I'm glad to say we have now picked up our second bike, which currently resides in my kitchen. It is quite a beast - sleek and fast, effortless to ride... until it stops working. Which it did within 2 miles of getting on it.
Myself and Mercer went to London town to pick the beast up. Crack of dawn start to Paddington to meet the fella who'd been kind/foolish enough to lend it to us (Thanks to Rob Lewis of Scott Wilson fame), and then the simple task of cycling the 30 miles back to mine via central, south and outer London and Croydon. Easy enough - 30 miles is no more that 2 1/2 hours on a tandem when going for it a bit.
Anyway, we walked it to a suitable central London side-street (meaning only 50 people were looking at us) and mounted up, A to Z in pocket. We started off brilliantly - apart from Mercer having to sit like a Baboon - and caused much attention through Hyde Park. Heading towards Victoria became chocca though, so we opted to dismount and walk - it was quicker. Then beyond Victoria on Vauxhall Bridge Road I was forced to tell Mercer to put his legs into it. He was. I was. And we weren't particularly moving.
Sods law had dictated that our journey was over. The rear wheel was about as straight as Graham Norton in a Dutch Gay club. I can assure you that walking the damn thing to Victoria to catch a train home was difficult - the bike weighs a damn ton! And from Victoria to Sevenoaks is the most convoluted route ever known to man.
Anyway, we eventually made it and were looking forward to a three mile walk home carrying the equivalent of the QE2 in terms of weight. On the off-chance I suggested we try Kwik Fit for a spanner and some mechanical help, worth a try at least. The bloke who we talked to not only knew his way around bikes, he was totally up for helping us - result. 10 minutes and some fettling later we had a completely ridable bike once again, and home we zoomed!
Not quite the trip we envisaged, but a mini adventure none-the-less.
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Friday, 12 June 2009
Progress so far...
The blog has been started by my fellow cyclists, and I feel I should also add my special words of wisdom at this early stage.
As has previously been mentioned, we are well under way with our training and feeling steadily confident about our ability to not only ride a tandem, but do so without falling off! Testing the tandem has been an interesting experience which has given us an idea of what will be expected of us when we are in the South-West of the country with very little with us...basically ride like mad to get home!
So far we have tested one of the two tandems we hope to take with us, with Sam and Ben collecting the second one tomorrow (Saturday 13th July). Once we have both tandems in our possession, we aim to do a few test runs as a group to see how we get on. As of yet, the chances are that we may not be able to do this until the first week in July, however we will keep you posted with any developments.
On the plus side, I have been contacting some of the local media to try and boost the publicity with the aim of bringing in more sponsors for our chosen charities. I have heard back from the 'Thanet Gazette' who have suggested writing a report about it. We are in talks at the moment but will keep you posted of any developments in the near future.
So far we have had a few people who have donated through the JustGive website, and some via the sponsor forms we created. Many thanks to those of you who have been able to sponsor us so far. Your help is much appreciated!
We hope the rest of you are able to sponsor as soon as you can, either through the JustGive website or via one of the 'tandem trekkers'. All of your help, support and sponsors mean a lot to both ourselves and the chosen charities. In the words of those over repeated yet catchy Tesco adverts..."Every Little Helps".
Remember to follow us on the Facebook group as well as on this blog to keep track of any developments and progress we make!
Justgiving - The Tandem Trek 2009 (to sponsor - The Kent Air Ambulance)
Justgiving - The Tandem Trek 2009 (to sponsor - The Pilgrims Hospice)
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=75279440807 (Our Facebook page)
Thanks again for all of your support so far.
Dan (and the team)
As has previously been mentioned, we are well under way with our training and feeling steadily confident about our ability to not only ride a tandem, but do so without falling off! Testing the tandem has been an interesting experience which has given us an idea of what will be expected of us when we are in the South-West of the country with very little with us...basically ride like mad to get home!
So far we have tested one of the two tandems we hope to take with us, with Sam and Ben collecting the second one tomorrow (Saturday 13th July). Once we have both tandems in our possession, we aim to do a few test runs as a group to see how we get on. As of yet, the chances are that we may not be able to do this until the first week in July, however we will keep you posted with any developments.
On the plus side, I have been contacting some of the local media to try and boost the publicity with the aim of bringing in more sponsors for our chosen charities. I have heard back from the 'Thanet Gazette' who have suggested writing a report about it. We are in talks at the moment but will keep you posted of any developments in the near future.
So far we have had a few people who have donated through the JustGive website, and some via the sponsor forms we created. Many thanks to those of you who have been able to sponsor us so far. Your help is much appreciated!
We hope the rest of you are able to sponsor as soon as you can, either through the JustGive website or via one of the 'tandem trekkers'. All of your help, support and sponsors mean a lot to both ourselves and the chosen charities. In the words of those over repeated yet catchy Tesco adverts..."Every Little Helps".
Remember to follow us on the Facebook group as well as on this blog to keep track of any developments and progress we make!
Justgiving - The Tandem Trek 2009 (to sponsor - The Kent Air Ambulance)
Justgiving - The Tandem Trek 2009 (to sponsor - The Pilgrims Hospice)
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=75279440807 (Our Facebook page)
Thanks again for all of your support so far.
Dan (and the team)
Monday, 8 June 2009
Practice so far...
Well Mercer has started this off so I'm going to add my two pence and talk about the practice so far.
You may or may not have seen the old PG Tips advert with the monkeys riding on a tandem with the hook 'Can you ride tandem?'. Well these monkey's were bloody clever chaps because the answer to said hook was initially a very weighty 'No'. On the plus side we could fall off, wobble, ride in a trajectory modelled on a plate of Spaghetti and swear with quite some proficiency. But at first, two people in harmony - poetry in movement - eluded us like a podium eludes Ferrari in the F1.
It's a weird affair, this tandeming business. On a normal bike you push off and away you go, seemingly balancing as if it were as natural as walking. You can turn relatively tightly, dodge pot holes, skip over bumps and ruts. It's even possible to cycle without sitting down for whole journeys when you are your own boss. However, once you put balance in the hands of two proficient cyclists on the same machine, far from doubling stability, what actually happens is a crash. It is - at first - the least natural feeling you could imagine. This is especially true on the back, where in essence you are just another engine. Your job is to provide power and sit in a relatively upright fashion. When your natural instinct says steer, or adjust your balance you simply must ignore it. That's up to the bloke up-front to decide.
Starting off is perhaps the biggest trauma. The trick is to give it a jolly good push, and on the back at least, just sit tight. Forget about putting your feet back down - it's the man-up-front's job to keep the thing on two wheels whilst momentum is gained. If this fails to happen or someone goes out of rythm, that's it - bruised ankles at dawn. You have to remember that both sets of pedals are connected via a chain and if one person cycles, the other must follow suit.
If - by some chance - you do end up cycling in a straight and level fashion, there is the problem of getting to a corner. Both riders must lean into said bend equally, or it all goes a little jelly like. And forget about taking avoiding action for pot holes and ruts, if you haven't seen it 20 feet away and taken avoiding action, you're going in it. Simple as that. But eventually it clicks and you both work out what the other is doing.
Once this has happened tandeming is a joyous experience. You can keep momentum far easier than on a normal bike, and when on the back you can just sit and check out the scenery. Trust the person in front, or be trusted not to steer into a ditch, and it really is poetic. Yes, you look like a pair of screaming poofters, but those on their normal bikes aren't having half as much fun, and nor are they going half as quickly.
I'll get some pictures up on here - hopefully tomorrow, and more will follow. A video is in the pipeline, and once on the trip this will be the place to come to track our progress (or lack of).
Also, please let your friends and family know about this, and in the words of that unwashed and rather twatish Irishman Geldof; 'Give us your Fuck!ng money!'
www.justgiving.com/tandemtrek09
www.justgiving.com/tandemtrek2009
Ben
You may or may not have seen the old PG Tips advert with the monkeys riding on a tandem with the hook 'Can you ride tandem?'. Well these monkey's were bloody clever chaps because the answer to said hook was initially a very weighty 'No'. On the plus side we could fall off, wobble, ride in a trajectory modelled on a plate of Spaghetti and swear with quite some proficiency. But at first, two people in harmony - poetry in movement - eluded us like a podium eludes Ferrari in the F1.
It's a weird affair, this tandeming business. On a normal bike you push off and away you go, seemingly balancing as if it were as natural as walking. You can turn relatively tightly, dodge pot holes, skip over bumps and ruts. It's even possible to cycle without sitting down for whole journeys when you are your own boss. However, once you put balance in the hands of two proficient cyclists on the same machine, far from doubling stability, what actually happens is a crash. It is - at first - the least natural feeling you could imagine. This is especially true on the back, where in essence you are just another engine. Your job is to provide power and sit in a relatively upright fashion. When your natural instinct says steer, or adjust your balance you simply must ignore it. That's up to the bloke up-front to decide.
Starting off is perhaps the biggest trauma. The trick is to give it a jolly good push, and on the back at least, just sit tight. Forget about putting your feet back down - it's the man-up-front's job to keep the thing on two wheels whilst momentum is gained. If this fails to happen or someone goes out of rythm, that's it - bruised ankles at dawn. You have to remember that both sets of pedals are connected via a chain and if one person cycles, the other must follow suit.
If - by some chance - you do end up cycling in a straight and level fashion, there is the problem of getting to a corner. Both riders must lean into said bend equally, or it all goes a little jelly like. And forget about taking avoiding action for pot holes and ruts, if you haven't seen it 20 feet away and taken avoiding action, you're going in it. Simple as that. But eventually it clicks and you both work out what the other is doing.
Once this has happened tandeming is a joyous experience. You can keep momentum far easier than on a normal bike, and when on the back you can just sit and check out the scenery. Trust the person in front, or be trusted not to steer into a ditch, and it really is poetic. Yes, you look like a pair of screaming poofters, but those on their normal bikes aren't having half as much fun, and nor are they going half as quickly.
I'll get some pictures up on here - hopefully tomorrow, and more will follow. A video is in the pipeline, and once on the trip this will be the place to come to track our progress (or lack of).
Also, please let your friends and family know about this, and in the words of that unwashed and rather twatish Irishman Geldof; 'Give us your Fuck!ng money!'
www.justgiving.com/tandemtrek09
www.justgiving.com/tandemtrek2009
Ben
Hello all...
First blog of the series, and we will be keeping you informed of our progress through the coming weeks in the run up to the main event, as well as posting pictures and posts of our progress through out the two week trek.
If you are not familiar with the going's on, four of us (Ben White, Dan Warner, Joe Warner And Sam Mercer - Me) are undertaking a cycle ride from the most South Westerly point (Lands End) to the most South Easterly (North Foreland) point of the UK. We will be taking as Southern route as possible, keeping us going along the coast, and taking in the sights and sounds of the Isle of Wight too. Oh, and I forgot to mention, we will be on tandems...
Our aim is to raise money for two charities, Kent Air Ambulance (often referred to as KAA) and Pilgrim's Hospice (Pilgrim's). As well as the benefit of charities, we plan to have a damn good time riding across the breadth of the England, taking in the places, sights and sounds and raising as much money as possible.
We can't promise one everyday, although we will try our hardest. And we will post anything we saw through out the day, anything funny/interesting, as well as how many miles we have travelled that day.
We leave on the 18th of July from Sevenoaks and are taking the train down to Penzance, where we will stay in a hostel and then commence the ride on Sunday 19th July 2009. We are all really looking forward to it so please continue to check for updates and see how it is all going.
These websites are where it is possible to sponsor us, you'll see all the house keeping information when you get there.
http://www.justgiving.com/tandemtrek2009
http://www.justgiving.com/tandemtrek09
Thanks very much, and look forward to speaking to you again soon, and seeing you on our return, hurrah!!
Sam
If you are not familiar with the going's on, four of us (Ben White, Dan Warner, Joe Warner And Sam Mercer - Me) are undertaking a cycle ride from the most South Westerly point (Lands End) to the most South Easterly (North Foreland) point of the UK. We will be taking as Southern route as possible, keeping us going along the coast, and taking in the sights and sounds of the Isle of Wight too. Oh, and I forgot to mention, we will be on tandems...
Our aim is to raise money for two charities, Kent Air Ambulance (often referred to as KAA) and Pilgrim's Hospice (Pilgrim's). As well as the benefit of charities, we plan to have a damn good time riding across the breadth of the England, taking in the places, sights and sounds and raising as much money as possible.
We can't promise one everyday, although we will try our hardest. And we will post anything we saw through out the day, anything funny/interesting, as well as how many miles we have travelled that day.
We leave on the 18th of July from Sevenoaks and are taking the train down to Penzance, where we will stay in a hostel and then commence the ride on Sunday 19th July 2009. We are all really looking forward to it so please continue to check for updates and see how it is all going.
These websites are where it is possible to sponsor us, you'll see all the house keeping information when you get there.
http://www.justgiving.com/tandemtrek2009
http://www.justgiving.com/tandemtrek09
Thanks very much, and look forward to speaking to you again soon, and seeing you on our return, hurrah!!
Sam
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