Off-Road Tandem

Malcolm Boyd's account:

Teams Troike, and Boyd and Allison met at Atsion Ranger Station at 10AM, and drove seven miles off road into the Pine Barrens to the start of the ride, east of the Batsto River's Quaker Bridge. We warmed up on some small dual track, then progressed to a lengthy section of single track through the Pines to ascend(!) nearby Jemima Mount, which, at 101 feet in elevation, towers 30 feet above the surrounding woods. With breezy clear skies and temperatures hovering around freezing, we kept moving except for the occasional stop to clear brush or downed trees from the track, as well as a few pauses to remount transfer chains derailed by the lowbush blueberry. The few puddles encountered were easily avoided, probably a wise move since the Wharton lifeguards were off duty this early in the season. Lunch was a standup affair, yet formal by B&A standards, meaning gloves were removed. About two and a half hours of riding in the mixed pine and oak forest. A fine day was had by all, and we hope to repeat it again in February.

Well, it was only two teams on Sunday, but we had enough fun for a lot more. What can I say about a ride where you never shift from the little ring and the average speed was under 10 mph? It was wonderful. We spent about 2 hours riding some beautiful double and single track that was well suited to tandems. Malcolm and Judy even had a nice hill climb to throw in. We had never spun the back tire trying to climb a hill before. Yeah it was steep. We only fell, I think, 3 times, but I'm only counting those times our butts actually hit the ground. And then there was the one time I wound up hanging from a tree branch with one hand, holding the front brake with the other, and was still clipped in, but we didn't fall.

It was a really great day, didn't break anything on the bike or ourselves. Thanks a lot, Malcolm and Judy, for a great ride.

We will be back for more.