Trish & Phill's Tandem TransAmerican

Tour 2003 

Jun 9 Pittsburg Lay-over

It was good to have a lie in this morning and not have to think about packing the tent. The first stop was the bike shop to get the front wheel built with 14 gauge spokes and get rid of the 16 gauge.

The hotel siad we could use there bar-b-q so we decided to do an Aussie Bar-b-q for tea as it was our turn to cook, we went over to the shops and bought the snaggers (sausage) hamburgers , salad etc. It turned out to be very nice.

It was also the official handing over from Brian our second leader to Fran our third leader, they tell us this is very unusual one leader would normally do the whole tour. For us it is not a big deal as we have got on very well with all three leaders

Fran & Brian

The chains on the bike are also getting old (about 4000 miles) so we need to change them out. Changing the chains and not the gear sprocket is not good practice as the new chain will often skip a tooth that is worn down, we are also changing the wheel sprocket (9 cluster).

The bike shop owner Roger also had other work from our group. He was meticulous in his wheel building (respoking the wheel), initially it looked like he would not be able to do the job until the next day but he then offered to come back to his shop that night and work on the bike till he was done. That turned out to be two AM ! Phill stayed at the shop with him till then. He will be tired in the morning and me too waiting up for his return.

I wonder how many city bike shop owners here or in Australia would work on a bike to finish it so it could be ridden the next day working till two AM. There were also some unexpected hitches in doing the job as the eccentric on the front bracket was seized. He was contemplating a heat torch to free it just prior to it freeing up. The front chain crank have an eccentric adjustment that is used to tension the timing chain between the front and back pedals   

Page owned & maintained by Trish Collins email to  trishphill@aapt.net.au.  Last Updated 28/07/2003