Tandem Ride - riding our tandem recumbent bike

As you look around, you will discover some info about us, our tandem, and recumbent bikes in general. We have also included lots of pictures, info about area bike routes (mostly in the Portland, Oregon metro area), and links to other bike related web sites. Thanks for visiting!

Winter Riding...

We don't ride nearly as much during the winter. We could, we have all the appropriate gear. It's just a lot harder for us to get motivated when it's 40 & raining, as apposed to 80 & sunny!

The picture to the left was on New Year's Day. We wanted to start the year off right, so we got all bundled up and went for a ride. It was a very windy day with temps in the mid 40's and wind chill in the mid 30's. Nevertheless, it was a great way to begin 2012!

Before our first test ride on our "Rans Screamer" neither of us had ever ridden a tandem bicycle, of any kind. Jeff had only limited experience on a recumbent bike, and Michelle had never ridden a recumbent at all. After just one test ride, we were hooked. There was no question that we had found the tandem we were looking for! In our first year, we put 2,000 miles on our Screamer!

Every time we ride, people stop us to ask questions about our unusual tandem bicycle. That was the original reason for creating this web site, to answer all those questions and share our experience. Our simple idea of a place to answer questions about our tandem recumbent bike has grown into much more. Through this web site, we are now sharing all about tandems and recumbents with people everywhere. It is exciting for us to be receiving emails from all over the United States and other countries as well. We are hearing from tandem & recumbent riders, future riders, as well as other Rans Screamer owners. We will be continually striving to make this web site the best bike riding resource that we possibly can!

Enjoy your visit, and feel free to drop us a line!

Jeff & Michelle

Jeff@TandemRide.com / Michelle@TandemRide.com

Something new!

We have now ventured into the wonderful world of "touring." More specifically, "unsupported touring." That's where you load up all your gear on your bike and head out for a multi-day trip. We worked for several months to gradually gather together all the equipment that we would need (check out our Touring Equipment page). When we were in "training" we rode our fully equipped tandem recumbent bike with trailer on all of our regular local rides. We also carried extra weight in the trailer (usually 8 two liter bottles of water) so we would get used to what our fully loaded rig would actually feel like. Our first overnight camping trip was a 100 mile round trip to a State Park. A few months later, we took off for a week long trip to the Oregon Coast... what a blast! There is something really exciting about pulling into a campground on your fully loaded bike and setting up camp! You can get more details on our TandemRide blog.

Some of our favorite organized rides...

This was our first century (100 mile ride)! The route began in Beaverton, Oregon and ended in Pacific City on the Oregon Coast. We were the only tandem recumbent bike in the event, and got lots of interesting comments from other riders.

Pictures on our Reach the Beach page

This event is held each June. This 40 mile ride is on the eastern part of the old Historic Columbia River Highway, between The Dalles and Hood River. It has some of the most beautiful scenery in the Northwest! We've ridden it a couple of times.

Pictures on the Gorge Ride page

In August, there is the "Covered Bridge Bicycle Tour." Our 80 miles took us through some beautiful countryside and over 5 of the old historic covered bridges in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, east of the city of Albany.

Pictures on the Covered Bridge page

Click HERE to see a video taken of us in the summer 2009 by The Oregonian Newspaper in Portland, Oregon

Because of our personal journey as cancer survivors, we are strong supporters of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and their fundraiser, the LIVESTRONG Challenge. Read our story on the Survivor Page, and see our ride pictures for both 2007 and 2008.