Confession: I don’t know how to ride a bike. No one taught me when I was young and I never had the inclination to learn when I got older. So when my hubby suggested that we get a tandem bike so we could ride together, a part of me went “Yay!” and a part of […]
Confession: I don’t know how to ride a bike. No one taught me when I was young and I never had the inclination to learn when I got older.
So when my hubby suggested that we get a tandem bike so we could ride together, a part of me went “Yay!” and a part of me was “What the h— are you thinking?!?”
Deep inside, I knew this was my hubby’s way of taking me on that “magic carpet ride,” so to speak, so I channeled my inner Jasmine and became excited for it.
We first tried to buy one that has already been made. It was not easy. We tried all the online options, we tried FB bike groups, tried looking for options abroad, but my hubby had specific requirements that none of the ready-made tandems could meet. So . . . he said . . . there was no other way, he was just going to have to build one.
Much as I get excited with puzzles, math problems, music and writing, my hubby gets excited with building projects, so he embarked on building our bike: which we fondly call our twins, Tanny & Demi.
First, he bought two separate bikes. Then, he cut and broke them up. Then he took the parts he needed and with the help of a welder, fused those parts together. Hubby did the sanding and the painting. Then he went and added lots and lots of key pieces he bought from different sources. He had people help him with some tasks, but it was really him doing most of the work. When he is in one of his building projects, he gets into a zone and he doesn’t leave it until he has completed everything.
As I saw the bike taking shape, the part of me that went, “What the h— were you thinking?!?” was already concocting scenarios which would end in me being all bruised and bloody after I flew off the bike. But the “Yay” part of me was also excited.
Here’s a short video of what went into Tan&Dem’s creation, ending with the completion just in time for my birthday!
I got flowers and my first bike helmet as well.
Yay!
What the—