Trish
& Phill's Tandem TransAmerican
Tour 2003
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Tour 2003
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The BikeOur bike is a Cannondale MT2000. We purchased the machine from new. Originally the bike had nobly tyres, suspension front forks and straight bars back and front. In its favour it had the right number/size of gears we will need for the big hills we will encounter. It has a longer frame, we changed the front forks to "Fat Boy" (rigid type). We changed the saddles, Phill opted for a Brooks leather saddle. They are said to take about 1000km of riding before they are comfortable. Phill now reckons the seat is very comfortable. Trish chose a "centre vented" type with gel cushioning. We kept the rear suspension seat post because a stoker (tandemist's name for the person at the rear of the bike) feels a lot more bumps in the road than the captain (the guy at the front) who can see the road in front. We will pass through 10 States as we travel over 7000 km and it is estimated we will turn the pedals 1.7 million times. The wheels will turn 2.16 million and the BOB trailer wheel will turn 2.75 million times, all approximately of course. We will start at sea level and at Hoosier Pass (our highest elevation) in the Rockies, we will be at 11529 feet (3514 m) The bike when boxed with a few bits and pieces such as a pump, bottles (4), locks, helmets, ready for departure to the USA weighs in at 37 kg. The trailer is about 5 kg and the tent around 2kg. Our bag with the rest of the stuff we will take is about 13 kg. The bag with all the electronics in will also need counting into the total weight we are carrying around. We bought a couple of matching helmets (blue & Yellow) to match the bike days before the flight to ensure we will look good. We figure if we can't peddle very fast then at least we will look stylish! Having said that A grown man in lycra shorts can never look stylish can he?
One of the things any cyclist knows is that the hands and backside can quickly ache if the position is not correct. Thistle Fabrication located in Kwinana WA welded a special aluminium set of Bar Ends for the bike. The Bars end have the same profile as normal dropped bars with the advantage of forward position grips too. Total effect is a wide variety of hand positions........ now if only something could be done to help the butt. | |||||
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Page owned & maintained by Trish Collins email to trishphill@aapt.net.au. Last Updated 28/07/2003 |
