Double the Fun?

The tandem.
Oh, the tandem. When I first asked my parents if I could bring it to school freshman year I had no idea how much it would come to mean to not only me, but my friends (one at a time, on the back).

We used it a lot sophomore year; I would take my roommates to their classes, pick them up at the end, and then we would ride to lunch. The perfect date. Also the tandem always came in handy when someone had had a few too many beers but didn't want to get a BUI. Solution: put 'em on the back of the tandem.

More recently, I've had to use the tandem as my main bike, since my regular bike was stolen (and found again--actually a really good story; I ended up picking a lock and confronting a kid outside of Wilbur Dining...) and now has a flat tire. LUCKILY, I have the tandem as a fall-back option!

The tandem has some pros and cons however, when used as a regular bike.

Pros:
I do not have to walk
I can give people a ride if need be
People get out of the WAY for the tandem
Nobody will steal it (tooooo obvious)

Cons:
Dead weight with nobody on the back
Tandem--not so good on hills
Turning is more difficult
The stares I receive

And yes, there are some stares. Some people get really excited and yell "Tandem!" Most old men who are creepy try to make a joke like "looks like you lost someone on the back". ha.

Sometimes I think about whether I could use a tandem to get bros, like, ride by and offer one a ride, then ride off into the sunset (as long as it's not uphill). This has not happened. My interactions with people because of the tandem have been:

"Oh my god, are you ok?" (when I took a turn too sharply and the back handlebars caught on a pole...NOVICE)
"SWEET BIKE"
"Well, looks like I'm caught on the tandem" (some kid whose sleeve got snagged on the tandem handle bars)
"TANDEMMMM!"
"My mom said she saw the strangest sight today! Someone was riding a bike, but it had an extra seat on the back! But she was riding by herself! I said, 'Mom, I think I might know that girl'"



none of these involve sunsets. HowEVER one thing the tandem does do is spark conversations (even if they're with freshmen and their moms, talking about what a strange sight I am), so I'm not giving up hope.

Thanks, Tandem.