Yoo 306 - Tandem Bikes and Frankenstein Gaits

The first day we tried to walk the National Mall. And then we noticed the bike rental shops. And tandem bikes.

Hello.

It's the way to go.

The Gregdude took this "action" shot at the Korean War Memorial. He was pretty proud.

We're pretty lucky. Cherry blossoms are at their peak right now and not expected to survive predicted storms this next weekend. Describing the tidal basin path right now as "gorgeous" is an understatement.

Paparazzi shots of Newt Gingrich and his wife, perhaps?

Why yes, I do have a couple. We were just biking along, merrily minding our own business. Wait, that's a lie. We were fighting thru crowded, narrow sidewalks ringing our dorky bike bells and trying to slalom thru one pedestrian group after another, when we see this wall of people slowly approaching us.

I notice who's at the center first.

And, with no consideration for subtlety, start shouting as touristy and ridiculous as possible (at about a level 10) "Whoa, that's Newt Gingrich! Guys!! Newt Gingrich is right there! Greg do you see him??"

There was pointing. Lots of pointing.

He made eye contact with me. I promise you. And I stared, sort of transfixed as they passed. And then my senses kicked in and I went on a "picture!" craze. Using my bike to my advantage, of course.

Swing bike around. Clears crowd. Dart right up to the security detail. Too close. He pushes one girl away. I take a step back. Snapsnapsnapsnapsanp. Swing bike back around. Crowd clears again. Continue on my way.

It shouldn't have been that exciting.

But it was.

To the Morgansister...we ate at the same Greek place in the Old Post Office. I thought of you. And made the Gregtourist try the dolmas. He wasn't so much of a fan either...

But the gyros are still delicious!

Please note the stairs and how they seem to go on forever.

And remember that we ran a marathon and half marathon, respectively, just yesterday.

Getting around Arlington was an achievement.

Cookies nomnomnomnom....

Post-Arlington. Sitting on the escalator steps. Snapping bad pictures.

I had to share.

A couple funny stories.

The Gregdude and I almost died on a tandem bike. But no worries, we skirted death and just made fools of ourselves at a very busy intersection instead.

Did you know riding a tandem bike takes some effort?? Sweet icicles it took some getting used to! We had no time to figure it out, either. It was straight from the bike rental shop onto streets right in the heart of the district. We started with the Gregcyclist in the front. There were a few minor incidents with that but eventually we got steadied and were pedaling on our way.

Down a couple streets. Along the National Mall. Life isn't too bad.

(ps, can i confess that when i first visited dc 3 years ago, i thought the "national mall" was actually a mall, and i was extremely disappointed when i found out it was just miles of walking around monuments? i was so hungry and having glorious thoughts about a food court. all malls have food courts! i was wrong...)

Back to the story.

Life isn't too bad. But then I start complaining that all I can see is his back and maybe it would be better if I was up front because he can at least see over me and a quick firedrill at a crosswalk, I'm up front.

It was a bad idea. But we didn't realize it until minutes later.

Light changes, pedestrians start crossing, we get up to go, and then the situation tanks.

I'm not sure exactly what happened next but we both got up on the bike and I felt like I could not steer the thing. I was trying to go forward but it kept veering off towards the middle of the intersection and I had no control. I tried braking but all the weight kept us onward.

Thankfully all the cars trying to turn left stopped.

We kept veering off, smack in the center of this intersection, out of control, and slowly getting nowhere. That's when the Gregdude just jumped off the bike.

He jumped off!

And left me in the middle of the street trying to control the rogue tandem. Which really wasn't rogue at all, I just couldn't steer it.

I put all of my weight into a lean and successfully maneuvered it back off to the side.

That's when we decided it was a minor inconvenience that I couldn't see and it was best to have the Gregdriver up front.

But, you know, not until after we'd traversed every corner of a busy district intersection, inconveniencing a handful of drivers, and giving hundreds of tourists a scene to gawk at.

Oh yeah, and then the park police, parked in their suburban just a few feet away, roll down their windows and, whilst trying to hide uproarious laughter and watery eyes, commented "that must be harder than it looks".

My sheepish response?

"Yes, yes it is."

We got it all figured out by the end of the morning (hint: start pedaling on the same foot...) and learned a thing or two about our relationship in the process...

Not quite as funny or life-threatening or exciting, but still providing amusement: playing the "who ran the marathon yesterday?" game at all of the monuments.

It's pretty easy to tell. They're (we're) the ones walking around, just a bit like Frankenstein, and pausing for a quick, silent prayer, at the foot of all those stairs. And then again at the top of the stairs before heading back down.

Just another day in DC!

Have a great day :-)