The Quad (aka Northwest Tandem Rally 2014)

The Northwest Tandem Rally has been held nearly annually since 1986 (the exception being 2013, reason for cancellation unknown).  It it almost always in Oregon or Washington (with the exception of once in Boise and twice in Victoria).  Tandem enthusiasts gather to ride their long bikes, eat communally, and swap stories.  And tackle a few brewskis.

The 2014 rally took place in Pendleton, OR, a community whose main export is probably HEAT.  When it is NOT hot there, you can buy wool goods to keep warm.

One fun aspect of tandem rallies is seeing the longer still bikes (triplets and quads).  We spotted a quad early (in fact, the night before the first day of riding, when we were at a pub).  The team was one member short, though I didn't rule out that person simply couldn't make the evening meal at the pub.

The next day, after riding, we again spotted the quad.  We spoke a bit with the captain and I helped him install his new rear wheel (OK, so I just held the bike steady).  Somewhere the idea of riding with them started to form.

Quad awaiting new rear wheel

The mass start, morning of Day 2

After the big climb of day one, and before the barbecue that evening, the stoker informed me that her union said she got one of the next two days off.  My thought was to convert the 8-Ball tandem to a single (it's big feature) and ride solo on that day.  I also mentioned my fantasy of riding on the quad.  At the barbecue my stoker noticed the quad captain and suggested I talk with him.  To my surprise, he was fine with the idea!

We met the next morning for the mass start.  I had the rear stoker position.  In the middle were the captain's two daughter, both small enough to require Kid Back Crank converters.

We moved along fairly well, able to keep up with a good portion of the participants.  The two girls were a constant source of entertainment, chattering and sharing general observations of the world rolling by.

There were three routes to choose from on this day, all staying together for about the first ten miles.  Being somewhat of a rarity (though there were three other quads at the event), lots of other participants talked to us during the ride.

Shade of silos proves popular!

It was forecast to be a hot day (heck, it was warm at the 8:00 a.m. start).  We were happy to find shade at the first food stop.

Pendleton is in the Palouse, an area denoted by rolling hills.  I had wondered just how we would approach the downhills.  As it turned out, in an effort to help us get up the next uphill, we always HAMMERED on the downhills.  I'd do my best to tuck (to the degree possible with cow horns).  With my nose on the stem, I'd mostly just see the fog line whizzing by!

The crew take a break to examine the wheat crop

This area of the Palouse is particularly beautiful.  In addition to its signature undulations, there are golden fields of wheat.  We climbed as we went north from Pendleton, leaving the Umatilla River valley.  From up here the views were great!

The other thing that struck me about riding the quad was that the shifts generally occurred under a somewhat serious load!  Of course, with a couple of seriously heavy hitters in the middle two positions, shifting would be even MORE impressive.  I did NOT think to see what rear derailleur was being used.  The hubs were Hadley.

Eventually we got our reward for having climbed so much.  As we approached Pendleton (curiously hard to locate, until were were quite close, due to the aforementioned undulating nature of the landscape), there was one particularly long downhill.  We passed a fair number of shorter bikes!

Back at Pendleton I said good-bye to the quad team.  I'll be looking for them at the 2015 Northwest Tandem Rally in Bellingham, WA!