—Joe and Carolyn Stafford
The following is a series of articles by Team Stafford recounting their experience of a three-week tandem trip to England in 1998. All appeared in the TOYS (Tandems Of York Society) newsletter DOUBLE EDITION during 1998. Revisions and re-editing have been included as of November 1998.
Taking three weeks off to tour England by tandem was the trip of a lifetime. Great riding, good weather, and lots of help from friends along the way made a truly memorable experience for us. We planned relatively short mileage days and allowed several days off the bike for some typical "tourist" days.
The tandem of choice was our coupled CoMotion Cappuccino which worked well and traveled well. This was the first attempt at a fully supported tour. Front and rear panniers plus a large rear rack bag weighed in at 42+ pounds. We'll never agonize over that extra water bottle or bike tool weight on a local ride again!
The riding in England was superb. The route we planned took us to some of the most scenic and pastoral settings imaginable. Except for London, riding in cities, towns, and villages posed no problems for a tandem. Using England's trains for covering long distances was relatively easy, but required some planning ahead to be sure space was available.
In future issues of the TOYS DOUBLE EDITION, we plan to describe our trip—not in a day-by-day journal, but by topics as we formed some opinions and learned by doing. Certainly navigating our longbike on the "wrong-side" of the road is worth one entry. We will devote separate issues to some UK geography, food, and other cultural differences that enhanced our trip. Cheers for now.
—Joe and Carolyn Stafford
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