Burley Nomad

With the temperatures here in Texas finally dropping below the 90 degree mark (32.2 Celcius), it's time to start thinking about camping. The UPS man dropped off our new Burley Nomad trailer the other day and I've been itching to try it out. The Nomad is Burley's touring model. I figured that we'd use a trailer rather than panniers to avoid putting too much weight on the bike-broken spokes appear to be a common problem afflicting people touring on tandems. I loaded the trailer with a bunch of camping gear, hooked it up to the tandem, and hit our local bike trails. I hardly noticed the trailer was back there. I'll post a review after we've had the opportunity to take the Nomad on a camping trip.

New Direction

After wallowing in self pity for the past three months I've finally snapped out of my funk. I was in a funk due to my failed cross country tour attempt. I know I said I wasn't going to kill myself to complete my ride, but after a lifetime of having "don't quit" "win at all costs" being drilled into my brain it's hard to switch over to retirement/ leisure mode. I was discussing this inner conflict with my wife when she made a comment that has changed things for both of us in a big way. She said that she'd like to go with me on a cross country tour. Long story short-we are the proud owners of a mid to early nineties Santana Arriva tandem. We've had a blast on this thing! I wish we had thought of this years ago. Riding a tandem is a whole different animal. Starts and stops have to be coordinated to avoid embarrassment or injury. Communication is essential. I don't know if we'll actually do a cross country tour but it will be great just having her with me on my rides around town.