A Bicycle Built for Two

Ever since I was in elementary school I have wanted to try riding a tandem bicycle. I think it was because in about grade 2 or 3 we learned a song during choir time that talked about these two people riding a bicycle built for two and I remember thinking how absolutely cool that would be! At that moment riding tandem was added to my "to do" list, even though at that time I didn't know I had such a list!

Through the years God has really blessed me and I have crossed many things off of that list:
going to the top of the Eiffel Tower,
climbing the Great Wall,
going sky-diving,
swimming in the Mediterranean Sea,
running a road race,
sleeping under the stars,
going parasailing,
speaking Spanish in a country where Spanish is the FIRST language,
becoming a teacher,
moving to California,
watching the sunrise from the top of a volcano,
swimming in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans,
going up the Empire State Building,
traveling cross country with a friend,
driving the Road to Hana,
going in a sail boat,
and many other things.

Yet riding a tandem bicycle remained without a check mark. You would think it would be easy to do...I mean, just rent one, Stacy! I don't know how many times I have gone down to the Seawall and seen people riding around the path on a tandem and wished I had thought of that. I thought perhaps we would do it on our honeymoon, but we had too many other fun things to accomplish while there!

Today, I finally got to add that check mark. Yesterday I was in Vancouver for our annual staff retreat and the weather was GORGEOUS! I kept thinking of how much I would love to go around the seawall on a tandem bike with Kevin. When I got home that night I asked him if we could go today and he said yes! We have biked around the seawall before, but we always had separate bikes. Today, my dream came true!

We braved the weekend traffic and drove in to Vancouver around noon. We got to Bayshore Bike Rentals and there it was, the beautiful bicycle built for two! Immediately the song from elementary school began to float through my mind. We strapped on our helmets and sat on the bike and...we were off! Well, sort of! It was a bit tough at first! We wobbled as we tried to figure out how to balance the bike together and then we were on our way.

The sun was shining, people were out full force and as the wind rushed through my hair I smiled a huge grin...I was fulfilling yet another dream. There was a lot going on in the park today, and we took our time riding around the seawall, stopping to enjoy the various activities.

A game of cricket was the first to catch our attention. I had never actually seen a game played live before. I have to admit, this is one sport that I really don't understand but it was fun to see all of these grown men dressed in white chasing a ball down. I had to laugh out loud when a big, floppy white hat flew off of one man's head when he ran to chase down the ball.

After watching for awhile, we were again on our way. We got the hang of riding and although my jokester of a husband likes to freak me out by making the bike sway, we made it to our next stop, a man playing the bag pipes!

Toward the end of our ride we came upon the Vancouver Rock Man. He is not always there but today we hit the jackpot. This man is amazing, he is able to balance rocks one on top of the other and have them stay standing, I guess until the tide comes in and knocks them down. It's pretty neat to see them all standing on end like that.Our last stop was for lunch! We grabbed a hot dog from the vendor that is always at English Bay. Man was it good! For only $2.75 we got a HUGE dog with all of the trimmings. We sat on the benches along the Bay and enjoyed the hot treats before heading back to the rental shop.




Thanks honey! I loved our day on the bicycle built for two!