Back in the end of May Tyson came home with a new surprise. This is one thing that I did not exactly expect. A green tandem bicycle. He found Les and Rob on Kijiji that had theirs for sale because they had upgraded to a newer model. They rode their “Green Machine” for a couple of years and now have intentions of taking their shiny set of wheels over to Europe and exploring some new countryside together. You can see more about their journeys and adventures at their site here!

We instantly had to go for a ride! With the kids Croozer attached to the back we ventured out to cheer on our friends son’s football game.

Then some trips over to Friends houses for dinner. A couple weeks after that we took Bexley and Lidija down to the grandparents house for some run around time. Any excuse to get out and ride around was great. We found ourselves driving less and enjoying cycling more. Tyson has been biking rather seriously for many many years now so I trust him enough to be up front with all the steering and braking. Me, I enjoy being a motor in the back and take in the views. I can also check on the girls, take some pictures and even do some fake peddling without Tyson really seeing.

We would drag the girls around everywhere, grocery runs, beer store and to the down town park on Thursdays to enjoy some live music. I feel like riding a tandem bike tends to get a lot of looks as they are not really all that popular. Adding the trailer really ends up turning heads as well. Being nearly 14′ long and 3′ wide really has people staring and smiling….and laughing….and pointing. Hard to take things all that serious when you are out cruising around.

Our latest trip was to enjoy what was going to be the last real day of summer in the Okanagan for 2019. We loaded up the trailer with lunch, some beach gear and sand toys for the girls and headed off to Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park to enjoy the waters of Jade and Juniper Bay. Only really a 40 minute ride from our door but with having a bike path nearly the full distance keeps you off the road and free to move at your own pace. We found a perfect little place in the sand and relaxed in the 30 degree heat before jumping in for a swim. Ate our lunch, girls played in the sand, ate rocks and sticks as they usually do.

The girls have never really had any issues being in the trailer. Just mostly just sleep, bobble around and stare out the windows. We find is does get a little hot back there at times so we try to choose our trips accordingly. The paths we choose play a large part as well as the turning radius is sub par and the wide birth and length can easily end up in the curbs or not fully being out of traffic.

All in all, the tandem has been a great addition to the family as we get out more, are close enough to have a conversation while riding and it seems to really slow down the pace a little. All welcomed bonuses to life in general.