Evergreen Tandem Club - Photos

We’re Mike & Renda Murphy
About to begin our 3rd cycling season, our Rodriguez Toucan Softride has seen lots of miles. We completed our first official ride as a tandem team doing the Daffodil Classic on a loaner bike in 1999. Our tandem wasn’t quite finished, and so we borrowed a bike from the shop and off we went. What a ride: it was so cold that morning you could see your breath coming from your mouth, and it rained a little, but the sweeping downhill by the Orting Cemetery made up for that discomfort. What a rush! And once we got our bike, we were off. Nearly every weekend found us pedaling somewhere. Flying Wheels & Tour de Pierce here in Western Washington, Covered Bridge in Oregon, Sleeping Lady in Leavenworth, the Northwest Tandem Rally last year in Port Angeles and this year in Pendleton, Oregon, and the STP (of course!) are only a few of the rides we’ve done. We’ve spent lots of afternoons on the Pierce and South King County bike trails, just keeping busy and enjoying each others’ company. While we both have single bikes, they really are not the bike of choice when it comes time for a ride. The tandem allows us to ride together -- same speed, same direction... and we both get a flat at the same time!

Helping organize the Evergreen Tandem Club has been a lot of fun, and we know it will fill a real need here in the Pacific Northwest. When we first began tandem riding 2 years ago, we were pretty limited for resources and contacts. This organization is growing by leaps and bounds, and it’s really exciting to see it take off as it has.

We’re looking forward to supporting and participating in the rides ETC will be leading this year, and we are plotting a route ourselves: a winery ride in Eastern Washington. We’re hoping to have this ride scheduled for a weekend this spring, and we are planning for this to be a 2 day ride.

Tandem riding has truly been a terrific experience for us. We’ve met lots of wonderful people, and gone places and seen things that we probably never would have done if we were on single bikes. As springtime approaches, the temperatures warm up and it stays light later into the evenings, we start picking out our favorite afternoon rides... the chores at home can wait.

Mike works for an internationally known petrochemical company, and Renda works for an aerospace company. The only drawback to riding one bicycle is that they haven’t found a kiddy-cart manufacturer that can carry their 2 "boys" -- Sparky, a 7 year old Dalmatian, and Buddy, a 4 year old Dalmatian. Combined weight, these guys add 120 pounds to the rig. Add that to a tandem loaded with gear and riders, and you need a really good braking system to handle nearly 600 pounds. So for now, the boys have to stay home.

PO Box 23105 . Seattle, WA 98102 . 206.789.8722
Club Contacts . Site Map
ETC logo by seankane.com . website design by Sheila Hoffman
© 2001 Evergreen Tandem Club All Rights Reserved
Site Last Updated Aug 04, 2002