Our Very First Tandem Rally

This photo was not taken at the Northwest Tandem
Rally in 1992, but at the NWTR in Bend, Oregon
in 2005.  I could open my eyes at this rally!

Tandem bicyclists often feel like it’s them against the world; all too often there’s only onetandem on the road, and brother – you’re it!  Sometimes you’d just like to go on a group bike ride with other like-minded tandem riding folk, ones who appreciate the “proper” seat-to-wheel ratio (1:1).  But where, oh where, could such a utopia be found?  Why, at a tandem rally of course!

A tandem rally is a social gathering usually held over an extended weekend, where tandem cyclists from a region gather to socialize and enjoy organized rides.  As we live in Idaho, the Northwest Tandem Rally is the event that’s closest to us (although there are many other rallies held throughout the United States, and in other parts of the world as well).

We first attended a tandem rally that was held in Albany, Oregon in 1992 over the Memorial Day weekend.  We were fairly new to tandem riding, having only been riding for about a year, and this was quite the adventure for us.  We drove a Honda Civic hatchback at that time, and with the tandem rack mounted on the roof the bike looked almost as long as the car.  With much anticipation we loaded the bike, packed our bags and hit the road to find whatever adventure waited for us in Oregon.

Albany was beautiful, so I’ve been told.  Situated in the Willamette Valley, it apparently has also been referred to as the “Hay Fever Capital of the World”.  For me, at least, this was an understatement. 

I honestly don’t remember much about the trip.  We arrived without incident, and rode the first day.  There was a little sneezing and a runny nose… nothing serious.  Day two (of three) arrived and I was much worse.  My wife was feeling great as the grasses that were blooming in the Willamette Valley didn’t affect her whatsoever.  I was a different story, and could barely keep my eyes open as they were itching terribly and watering profusely. 

We came to a rest stop and I wanted to quit riding.  She wanted to continue.  At some point I finally won out, due to my irritability and my inability to keep my eyes open.  If you can’t see where you’re pedaling, you won’t stay upright on the bike for very long.

At some point I had tried some Benadryl^®and passed out after taking it.  Turning into a genuine whiner at some point I convinced my wife that we should just leave and get me as far away from this place as possible.  She would have to drive, as I was still unable to keep my eyes open. These were allergies like I had never imagined!  As we drove away from Albany, I once again dozed off from a dose of Benadryl^®. 

It was perhaps an hour or two later, as we were a good distance away from Albany and heading inland that I woke up.  I could see, my eyes didn’t itch, and my nose wasn’t running.  Getting away from the Willamette Valley was apparently my “miracle cure”.  I’m sure that one of us must have come up with the remark, “if we turn around and go back now, we can still get in on the third day’s ride tomorrow!”  But we’d already left in shame once; going back would only lead to another allergic retreat.

In the summer of 2015 we attended the Northwest Tandem Rally in Bellingham, Washington.  I lasted all three days without nary a sniffle.  We were planning on staying a few extra days as the area was gorgeous and absolutely wonderful for bike riding, but as luck would have it some forest fires started up in the northwest and smoke started filling up the skies around Bellingham.  We drove to northern Idaho and finished up our vacation riding on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes instead.

The next Northwest Tandem Rally is being held in Klamath Falls, Oregon… which is further inland and much further south than Albany.  The rally is also being held over the Fourth of July weekend, so if there were any blooming grasses there they’d hopefully be over that phase.  There’s only one thing that’s keeping me from trying to ride in Oregon again – with any luck, we’ll be living in (or moving to) Florida by then!