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Will you be my date on a bicycle built for two?

By Cindy Kessinger

Looking for a way to enjoy the springtime weather and get some exercise while spending time with a significant other? Try taking your date on a tandem bike ride; a bicycle built for two.

KC Neel of Castle Rock Bike and Ski in Castle Rock said she and her husband used to call their tandem bike a “marriage tool” because all the things one needs to do every day in a marriage are all the same things needed to ride a tandem. “You have to trust each other (the person in back can’t be second-guessing the person in front … back seat driving if you will),” said Neel. “And you have to communicate with each other (if there is a bump in the road, or a stop coming up, or a shift change, the person in front needs to let the person in back know about it ahead of time).” A partnership in every sense of the word.

There are a few bike shops in and around Denver and the mountain area where you can rent a tandem, and most offer instruction if this is your first ride together.

Thad Eldredge, owner of Carver’s Bike and Ski in Breckenridge explains that 80 percent of those renting tandems are new to the sport. If you are a first-timer, he will spend time fitting you with the bike and determine who will be the front rider, the “captain” (the stronger of the two) and the rear rider or “stoker.” He will then give you a lesson in the parking lot.

Tandem Cycle Works in Denver offers a large assortment of tandems. Co-owner Lynn Dexter tells her customers, “If you like each other and you like riding bikes, then a tandem bicycle is for you.” She went on to say that countless couples have purchased tandems from her shop who go on to travel the world together with their tandems, uniting them and strengthening their relationships.

In the Castle Rock area, Neel suggested the Plum Creek bike path in Castle Rock. She said it is easy, relatively flat, and wide with no car traffic.

To find local bike shops renting tandems, search online for “tandem bikes 80108.”

So if you want a stylish marriage, but can’t afford a carriage, you’ll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.

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CPC

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