Inspired by some of the awesome bike packing posts, a short family ride post.
We have been working on the best way to get out as a family and hopefully everyone enjoying themselves. The secret weapon has been the tandem (now nicked named the Tandemonium!). This allows me to do the heavy lifting for my son (even if he gets tired) so we can go a lot further.
The Cannondale T2 in XS is a great size, about a 58 cm in the front but about a 44 cm in the back so lots of flexibility. Without the suspension seat post I think a kid of 4ft 7 could ride on the back (with a long enough stem). I sense some major upgrades in the Tandemoiums future once parts come back in stock (maybe 12 speed AXS 
)
My wife can then cruise behind in the draft and watch us suffer on the hills! (she is actually happy in the shot below just concerned on the delay to coffee delivery!)
Next has been the promise of baked treats along the way. I found this route in the WCC library Sat - Recreational Loop - A bike ride in Waterloo, Ontario (ridewithgps.com) and with some minor tweaks to home this worked well. Ended up just under 40kms and St Jacobs was about half way. So we stopped every 10 kms ( 2 water breaks and the coffee / muffins at 20kms).
Terrible shot of my son and I stuffing muffins into our faces at the lovely Eco Cafe in St Jacobs:
The water / stretching breaks were useful to resolve any aches and pains as my son gets used to being on the bike for longer periods of time. Also got him some cheap kit from Decathlon which has been surprisingly good quality (https://www.decathlon.ca/).
I’m going to try and plunder the WCC archives for more fun, shorter routes to try.
Happy Riding!
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Oliver, I love how you made it a family affair.
I count…at least 5 WCC families who have a tandem bike. Oliver, Moe, Adam/Kari, Bruce, Alain, I was out with my family on ours today…a 1994 Trek T100.
Mostly it’s for my wife and I to boot around the neighbourhood. I’ve ridden it with my daughter in Tour du Grand and son in P2A. Nice way to get other family members on the bike.
Maybe an opportunity for a WCC Tandem Family Ride Around The Region one day.
Way to LEAD the way Oliver.
A.
P.S. Our Tandem is called, “The Divorcer”. Because we lend it to whomever wants to try it out with their spouse/family. And after riding it together…you are either bonded for life…or it’s the end! There is no in-between experience.
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Amazing,
I’m waiting for the kid to grow a few inches before I start looking. We are enjoying the awkward stage now where he is too small for a tandem but too big to two behind. I currently describe it a enforced intervals when he is sitting on the cargo bike, every hill is a mountain
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Tandems are a hard thing to find since you are basically looking for two bikes of the right size stuck together. Being tall it was really tough finding something that was big in the front and small at the back without going custom (which we still might do for version 3!). There are co-motions that have flexibility but they tend to go for silly money. I was looking for this size Cannondale for about 2 years. They do occasionally come up but have been pricey. I ended up getting a great deal from Nova Scotia but the shipping was shocking. I would suggest jumping on anything that will eventually work for the little one even if it means it sits for a while till they grow into it.
This was version 1 of the tandem. I built it up over time but as you can see from the picture I had one or two spacers to make it tall enough for me
Love Alain’s of a family ride around the region. Lots of clearance on the Cannondale so might but some gravel tires on it and see how we do on the gravel!
Thanks that has been pretty much my thinking. I figure it is two years before we could use anything but, i’m already keeping my eyes open.
I’m already missing the days of the followme tandem, joyful conversations and 60km/hr downhills where I had to pray the kid would cooperate with his rear brake.
I don’t know how to get a link to Facebook posts, but thought some of you might be interested in this recent post?
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