On Tuesday, January 29, 2019 at 9:26:55 AM UTC-8, Theodore Heise wrote:
On Tue, 29 Jan 2019 07:06:12 -0800 (PST),
jbeattie wrote:
On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 8:58:02 PM UTC-8, wrote:
On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 1:19:09 PM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:

...I did sell my tandem and a couple of my wife's bikes when
she became disabled.

You mention in passing that your wife became
disabled...temporarily, I hope? What happened, if you don't
mind my asking?

Unfortunately, she has dystonia, a neuromuscular disorder akin
to Parkinsons. She has electrodes implanted in her brain, and
in fact, she is going in for surgery on Friday to get new pulse
generators.

Jay, so sorry to learn of this. Hope all goes well on Friday.


DBS has helped, but her condition is fairly severe. She can't
ride a bike any more, which makes her really sad after being an
avid cyclist and racer. She was my secret weapon on our
tandem...

My wife is a fantastic motor on our tandem. I can always tell
when she first spies a rider off in the distance ahead of us, as
the power goes up. But I resist teasing her about it.


...otherwise known as the divorcycle because I had a tendency
to push her too hard racing singles up hill. It's a real
message when your stoker just stops pedaling.

Ouch. My wife has told me that she almost quit going on a
particular club ride with me after having pushed to keep up with
average mph speeds in the low to mid 20s. I'm glad she didn't
give up entirely.

Thanks for sharing your situation. It must be sad for both of
you. If nothing else, it's a great reminder for me not to take
for granted the things I have with my wife.

Thanks. We're all dodging bullets, and sometimes they land. You learn to accommodate. Anyway, enough of that. My wife dreaded some tandem rides, like being tasked by the zany self-described directeur sportif of one racing club to pace riders, mostly juniors, around Sauvie Island -- a local fresh water island with a 12 mile loop. We used to draft the team car, but we got busted twice by the Sheriff for "following too closely" -- so me and my wife had to drag race around the island towing the gooniors, usually for a lap and then we would get to sit in the pack and then ride home. I would bribe her with pizza on the way home. Wife bribes are a good thing.

-- Jay Beattie.