Cycling: It’s a Father & Daughter Thing
The old Pashley tandem I bought a few weeks back is nearly finished. Finished enough to ride at any rate. Which is precisely what we did a couple of times over the weekend.
Just after Daughter got back from school on Friday, I finally picked up the extra-long tandem gear cable I needed, and fitted it. I hadn’t been able to use the original, as I’ve replaced the rear mech with a somewhat more modern (only about 20 years old . . .) Shimano 105 unit, and the cable entry point was completely different. As soon as I’d fitted the cable, and taken the bike for a couple of spins around the block to check the adjustment, we loaded up & headed off to the pool for Daughter’s swimming lesson.
It was uphill work on the way there (and I’m not sure that I had as much help as I’d have hoped . . . ), but an absolute blast on the way back.
Then on Sunday, we went across on the Shields Ferry to the end of the Great North Run. Last year we stationed ourselves on the Tyne Bridge & took loads of photos, so I thought it would be good to see it at the other end.
Not so much.
With all the funneling of runners, the crowds end up pretty bunched up & it’s hard to get a good view (or to quote Daughter, “All I can see is people’s bums!”. She’s such a lady. Really.) I mean, just to get an idea of the crowd control problems caused by the shear numbers of runners, take a look at this photo of the area for processing the goody bags:
So we hung around a bit, and killed a bit of time riding up & down the South Shields beach promenade, eating our lunch and finishing it off with a couple of ice creams. Finally, the event we’d both really come to see took place - just as we finished the ices, the Red Arrows turned up to do their stuff. With the sky so clear, we had a great view of the display.
But then it was time to go home - past experience of the Great North Run had told me that the ferry would be really busy, so we rode through the gridlock of cars transporting runners home, and up to Jarrow and the Tyne’s foot tunnel. It was a bit of a squeeze getting Daisy into the lift (the escellators weren’t working), but we made it in the end.
Workout:
- Type: Cycle
- Date: 10/05/2008
- Total Time: 2:00:00.00
- Distance: 24 miles
- Average Speed: 12 mph
I saw you both at the top of Burnside Road, where it meets the Broadway. The yellow tandem was fairly distinctive. Between the ages of 3 and 7 my youngest son used to ride behind me on a Tag-a-long, which he called the ‘cycle cycle’. Pedestrians were forever informing me that ’son’ was not pedaling, particularly when we were on hills. I remember too the challenge of cramming both bikes into the lift at the Pedestrian Tyne Tunnel. On long rides he was inclined to fall asleep at the handlebars, fortunately no damage ever came of it.
I keep talking to her while we ride - I don’t mind her having her feet up on the frame (who am I kidding - she’s ruining the paintwork
), but worry about her falling asleep. The funny thing is that on bigger hills, she does pedal. It’s tough for her, because even with the saddle right down, it’s still a little high. But even so, the effort her little 7 year-old legs add make a huge difference!
Next time you see us, make sure you say ‘Hi’!