It Takes Two to Tandem

Book excerpt: It Takes Two to Tandem Louise and Nev, have been linked for 32 years through their wedding vows. Now Louise is going to be linked to Nev through the steel of a tandem bike frame as they ride for sixteen days, travelling 880 miles through the United Kingdom, from John O'Groats to Lands End. Nev with a history of success in mountain bike racing is determined to do this trip. Louise, concerned about keeping up with his superior prowess isn't so sure. The tandem bike, will force them to ride together and face a new challenge of working completely in unison. As if muscle fatigue wasn't enough to contend with, the summer of the ride was to be one of the wettest in the United Kingdom since records began. Louise, in the subordinate rear position, blocks out the long miles of tedious leg rotations with recollections of travel in these regions, embarked on in their early years of married life. Train journeys link the British cycling epic with loops of tandem riding in Tuscany and Provence. While at a more relaxed cycling pace, the hauling of luggage and the inability to meet train schedules while travelling with an oversized tandem in tow, presents further obstacles and tribulations that threaten the very core of their relationship.