast. The tandem really flies, and the steel flexes nicely with the extra weight of a large Yorkshire Terrier on your back.
I was coming home from work, and was thinking, "man, I need to go running, I've been on the bike too much, and need to stretch my legs a different way." I then pulled out my cell phone (yes, while riding. I know, bad citizen) and called my sister Erin to see what she was up to (Erin lives upstairs from me).
me - "What are you doing right now?"
Erin - "Nothing"
me - "Do you want to go running in Wash Park?"
Erin - "Sure, but I have to bring Barkley (Erin's awesome Yorkie), he needs a walk"
me - "OK, do you want to take the tandem?"
Erin - "How will we take Barkley?"
me - I'll put him in my backpack."
Erin - "Oh, OK"
me - "See you in a few minutes"
(Barkley, along with L - R: Sarah, Nick, Angie, Nick, Erin, Me, Karen before the Urban Assault Race in July)
So a little backstory; for graduation from my master's program in June, my dad gave me his 1977 Schwinn Paramount Tandem (here's a similar one). It's a pretty esoteric ride, but has high end components throughout, and rides like a dream on account of the fillet brazed steel construction. The thing about Tandems is you have to seize every opportunity to ride them, or they'll just sit unused in your garage until they find their way onto Craigslist.
Also, about two weeks ago when I was dog sitting, I had to work bike parking at the Taste of Colorado, and didn't want to leave Barkley at home all day. I decided the most obvious way to get him there was to put him in my Speedo backpack (it has lots of vents). At first he hated it, but as soon as he got his head out of the zipper and felt the wind in his doggy face, he settled down and loved it. Now it feels like an old hat to him, and as soon as I put the pack on the floor, he'll walk right over and try to get in.
I don't have a picture of this scene, but imagine this: you are riding home from work on the Cherry Creek bike path, and from behind you hear a bell and an "on your left". Being a good citizen, you move over. You are then overtaken by a dude wearing running tights, a dog sticking his head out of a backpack that the dude is wearing, and a girl on the back who is trying to get the dog's hair unstuck from the zipper.
We road all the way to Wash Park from 8th Avenue this way, same thing on the way back. I got my run in at Wash Park, and the whole enterprise was a total blast. The tandem really flies, and the steel flexes nicely with the extra weight of a large Yorkshire Terrier on your back.
Labels: Tandems