Tandem bike and trail ride

Last week we had some nice weather and as a result I managed to talk the wife into a group ride out of Snowhomish on the tandem. What fun it was! She did fantastic for her first bike ride of the year logging 25 miles as my stroker. I rode in knickers and no shoe covers as the temps were in the low 50's. 

Our tandem has 26" wheels and Peach is a gear masher so we always ran our of gears but not today. I installed a 54 tooth big ring and a 1.6" rear tire so we didn't spin out till 38 mph. 

On Saturday, I gave my brand new Manatou R7 100mm fork a proper test ride at the Paradise Conservation trail system near Woodenville Washington. My team mate Joe just built up his new BMC hard tail that morning and put the bike though it's paces with a big smile on his face. The loops were short but very sweet and the roots across the trail made the ride fun and chalanging. Half way into the ride it began to snow which was cool with us. It added to the experience. Theses trails are very popular among Seattleites in the summer. I must say, 100mm of travel is plush and gave me a lot of confidence in the rough sections over my old 2004 80mm Manatou Skereb. My trail bike is ready to race! My legs are about ready too.