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RKPhoto Online These pages are being updated-Last change 3/27/07
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Nothing rides like a rental Re: Where can I rent an off road tandem bike in Texas??? From:
Maybe Not Comments
This
past June me and a buddy of mine decided to take a road trip out to the
Southwest. We had heard of some pretty incredible areas to go mountain biking so
we packed up and left Chicago. Because we were driving 1400 miles we decided
that it would be better to rent bikes instead of lugging ours all the way across
the country. When we arrived in El Paso we called some of the local shops about
renting bikes with front suspension. After calling no less than three shops we
were told that they had rented all of their suspension bikes for the day. The
last shop we called offered to rent us a tandem with front suspension. Being the
impatient types we decided that riding the tandem off road might be a lot of
fun. We reserved the bike and drove down to shop. When we arrived we were
overjoyed to find that the bike was a beautiful Cannondale tandem with all the
amenities of a top of the line NORBA racer (including ONZA Rip and Rail tires).
After paying the rental fee and signing our waivers we asked the shop owner
where he would suggest riding. He directed us to some trails that were within
riding distance (Franklin State Park). We began on an asphalt road that led to
the trailhead parking lot. Upon arriving at the trailhead we stopped to survey
the terrain and the trail. The trail began with a wicked downhill singletrack
with loose gravel. There were numerous large boulders in the trail also. Because
my friend was a more experienced rider we decided to let him steer and I took up
the rear. As we began our descent and picked up speed I noticed that I could not
see anything ahead of us because my buddy was slightly taller. All of sudden I
felt the impact of a large hit. The front shock soaked up much of the impact as
the rear tire headed toward a rock the size of two basketballs. In the split
second I saw the rock coming I knew I was about to be thrown from the impact. My
pedals unclipped and I got shot up into the air in a sitting position. As I am
flying through the air I have the opportunity to look down to see where I am
going to land. With a true surge of adrenaline and terror I see myself heading
directly toward the rear tire of the still traveling tandem. Needless to say I
end up crotch first on the rolling rear tire. Besides racking my nuts beyond
belief the heavily knobbied tire (actually an Onza Rip which has these long
studded bars) snagged my biking pants and yanked me forward where I became
wedged between the seat stay, seat post and the wheel. The bike began to slow
even though we were still descending because I was now wedged balls first
between the wheel and the bike. The tire quickly ripped through my padded bike
shorts and began abrading virgin ball and ass flesh. In the end my butt crack
and scrotum received third degree abrasion burns from the Onza "Rip"
tire. When the EMT arrived, the paramedics fitted a jockstrap like belt with
attached maxi pads to my balls to stop the profuse bleeding. The later formed
scabs were even worse. They would crack and bleed every time I would take a
dump. Today I have a constant reminder of the ONZA Rip tire - my girlfriend says
there is a brownish pigmentation on the skin around my balls where the tire came
into contact with it. She says it looks like a skid mark since the markings are
in the shape of the tire studs. |