After I was diagnosed with Parkinson's I participated in a forced-exercise cycling study led by Dr Jay Alberts at The Cleveland Clinic. Jay, a cyclist originally from Iowa, took a group with him 10 years ago to ride RAGBRAI. In the group was a couple who rode a blue tandem bike of Jays, the wife of said couple happened to have PD. By the end of the first day, the only way their marriage could be saved (!) was if Kathy rode the tandem with Jay for the remainder of the trip. Being the elite cyclist that he is, his fast-paced cadence led Kathy to remark by weeks end that she felt like she didn't have PD any longer. The idea for Jay's important exercise research was born right there on a blue tandem bicycle.
You should know that to this day Jay reveres this blue bike.
So, my friend and fellow bike-study guy Glenn and I decided that we should join the fun and the team for the 2011 9th annual Jay Alberts RAGBRAI excursion.
Jay proudly lent what was to us a nondescript blue tandem bike. Knowing nothing about cycling we gladly took the bike...practiced enough to get the hang of riding it together and then flew to Iowa and met the team for a week of riding with some very elite cyclists.
Meet Kerry...cyclist extraordinaire and on-site mechanic. The first words out of his mouth when Glenn and I walked over to him with that oh-so-plain blue tandem was...
"JAY. JAY? THEY AREN'T RIDING BIG BLUE ARE THEY? I THOUGHT YOU RETIRED THIS BIKE! YOU CANNOT LET THEM RIDE THIS BIKE."
Glenn and I were standing there, probably thinking the same thing..."Big Blue? Are we in trouble? Is there something wrong with this bicycle that is supposed to get our butts 472 miles across Iowa...and do so easily?"
To this day, Jay Alberts sees BIG BLUE through rose-colored glasses.
The bike was no better than a Fred Flintstone vehicle. Gears wouldn't shift properly or at all so Glenn would have to use brute strength to muscle it up a big hill because it wouldn't shift to the small ring. Kerry had no magic wands for this old codger. By the end of day 2, our knees were shot and we suffered the rest of the week.
When Glenn and I pulled into Davenport, we swore we would never rest our butts on BIG BLUE ever again. Being that this is the 10 year anniversary of Jay's infamous ride with PD friend Kathy, I hope that if BIG BLUE is joining us it is only as a museum piece and not as the means of transportation for some other unsuspecting couple.
2012 Enter..hmmm I hadn't thought I should give it a name but for now I will refer to my very own tandem as... SILVER BULLET. ( If any readers have a name to suggest, I would be happy to consider it.) It is a great looking Santana Sovereign SE...a sweet bike that I have every confidence will do the job I am going to ask it to do. I will not be the laughing stock this year...oh no. I just hope no one else will be either.
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