Jan & Toto’s Summer Tandem Tour
7 July – 22 august 2007
2000 km– Basel, St gallen, Oberal pass, Furka Pass, Grand Bernard Pass, Aosta Valley, Savona, Corsica

After five months being apart, both doing our own fun things, it was a big pleasure to see each other again at the airport. With the cappuccino getting cold in one of the Café’s at Schiphol we decided to do this summertour on a tandem, mainly because of the speed different. In Australia, -where we both cycled many 1000 k’s- it’s no problem. We would say to each other “see you at the one and only campground in the next town, 85 k west”. But Europe with all his little and big roads, towns, city’s, and intersections would be different, and as we don’t want to loose each other a tandem is a good and fun solution.

Toto recalls:
“I was sitting back and if I see the front could only see the wide back of my Jan Willem. For very first minutes the very first time on the tandem I was scared of that I couldn’t see at all how roads are going, what’s coming But could get used easily to do not think anything, not handling , no breaking. It was too easy! And most of days I was enjoying the view of wide, getting browner, strong back of my boyfriend”

Plugging away up the passes

In the beginning Toto’s doesn’t like the climbing that much. But together on the tandem, what is a bit lighter pedaling for her and a bit heavier for me, she finds the rhythm and slow but steady we cycle up. You know, I tell her, talking between the passing traffic, the good thing about climbing a mountain is that you always get there. She barely can give an answer because she is full with the pedaling. I hear a short “yeah”, and we go on, all the way to the top.

Toto recalls:
It is great feeling to climb up and on the top and rolling down hills. I even liked the hard work, the pain of my two strong legs. And I found the amazing truth that the legs are not getting more painful as much as I was using instead of it , they stayed at a level of pains that I could get along with, available to keep working even comfortable like cycling or walking on the flat roads. Isn’t it amazing body?
I’m always saying but I say again. Camping is Zo Zalig!!!

Camping on Corsica!

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700 meters above see level on a deserted old road with a real Corsican view under us: mountains and a crystal blue see. We sit here for a long time before we go downhill, back to the busy coast highway.

In Calvi (Corsica) three spokes are broken, but the backwheel still rolls. So we go a bit further, south along the west coast. So spectacular! We camp 20 k’s further, but the next day cycling back it rains and climbing over a hill the back wheel collapse: we have to walk back to the airport, but not without a break at a tiny white round beach, where we go swimming to see how rain looks like from underwater and eat delicious lobster. We camp that night on beach again, 2 k from the airport. The next day we catch the flight back home.