On a bicycle built for two.. Its only a month until we leave now, so it’s starting to get real!
Six months ago there was no way I would even consider bicycle touring around anywhere, in fact this time last year I was only just getting on my bike in the city and it scared the bejeezus out of me! So many fast cars, so many hills (at least in Brisbane, where I was at the time), so much effort, -how could anyone consider this enjoyable?
Well something changed between now and then because cycling is now my main mode of transport and I hardly bat an eyelash when some young hooligan is fangin’ it down the street in their sports car next to me.
What a trip, so we have planned to ride down to Port Melbourne and catch a ferry across to Tasmania, then ride along the east coast for 6 weeks, stopping to volunteer at Falls Festival over new years then catching some of the Mona festival before flying home from Hobart. I have never been to Tasmania before and I’m so excited that this will be the way I first experience it, very slowly but surely.
Ive been doing a fair bit of training for this. As well as riding everywhere I can, I have been doing upper body, core and lower body workouts. Using some weights, going on some runs (until I get the inevitable side stitch), a bit of yoga here and there. Ive accidentally taken a timely break from all this over the past week so I will have to re-motivate myself and get back to it!
Joel and I have taken the tandem and ridden on some lovely rail trails around Victoria. We usually try to ride around 40km which is what we are planning to ride per day in Tas, or about 2 hours. We have all the gadgets now, a speedometer and a little sound system to make the ride very very sweet.
So about this tandem, Joel bought it a couple of months ago, after we decided at tandem cycling around Tasmania together in my summer break would be the best idea ever! We did a whole lot of eBay/gumtree watching and finally found the perfect-ish bike! We didn’t really know much in the world of tandems, so as long as it spun it was great. Its a retro french Gitane bike, which impresses everyone who knows about bikes apparently.. Score!
Joel’s has done a lot of research since then and has been working really hard for weeks and weeks to get it to tip top condition. And my request to paint it like a cow was fulfilled, which was bucket loads of fun!
Has anyone else done a tandem cycling tour before, or cycled around Tasmania? I’d love to hear about your experiences.
Watch out Tasmania, we are coming for you! (with lots and lots of love)
Pepper and Pomegranates 