Mt. Airy Bikes, one of my favorite shops, and luckily for me, one of the closest to me, has an annual fall event called the Tandemo and Bent Event. This is their 15th year of hosting it. It is an opportunity for them to showcacse some of the bikes that you won't see in every shop.
At the event there are some rides organized by local clubs, equipment test and test rides, lunch, and lots of nice people.
It rained all day Saturday, but the forecast was for the rain to stop by 6AM Sunday. It did stop, but the sky was very overcast and the temps were in the 50's and low 60's. I like that kind of weather, but it can chill my stoker, so I made sure to bring along some warm clothing for her.
We arrived, registered and checked things out for a bit. The weather kept a lot of folks away, so the groups for the rides were small. I checked with Emily, and she decided she wanted to do the 19 miler, not the 12 or 25. We were the only ones who signed up for that route, so we got ready and off we went.
| There were a couple of recumbent riders who left at the same time on the 25 mile route. I got near a few on the climbs, but on the first downhill, ZOOM. Gone. One was on a trike. |
| Crossing Interstate 70. |
| And onto low traffic rural roads. |
| At one point I got off route. When I realized it, we stopped to figure out a way back without backtracking. The Stoker Princess investigated the stream. |
| The stream. To get back to the route required a really steep climb. Emily really helped a lot on that one. |
| Once back on route we saw a sign that not everyone likes. Chipseal road repairs. |
| Snack break. |
| Heading back towards the shop. |
| Today's Map. |
| Today's Profile. |
Once we finished the ride, we checked out the cool stuff on display. Emily and I traded the camera back and forth taking pics of what we thought was neat.
 | We both liked this trike. |
 | I need a compressor at home. |
 | This is the tandem my son wants me to get next. $$$$ |
 | Xtracycle is the attachment to make a regular bike into a long cargo bike. |
 | A really LOW recumbent. I don't know if Baron is the model or the maker. |
 | Coker 36 inch wheeled cruiser. |
 | Gotta love ape hanger bars. |
 | I like under seat steering. These are HP Velotechnik Grasshoppers |
 | Interesting folder. |
 | Getting 'bent. |
 | 'Bent tandems |
 | 'Bent trikes |
 | Regular tandems |
 | Folders. Thats a Moulton in the front. |
 | Shaft drive. |
 | Electric assist bikes. |
 | Batteries in the wheels of the Tidal Force bikes. |
 | Cockpit. |
 | Emily really loved the Trike. (But I couldn't find a link for it.) |
 | She was getting pretty good at moving herself along on it too. |
 | Another |
 | The shop front |
 | Larry Black, the proprietor, working on a bike. John Davis, the shop manager is on the right. |
I'm lucky to have such a great shop close by. Even with the cool temps it was a great time. Come on out next year.