significant others...

[qheuie]

does anyone else have a significant other that rides? my girlfriend has been riding with me for almost 6 years now. it's really something when i follow her through the XX at lebanon watching her ride everything without even thinking about it. it sure is a major improvement from the days she was scared to ride over a small log in winona.
i just have to say that i sure am proud of my girlfriend, Michelle. :)

josh

[gopherhockey]

Wife Liz (Hathor) rode the teeter today... basically rides it all and improves each day. Seems like just yesterday she was having trouble getting over the logs in the intermediate trail.

Unfortunately due to schedules I don't often get to ride with her much... its been over half a year since I have had the pleasure.
does anyone else have a significant other that rides? my girlfriend has been riding with me for almost 6 years now. it's really something when i follow her through the XX at lebanon watching her ride everything without even thinking about it. it sure is a major improvement from the days she was scared to ride over a small log in winona.

i just have to say that i sure am proud of my girlfriend, Michelle. :)

josh

[Hathor]

Yeah, my S.O. rides, too. He's all right ;)

[TrailPatrol]

Yes, my wife rides. In fact I bought her a new Trek today for Mother's Day. All three of our girls ride, our two sons-in-law ride. One bought my old Trek 830 from me, and the other rode the Ironman Ride with me last month.:D Our three grandkids all ride in Burley trailers!

Ride safe,
:banana:
Hans

[fasterfoster]

does anyone else have a significant other that rides?
josh
I took my wife (then, girlfriend) mountain biking at Terrace Oaks in '91. She was just starting to get into it. Then she crashed hard in a downhill rut. Remember, this was the old Terrace. I finally got her to go out to Terrace again, and she crashed in a similar way.

She'll still ride open trails, but hardcore riding is out. Of course there's the difference of speed. To fix that we're buying a tandem today!

As far as the rest of the family, my 10 year old daughter rides with us and my 6 year old son is very hardcore. He'll ride everything at Lebanon, including the XX. I make him walk through the rock garden, but he even does the teeter. He's a BMX racer and did the Chili Chilly Race series with his studded 20"ers! I remember when they were younger, attaching a "co-pilot" for my daughter, then attaching a trailer to that to carry my son. We called it "The Train".

[syntaxjunkie]

my one attempt to ride with my then-girlfriend-now-wife was a quiet little disaster. not the unmitigated, fit-throwing, emergency-room-visit-requiring kind, but just enough to reinforce the idea that, while it's good to have things that you share, it's also good to have things that you don't.

[martini]

My wife rides too. She's even done a few races on her SS. I don't think she'll be gettign much riding in for the next few months what with the kids and all just being born. She's pretty good technically, but she doesn't like logs that much. She won't hesitate to ride the Farm though(and she rides damn near all of it too). Can't wait to ride with her again, though I think its gonna be a while... :embarass: :cryin:

[Mateo]

I ride with my girlfriend Rebecca 2 or 3 times a week usually, along with other friends we've been able to introduce into mtbing..

There's nothing better than getting your friends to hit Lebanon and having them email you the next day asking about which bike to buy! :)

[jaybird]

...with the kids and all just being born.
Congrats!!!! Amy mentioned the delivery came a little earlier than expected. But I hope you can clarify if it's child or children?

[TML]

Congrats!!!! Amy mentioned the delivery came a little earlier than expected. But I hope you can clarify if it's child or children?
Give us the news Marty!! Congrats!

[martini]

DOH! my bad...nothings here yet, just used the worng wording, thats all. Nothing happening as of yet. We're both wanting this thing out so we can meet it! I'll be sure to let out a message when it happens though!

[TML]

Ok, now that that's cleared up, I guess I'll get back to the topic. ;)

I'm looking forward to gettin out a lot more with my wife this season. Last season was pretty much a wash because of an ankle injury that she had. She's in the eagerly learning stages and is comfortable on the west end of the RB and some other gravel trails near our house. I'm looking forward to getting her over to Salem Hills in Inver Grove when that opens up as it will be a really nice, open and flowing trail that'll be great for beginners.

[jeffgude]

My wife and I rode MTB a lot before children. Not so much now. We get out on our tandem when we can though. Tandem riding works out great when one rider is less fit than the other. We've taken our Cannondale tandem off road at the river bottoms, the "old" Lebanon, in the Short and Fat, etc. Most of the time we ride on the road or spend the day on a paved trail like Cannon Valley trail.

[LightWeight]

I picked up a Burley for the kiddies to ride in this spring and now my wife is excited about riding again. We're going shopping this weekend to pick up a new bike for her. She's definitely not into off-roading. I think I'm going to get her something like this (http://eriksbikeshop.com/site/itemdetails.cfm?ID=2195&Catalog=39&sort=Price).

*edit*
Or maybe I should ask you fine folks... Are the hybrid bikes all their cracked up to be? Or is money better spent on a decent MTB? Again, she won't be doing any off-roading other than maybe gravel or crushed rock trails.

[PWAXON]

my one attempt to ride with my then-girlfriend-now-wife was a quiet little disaster. not the unmitigated, fit-throwing, emergency-room-visit-requiring kind, but just enough to reinforce the idea that, while it's good to have things that you share, it's also good to have things that you don't.
I had pretty much the same experience with my wife. She will do shorter road rides with me though. I am trying to talk her into a tandem I think that would be fun.

[noise_is_life]

I picked up a Burley for the kiddies to ride in this spring and now my wife is excited about riding again. We're going shopping this weekend to pick up a new bike for her. She's definitely not into off-roading. I think I'm going to get her something like this (http://eriksbikeshop.com/site/itemdetails.cfm?ID=2195&Catalog=39&sort=Price).

*edit*
Or maybe I should ask you fine folks... Are the hybrid bikes all their cracked up to be? Or is money better spent on a decent MTB? Again, she won't be doing any off-roading other than maybe gravel or crushed rock trails.
I've never been much for Hybrids/Comfort bikes, but you could get her something fun like a Rollo (http://www.rollobikes.com/), they apparently sell them at One on One (http://www.oneononebike.com/).

There are lots of other cruiser type bikes that always seem more interesting to me than hybrids.

[GearDaddy]

We did some riding together before the kiddies (10 years ago!). My wife is great - she tries things and doesn't complain. Hiking, biking, climbing, and canoeing - I always say she is the best canoe partner I've ever had (She "pulls a mean stroke"). Nowadays we kind of do our own things though.

Funny story - we once went MTB'ing at Telemark's trails. It had been a very wet spring and there were some big puddles out there. So, I told her to just keep pedaling consistently right through the puddles, rather than around them. Well at one point we split up, where she took a short-cut back to the lodge. Later I came upon a section of trail that had a pond about 50 feet across and was waist deep in the middle. She had to have gone on this same trail section earlier. I got off my bike and tip-toed around this small lake. When I met up with her later I asked what she did. Sure enough she pedaled right into the middle of it as I had instructed her to do earlier! Needless to say, she didn't make it all the way across. We were both having a good laugh over that one!

[TrailPatrol]

All three of our girls ride,
...the oldest, who has also run two marathons, was with me on our MTB trip through NW Russia in 1997!

:banana:
Hans

[fasterfoster]

I had pretty much the same experience with my wife. She will do shorter road rides with me though. I am trying to talk her into a tandem I think that would be fun.
Get a tandem! We just bought ours Friday and absolutely love it. No more complaining about being too far ahead, etc. We've only rode it on the road for now, but we'll do some easy trail riding as we get more comfortable.

[LightWeight]

I've never been much for Hybrids/Comfort bikes, but you could get her something fun like a Rollo (http://www.rollobikes.com/), they apparently sell them at One on One (http://www.oneononebike.com/).

There are lots of other cruiser type bikes that always seem more interesting to me than hybrids.
Well, I ended up getting her a Specialized Expedition (hybrid). She really likes it which is what's most important to me. We ended up riding a lot last weekend (before the rain hit). Maybe in a couple of years she'll be ready for something else and we can try tackling some trails together.

[bradpartyka]

Get a tandem!
I want to ride a tandem. Anyone know of any lakes or parks that you can rent them at?

[PWAXON]

I want to ride a tandem. Anyone know of any lakes or parks that you can rent them at?
Hoigaards in St Louis Park has rentals, I'm pretty sure they have tandems also. I was looking at doing the same.

[martini]

Tandems ROCK! I can't wait to get one for my family. As soon as the kid is old enough to be in a trailer, we'll more than likely be getting one. A custom Bob Brown w/700c wheels and clearance for big fat 2.1 tires so we can do the Chequamegon 40 on it together!

[halls]

Carol and I bought a mountain bike tandem two years ago. what riot. Great fun at the river bottoms, lake elmo, and cable. We can go the smooth tire route and hit some of the paved trails. Makes it much easier to hang together when riding.
:scream:

[funky-funky-chicken]

Tandems are a great way to share the riding experience. However, it depends a lot on the people. There are just some "teams" that don't work well together being tied to the same bicycle. Communication is very important. My wife, she gets scared when we ride... so, she's no longer interested in riding with me :cryin:

My favorite tandem story was from a freind of a freind riding with his wife for the first time off road. They were riding up near Chequamegon bombing down a trail. There was a branch offering low overhead clearance. The captain instinctively ducked, but didn't tell his wife. She wound up with a few missing teeth and a broken jaw!

[martini]

Yeah, they can go most places a single can go(with obvious limitations! I wouldn't take one to Lebanon for instance...). Look at Ventanna, they've got two FS tandems, Santanna has three models. In fact EVERY tandem maker has at aleast one MTB in the line up. You CAN'T endo a tandem either. Explore the net a bit and you'll find lots of info about tandem mtbing.

[KleinCrazy]

2 weeks ago I was out in Fruita and I saw a couple on a FS Ventana Tandem around Horsethief Bench. What I saw them ride was very impressive. I would guess they were able to ride everything that I was and probably some of the ledges that I had to drop they just rode over.

Very Impressive.

[TomT]

You CAN'T endo a tandem either.I witnessed a tandem endo 10+ years ago (1992?) at an Olympic trials at the Velodrome in Blane.

It starts with the front wheel collapsing, the fork impaling itself in the dirt, the captain being used as the fulcrum, and the stoker being catapulted for distance.


As I recall, the captain was in the hospital here for awhile before being transfered closer to his home in Atlanta. I don't know what the final outcome was.


You can endo a tandem!

[martini]

Ok, I stand corrected, but that was at speed, which certainly increases the physics of the whole matter. Screw that captain, what about the stoker who was thrown 7 or 8 feet in the air?!

[martini]

Yeah that whole area down by Sparta/Elroy is fantastic. If you want really mellow with good views, the railtrails are good. If you want more of a work out, but with the same scenery, by a Delorme Altas of Wisco, and map out several loops on the roads in the driftless area(the region you'll be in). The quality of the road riding there is absolutly phenominal. Deserted roads that twist, turn, climb and descend like our favorite singletrack. Awesome stuff there.

[TomT]

Screw that captain, what about the stoker who was thrown 7 or 8 feet in the air?!
I couldn't remember the exact details, except that people don't look good when they fly and that the stoker flew for a good distance. I was concerned about the stoker because it was a sight to see, however it was still the captain that did the face plant and was the pivot point for the launch of the stoker.

I found an article on the crash and was surprised to see that Marty Nothstein was the captain of the tandem that "caused" (as I remember it) the crash.

http://www.mndaily.com/daily/gopher-archives/1992/06/29/Crashes,_injuries_take_center_stage_at_national_cy cling_cham.txt

An article on the Internet from 1992? Who used the Internet in 1992?

Gotta love the Internet!

[berrywise]

Yeah, they can go most places a single can go(with obvious limitations! I wouldn't take one to Lebanon for instance...). Look at Ventanna, they've got two FS tandems, Santanna has three models. In fact EVERY tandem maker has at aleast one MTB in the line up. You CAN'T endo a tandem either. Explore the net a bit and you'll find lots of info about tandem mtbing.

Proof:
http://community.webshots.com/s/image3/8/35/57/1283557cCNhtPberQ_ph.jpg

-scott

[qheuie]

Scott,
Forbidden...
"You don't have permission to access /s/image3/8/35/57/1283557cCNhtPberQ_ph.jpg on this server."

How ya been? Congrats on the new house.

[berrywise]

Ahh trying to keep us from seeing the photo are they. Well they stole it in the first place and I doubt Magura would have a problem with some free advertising so here it is again (if I can figure out the attach image deal).

Life is good. How did ya hear about the house...either I mentioned it hear or you chatted with Steve...anyway I'm actually just renting a room in a house haha not too exciting. Sure makes my commute a little easier though.

I'm looking forward to riding some new trails up here. Do your ride Lebanon much? I have never been out there but am itching to learn some good routes. I'm pretty out of shape so I'm looking forward to riding more this summer.

Did you ever buy a houes down in Bloomington? I would figure you probably have by now.

What are you riding these days? Still have the Klein kicking around?