On Sunday, Percy told Julia and me that he needed to see a man about a horse. Then he rephrased : a bicycle. On Monday, I went with Percy to find the man with the bike. We arrived at the meeting place (a Catholic church) where we found a sketchy white van (thanks to the DC sniper, they will forever creep me out) and met the man who was selling his bike. He opened the van and pulled out a beautiful, red bicycle. Of the two-seated variety.
The bicycle man told us about the biking he'd done, the tandem rides he and his wife had ridden, how he started biking, where we could learn about biking, where we should ride, how we could find out more about this bike, his Element, his white van, his wife's car, Hurricane Isabel, and at least a dozen other topics, as Percy inquired about the bike and looked it over. We took it for a test spin around the parking lot, and I think at that moment Percy was sold. I don't understand how ideas come into his head, but this one ranks among the best. After an almost-intense debate about whether or not the bike would fit in Percy's car, we discovered that it did, and Percy made a purchase of a tandem bike.
The bike is meant to provide transportation for Percy and a roommate to and from school next semester. In the meantime, the roommate is out of state for the summer and I am riding "stoker." (The front seat is called the captain; the backseat the stoker.)
We followed a bike path yesterday from a park to historic Jamestowne, a 14 mile ride that went by gloriously fast. We started learning each others' balance and cycling habit, and Percy is learning to communicate the minutest of details, such as "I'm braking now," or "Stop pedaling." I am learning to play a constant trust game, since I can't see ahead, steer, or brake, and thus discovering how hard it is for me to give up control.
In general, riding a tandem bike goes as smoothly as riding a normal bike, with the added factor of compensating for someone else's balance -- as he is compensating for the balance as well. The tricky parts are the starting and stopping, which require more coordination and balance. Our starts have become smoother over only two days, so it shouldn't be long before it is flawless.
Today, we went down to CW and on the parkway. We saw more people and therefore got more stares. Normally, I hate when people look at me, but today I just felt awesome. I know the look of people who just saw something that made their day -- I wear it often enough -- and we were definitely a day-maker for several people. Including a car of little old ladies who smiled and laughed and waved. We managed to keep up with them for a few seconds, but 25 mph is still a challenge. We'll get better though.
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