Riding a tandem is such a cool thing for us. With John being deafblind, riding a normal bike isn’t much of an option but having a tandem goes far beyond enabling John to ride a bike. There are few hurdles we’re unable to overcome, but most need a little more effort than what two sighted friends would have to put in. Even walking needs lots of concentration from us both; Lauren guiding and looking out for hazards and John carefully following each step. On a tandem, we are 100% a team and John’s disability becomes fairly insignificant. We work together, John supplying the power and Lauren keeping us going on the right direction. This is why we love tandem riding so much and decided to get ourselves something ready for a big adventure: Santos DoubleTravel.
We picked up our bike in Chichester and couldn’t wait to take it for a spin. A few adjustments here and there, predominantly switching the ladies and mens Brooks saddles and we were ready to ride.
We headed to Windsor, a place with endless quiet lanes, nice views and a few hills to see what we could do on the bike. In the end, we were fairly late heading out and the sun was setting, but it wasn’t enough to deter us. We rode for about half an hour and watched the sun setting over Virginia water, until a 4×4 rolled up, with crown estate wardens inside. It turns out the park closes at dusk and you get kicked out of the nearest gate, for us, a long way from where we wanted to be. The wardens were busy ushering out those on foot so we slipped down the road behind them and hot footed it back the way we came. We thought we got away with it, but more headlights soon greeted us.
”Are you guys ok?” – Warden
”Yes, we’re just a bit lost I think”
We we’re not lost at all, but we needed a story. The warden was nice, she tried to get us back through but the powers on the other end of the radio said no. She handed us a map, some directions and opened a gate, so map in hand, we trundled through not quite sure of where we were or where we were going. The lane was dark and cars were beginning to queue behind us when we found ourselves hurtling downhill. We didn’t know how fast but we managed to lose the headlights behind us. We were rocketing downhill in the dark. The reason we lost the cars: we were doing 38.7mph according to strava: The fastest we had ever been on a tandem. We made it back in no time at all!
Our next trip out was in daylight. We really got to know our bike and get used to it’s features and handling and start to test it’s limits. One thing we really like is the number of bottle cages: No less than 7! Enough for a days supply of water, none of which would have to be carried in the pannier bags. The bike is light, fast and maneuverable. It doesn’t even mind a bit of rough ground.
Riding it in John’s hometown of Birmingham was a good test. We took the DoubleTravel into the city via the canal towpath which has lots short uphill sections by the locks. The Santos made light work of them and we managed some climbs we’d never managed beforehand. The bike is light and easy to lift over the bike gates that are impossible for tandems but most of the time we don’t have to. The canal has locked gates for wheelchair uses that operate on the Radar key scheme, the same as disabled toilets and lucky for us, John has one!
This bike will be perfect for a bigger adventure. We have ideas, but nothing planned as yet. We don’t really do half as much planning as we should do so I’m sure one day very soon we’ll grab the tandem and find an adventure.