Time to Say Goodbye…

Readers, fear not. The Rich Freggiaro Cycling Blog isn’t going anywhere. There is plenty of lunacy around for material.

But today’s blog is not about lunacy. It’s a love story, expressed as shared experiences and effort getting ourselves from Point A to Point B using our own power. And creating some of the best memories of our marriage

We started tandem riding in 2005, on a very mediocre bike that a friend wasn’t using and offered to loan us. After a couple of months we bought that Cannondale from him. Our first big ride was the local Giro ‘d Vino, back when it was a metric century (62 miles) with more riding and less sipping than now. We had been doing some rides with the Stockton Bike Club, where we could survive without getting too far behind most of the time. So this ride came as a shock. There were lots of casual cyclists on the road and for the first time, I found myself saying ‘On your left’ as we passed other riders.

We became convinced that riding together was something we wanted to do, so I knew we deserved a better bike. And we got one: a CoMotion Supremo, made in Oregon. We took delivery in 2006, and over the next 15 years put over 30,000 miles on it. It weighed about 33 lbs. , something like 12 fewer that the Cannondale it replaced, And it had much faster wheels. Diane picked out the paint scheme, a 3 color fade from black to pewter to silver. Of course that was the most expensive paint option; Stoker likes nice stuff.

We became semi regulars on Club rides. We pedaled up Stoney Creek Road. Once. I decided I wanted to stay married. We did Ram’s Horn Grade. Once. Ditto. We climbed the Calaveras Road Wall outside of Milpitas. Once. Double ditto. But loops out of Ione or Wallace were regular training rides for us.

Training for what? Cycle tours. We rode down the entire Oregon Coast. We rode in Death Valley. Rode in the Arizona Desert and to the Mexican border. We did rides in Solvang. And we rode from Glacier, Montana to Jasper through the Canadian Rockies. Up the 10 mile climb of Going to the Sun Road. And over the 25 mile slog up Highwood Pass, the highest paved road (elevation 7,250) in Canada.

We rode a rented tandem in France for 5 days in 2015. That went so well we did 2 weeks in 2016, and then rented a house in Malaucene for an entire month from 2017 until 2019. We rode rental tandems in France and left the CoMotion home. Breaking down a tandem for international shipment was beyond me.

In May 2019 in France, we had our best month ever. 17 rides, 450 miles and 29,000 feet through the hills of Provence. We were strong and it seemed that we could do this for a long while yet. It turned out to be our last hurrah.

We started 2020 getting ready for another trip to France, but Covid stopped that. We cut back on our riding; there didn’t seem to be much point. The Club rides were stopped so it was just Diane and me, with no social interaction at all.

Even when Covid was lifted we didn’t go back to riding. Health issues, nervousness on the pilot’s part, a decline in the watts we could put out. Getting the CoMotion up any hill was always a challenge for us both, and I know my power numbers aren’t really up to it any more.

We fell out of the riding habit completely. It turned out that our very last tandem ride was on Halloween, 2021. We did a slow 21 miles to The Fruit Bowl. Trick or treat!

Since then the CoMotion has been hanging in our garage, gathering dust. Unridden and unloved. A reminder of what we did together and what we can no longer do. I’m only a little melancholy about it. Life goes on, we still have each other and most of our health. And a thousand incredible memories.

I started asking people I know if they were interested in the bike. I didn’t have a lot of hope. A few people said maybe. But then two really good friends and strong cyclists expressed interest, and I got excited. They actually have a tandem and had done some riding together, but their bike is a semi truck and the CoMotion is a Ferrari by comparison. Their first test rides convinced them that if I didn’t want the bike, they would be happy to give her a good home.

I didn’t take any money for the CoMotion. Doing that seemed to be a ’30 pieces of silver’ betrayal to me. I did suggest that my friends could make a donation to a charity Diane and I support, and they did so. Now they own the CoMotion and I can see them ride it occasionally on club rides.

So Stoker’s stoking days are over, but she will always be Stoker to me. Pedaling and smiling.