This Couple Rode Across Indiana on a Tandem—Well, Almost
Daniela Gazibara figured that if she and her boyfriend, Alexander, had any chance of staying together, he’d better become a fast fan of mountain biking. Alexander previously rode a fixed gear and learned a lot about momentum when Daniela took him on his first MTB ride in Indiana’s Brown County State Park.
But that’s just the beginning of Daniela’s #GetSomeoneRiding saga. Not content with intermittent trail rides together, Daniela registered herself and Alexander for RAIN, a one-day ride across Indiana. And forget mountain bikes—the couple planned to do the entire 160-mile jaunt on a tandem bicycle they bought from a friend.
In the months leading up to RAIN, Daniela and Alexander practiced riding the tandem locally, but the race date snuck up before they got a chance to have the bike fitted and tuned up properly.
The night before the race, the couple stayed with Niki, Daniela’s sister, but when Daniela woke up the next morning, she found that the men of the house had partied a little too hard: Alexander was still a little too inebriated to even think about riding.
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Daniela took on the first 40-mile leg of the race riding solo on the tandem. Niki volunteered to stoke (pedal at the back of the tandem) for the next 25 miles—even though she had never ridden a tandem before—then switched off with her boyfriend Brian for another 40 miles. Brian’s a big guy with a lot of power, so much that he actually broke the chain. Daniela and her temporary partner did a quick mid-ride fix to get the bike moving again, but at that point, the big ring was beyond saving, and the rear seat clamp had come loose, making for an extra-uncomfortable ride.
Regardless, the intrepid couple pressed onward. A very hungover Alexander joined Daniela for the final 55 miles of the race, and the couple managed to cross the finish line before 9pm.
Daniela’s RAIN tandemonium experience never fails to make her smile, and it’s one that has glued Alexander to the cycling community for good.
Did you #GetSomeoneRiding this summer? Share your story by using the hashtag on social media!
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