I've already told you a little about our tandem bike. How Em and I put it together together, and it was at our wedding. We just celebrated our 24th anniversary, so the tandem went together 25 years ago. For the first 5 years, before kids, we rode it a lot. I maintained it, for sure, but I've never done a full tear-down in that time. It's no lightweight, but we've dragged it to Vermont, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina and of course Maryland, Virginia and DC. Some long drives with it bolted to the roof of the car. Some of them rainy. And lots of sweat.

Last year, with the kids grown and the pandemic and all we started riding it again. Not a lot, but probably more than the last 10 years combined. We still love being together on it, but we don't fit on it like we used to, and the heavy-duty but old drivetrain and brakes just aren't up to current standards and can be a little frustrating. So I decided to bring it up to date, with as little $ spent as possible.

It'll get a new fork, new wheels that I'm building, disc brakes front and rear, new cockpits, and a modern 10-speed drivetrain, though probably not new. With all that, I'm hoping it'll last us another 25 years, which I expect will be all we'll need.

To do all that work on a bicycle, however, first there is some disassembly required. And bikes of this age that have been ridden this much and worked on this little can sometimes not want to disassemble, especially if they were built in haste by a less than careful or skilled mechanic.

Luckily, I was the mechanic, assisted by Emily. And there in the basement of the house I lived in on Farragut St in DC, with Bob

Patten

getting to know

Lois Wessel

upstairs, I'm pretty sure I must have worked ultra carefully to impress my future wife. Because after 25 years, the bike came apart wonderfully, excepting the rear bottom bracket. Penetrating oil is doing its thing now, I'll get the rear bb out too.

Then I'll need to hunt down some more parts, build the wheels, clean and polish the frame and rust-protect the inside of it before I get to put all the modern stuff on it. Spring is coming! I'll keep you posted.