Celebrating 3653 Days

Friday was the 3653rd day-iversary of our wedding (that's ten years for those of you that are math-limited, either by infant-induced lack of sleep, or more general math aversion). Our day was fubared because of flight delays the night before that meant we were in LA late Thursday night instead of SB, but we can make the most of messed up plans.

We spent the night in a hotel. Not a fancy one, but it was fun to be somewhere different in an unplanned trip. Friday morning, we got up and researched bike shops in the area, and went to look. Looking led to a really good deal we couldn't pass up, and now we are the proud owners of this little number:



It's a fun way to ride, and it's a way for us both to work hard and end up at the same place at the same time. We'd tried one that some friends lent us in Austin, so we knew we can actually do the whole bicyle-built-for two without crashing and burning. The difficulty, then, was to find one that would be fit right for us and be sturdy enough for touring gear to be attached to it. We had talked about a custom tandem (mostly because GB really likes to think he is unique, even though I'm the oddly shaped one -- long legs, no torso), but those buggers are seriously expensive. We also had talked about one that could come apart for traveling tandem trips, but then we found that it's possible to retrofit that functionality into a bike, so that seemed less important to have in the initial purchase. Mostly, we have been trying to greenify our lives (the high-falutin' phrase is "reduce our carbon footprint", but there is no high-falutin' here at HIAHS). This bike is one way to do that. We have big plans for biking-to-camp trips and long bike trips together, both based from here and places that are plane rides away. I'm looking forward to that. Plus, it's a true togethering present to ourselves, and crossing into the double-digits is a big deal.

Our next plan on the bike is to upgrade some of the components (derailleurs and shifters, primarily) and add carrying capacity. In the meantime, we'll be practicing our synchronous power output as captain (the one in the front who steers and shifts) and stoker (the one in the back who pedals her heart out). It's sort of an interesting metaphor for marriage, but I'm too tired from our ride yesterday to flesh it out.

The rest of the celebratory day included chili fries at Tommy's for lunch, and a nice Italian dinner down on the waterfront at Emilio's. With all the first name possessive eateries out there, we were bound to hit two in one day. Overall, it was great to take the day off work and just enjoy the life of a couple who's only just now hitting our stride. And here's to many more of those!