This was the week where things finally started looking up, in the quiet, deeply comforting sense that cause and effect had re-entered the chat, after a brief but alarming absence.
Tandem update
Tuesday was the day we had been waiting for. We finally got to bring the tandem to the mechanic. As we loaded the bike into the car, my brain contributed exactly one thought: let’s go meet your maker 😅
To his credit, the mechanic is extremely knowledgeable. He explained that a tandem simply has a lot more frame, and because ours is made of titanium, the whole structure behaves like a giant sounding board. Tiny creaks and clacks that would be completely irrelevant on a normal bike get amplified into something resembling a competitive yodeling contest between alpine valleys. Within minutes, he had a clear idea of where the noise was coming from and how he was going to fix it. He also casually mentioned that the brake lever doing yoga was due to air in the line. Also an easy fix.
Best news ever. Fixable. The single word that probably saved my Garmin sleep score this week. I felt several weeks’ worth of tension leave my body in the span of seconds.
The pedal incident
Then we turned our attention to the pedals. We explained that we had tried to install them, but they simply would not go on, and we had absolutely no idea why. The mechanic looked at the bike for approximately one second and said:
“You put the left pedal on the right crank, and the right pedal on the left.”
Full stop.
Death by cringe initiated ☠️🪦
I could not look this man in the eyes. We managed to confuse left and right on a five-figure bicycle. If shame produced power, we could have ridden home without the car. I am forever changed by this. Our poor Limousine. We mistreated her. She deserved competence. I feel genuine guilt.
In hindsight, this was an impressively inefficient and expensive way to relearn the difference between left and right.
Training update
This week brought another major relief. I officially ditched the JOIN cycling app and built my own workouts in Garmin Connect. Garmin has finally calibrated its training algorithms and is now purring like a small, deeply satisfied kitten at the amount of training I am doing. No more warnings. No more concerned digital lectures. Control has been reclaimed. Order has been restored. The artificial intelligence approves. In 2026, this is functionally the same as a medical clearance 🤣
Gear update
Garmin Edge 1050
After buying the Edge 1050, I noticed some odd small metal contacts on the mount. Naturally, I disappeared into the internet and learned that these are charging contacts. Garmin makes a powered mount that lets you charge the device directly from a power bank while riding.
Mind. Officially. Blown. 🤯
Unlimited battery power is not a want. It is a philosophy. A way of life. Possibly a religion. A full return to my trusty eTrex days, where the battery reliably outlasted my cardiovascular fitness.
I ordered the mount and cable immediately. It works beautifully. Every time I see that mount, my brain immediately starts playing I’VE GOT THE POWER 💪🏻🎶. This has not happened just once. I can only assume this is a normal side-effect 😅
Bicycle pump
While engaging in some much-needed brain rot to lower my stress and coax my HRV back into something resembling a functional human being, I stumbled across an excellent video by Harry from The Full Beans Cycling Company in which he breaks down all the gear he took with him on the TCR. In it, he mentioned an electric bike pump, the Cycplus A2 Pro.
This caught my attention immediately, mostly because I recently watched Marco gain several Garmin intensity minutes trying to inflate our tandem tire with a tiny hand pump, only to still not reach the required pressure.
That pump is a professional troll. It feeds exclusively on hope and forearm strength.
After a few YouTube reviews, I ordered the electric pump. We’ll be bringing it with us. And secretly, I’m kind of looking forward to our next flat 🫣 Please do not tell Marco 🤣
RATN update
On Thursday, we received an email with OUR STARTING NUMBERS!!
I am number 168, which also happens to be my height in centimeters. This feels cosmically correct. Marco is 170. Which is not his height in centimeters, but we will ignore that professionally for now.
I do wonder what is happening with number 169. I sincerely hope they are not planning to sandwich a third human between me and Marco on the tandem. We have two drivetrains, and I am not hauling an extra passenger literally around the Netherlands 🤣
Marco is extremely excited. My emotions fluctuate between manic excitement and existential dread. I think this needs a little time to land. Getting our starting numbers makes everything very real, in the way commitments do when they stop being hypothetical.
We also received the final route, which means I can finally start preparing it. This might be my favorite part, aside from riding the Limousine itself. I love planning stops, thinking through logistics, and optimizing comfort. Tinkering is calming. This is probably a healthy coping mechanism. I hope 😉
Training ride 2026-02-07
On Friday we got the green light to pick up our Limousine, and naturally decided to take it out for a test spin immediately. I planned a 95 km (59 miles) route and added a couple of stops.
Alarm at 06:45. Breakfast. Car loaded. Off we went.
Seeing the tandem again made my heart jump. It’s so pretty! There’s just something about naked titanium with black components that makes me want to stare at it for unhealthy amounts of time.
The mechanic explained that he had replaced the bottom bracket. The old one relied on press-fit alignment; the new one screws together and creates a much tighter interface.
While he was at it, he also fixed our pedal situation. On the right side, he was able to repair the damaged threads directly. On the left, the threads were beyond saving, so he installed a threaded insert, essentially a metal sleeve that restores the correct threading. Apparently, this is common enough that entire kits exist just for fixing “left pedal on the right crank” situations. The existence of off-the-shelf repair kits for this exact error felt like a local anesthetic for acute embarrassment.
The pedals now screw in exactly as pedals should. Honestly it feels like the Limousine has forgiven us and decided to give us a second chance.
The tandem now has a clean bill of mechanical health. A beautiful sentence.
We loaded the bags, turned on the GPS units, and rolled out. The ride was superb. Some mist at the beginning, then sunshine, then warmth. Around 48 km (30 miles) we stopped at a bakery for lunch. Leaving the Limousine unattended was mildly nerve-wracking, but this was a small Swiss village and I activated the KNOG alarm. After lunch, the bike of course was exactly where we left it. A small but meaningful victory.
This ride was also an opportunity to practice taking photos while riding. I still find it a little scary to let go of the handlebars, even though mine don’t really do anything. I managed a few decent shots. A selfie stick may enter my life at some point, but not before my level of pedal shame reaches clinically safe levels 🤣
Around 90 km (56 miles), the saddle pain returned. This was my first longer ride with the 2 mm cleat shim under my right pedal. I think it worked. The pain redistributed itself evenly between left and right, which I am choosing to interpret as success.
Near the end of the ride, we heard a faint creaking again. The mechanic immediately identified it as coming from the seatpost. A bit of tinkering later, the tandem was quiet as a mouse.
I want to take a moment to express genuine gratitude for our tandem mechanic, Marc from Tandem Schweiz. He listens, explains, and goes the extra mile to make things right. If anyone is ever considering buying a tandem, I genuinely cannot recommend a better place!
The third cycling cardinal sin
Dear reader, I must warn you. From here on, things get serious.
I committed my third cycling cardinal sin.
After ripping off my clipless pedals in favour of $10 flats, and my tubeless system in favor of trusty clinchers in the past, I have now removed my saddle and replaced it with a softer one.
I know.
Take a breath. You’re going to be okay.
My current saddle is simply too hard for tandem use. Riding as a stoker is a very different physical experience from riding solo. You don’t control cadence, you rarely stand, and you can’t subtly unload pressure through small shifts or coasting. You also don’t have aero bars to redistribute weight. Your contact points stay loaded. Constantly. For hours.
Small fit issues or saddle choices that are perfectly tolerable on a solo bike can become painful very quickly on a tandem. So when I saw the Terry Figura Gel saddle in the shop, for 59 francs, I did not pass it up. Large cut-out. Couch-like support for my sit bones.
We mounted it. I sat down. Instant relief.
I’ll test it properly next week. Worst case, it doesn’t work out and I switch back on the spot. Best case, I’ve taken my old saddle on a 160 km (99 miles) excursion without ever using it. No harm done.
Conclusion
Tandem: fixed ✅
Brake lever: fixed ✅
Right sit bone pain: they now both hurt so fixed ✅ (I realise this is not how normal humans measure improvement 🤣)
Third cycling cardinal sin: committed ✅
Left and right: conclusively re-identified ✅
The haunting has subsided.
Looking back, I think this whole ordeal stressed me out more than I consciously noticed. The tandem and the upcoming race occupy a frankly impressive amount of my mental real estate. The moment we finish a tandem ride is the moment I start thinking about the next one. During the week I imagine routes, climbs, how the bike will feel, the jokes we’ll repeat for the fifth time, and strategies to make starts and stops just a little smoother. I over-tweak routes. I hunt for the cutest possible stops. I adjust gear layouts and packlists like it’s a full-time job (don’t tell my boss. It secretly is 🤣)
Add a long-cherished dream of riding the RATN, plus our shared tendency toward a level of discipline and grit that may not be strictly necessary for survival, and it makes sense that mechanical problems felt existential to my lizard brain.
Things worked. Data made sense. Morale improved. This week wasn’t about heroics or breakthroughs. It was about restoring trust, in the bike, in the systems, and in ourselves. Cause and effect are back on speaking terms, and everything feels solvable again.
Until next week, keep the rubber side down. And if something doesn’t fit, check left and right before questioning reality 😉