We all know that local biking and tandem clubs in general live and strive due to the enthusiasm and energy of their members. The Charlotte Tandem Club, known as The Tailwinds is no exception. Team TASK (John Talani and Susanna Sisk) probably is the motor of the club.
Team TASK
We have known John and Susanna for a few years. We met at a tandem rally, they participated in a few Wilmington Tandem weekends and other Tandem rallies. While they are a strong team, they also encourage others to get into tandeming regardless of their abilities.
They will be the organizers of the Southern Tandem Rally in 2004, near Charlotte, NC.
So, I suspect they wanted a dry run of a rally to get a feel for the organization, when they sent an invite for a Charlotte tandem weekend in July 2003.
The weekend was spread over 3 days with a Friday night option to participate in a time trial at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Track. Our friends who participated, fast and slow, all were amazed at the experience of being passed like you are standing still, and passing other folks like they are standing still, on a track, without cars around. Since we registered late and were not sure to get there on time, we elected for the short and easy ride, which Susanna had transformed into a treasure hunt. One of the items to find was a cigarette butt, which is hard to find in a tandem group. Luckily for us, small bladders forced us to stop, and we found the coveted item. The ride took us, at a gentle pace, on the south side of Charlotte, in a rural area near an island beautifully named “Copperhead Island”, soon to be conquered by the ever-expanding suburbia. Dinner was at John and Susanna where everybody (time trialists and treasure hunters) got to meet and socialize over pizzas, snacks and homemade goodies. Before I forget, I need to mention the bag of goodies. Was it handmade? Anyway, it followed a patriotic theme (the US flag) and included good-looking nametags, a handmade American banner, table decorations, pamphlets providing background about the area (yes Susanna, I actually read that with more attention than the team’s heroes), powergel type products and other useful items.
The next day, team TASK prepared a route
that would lead to the town of Belmont, by
the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens with a
detour by Cramer Mountain (please, people
from Colorado, do not laugh. This is a ¾ mile climb! But hey, everything
is relative!).
Even though we live in North Carolina, we did not realize how flat the terrain is around Charlotte. On the way, we enjoyed nice lake views on Lake Michie, and around Cramer Mountain. The town of Belmont has a lot of beautiful typical southern houses. There were several options before and after lunch so all teams could share lunch and ride different distances. The 2 groups rejoined to enjoy lunch downtown in the City Street Café, which had dusted an old tandem out of the attic, just for us. There it was sitting near the cash register. Smith decided not to trade our brand new Calfee after all.
We're not trading!
The afternoon ride was hillier. Kip Clyburn’s dedicated stoker, his daughter Sophie (8 years old) lost her glasses in one beautiful downhill. Since we were behind them we stopped and soon regretted our lost momentum for the short steep climb up to the group! All the grown ups were amazed with Sophie’s energy and upbeat attitude after a 67 mile ride.
Kip & Sophie at Daniel Stowe Gardens
Her final words, 3 miles from the end of the ride, were “I think my bottom is going to be sore tomorrow!” The after ride talk was given by a renowned and feared captain in the area. Captain Kip! Kip leaves in Hickory (NC) at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Some people say God’s Country, I say Dog Country. Last time we visited them, we got several opportunities to work on our sprinting technique. After a few crashes with dogs, Kip decided to adopt a new technique and acquired an air-pellet gun. (Article to follow). His talk was informative and fun. We all got psyched about getting our revenge, after many years of “taking it”! Of course several of us were glued to the Internet to get the latest on the final time trial in the Tour de France. Dinner was organized at a beautiful Chinese buffet in a nearby town.
Sunday was a shorter ride to the town of Fort Mills, and a historical marker where a Fort had been built to protect the Catawba Indians from other local tribes. The town of Fort Mills actually has a statue added in the early 1900’s to commemorate the Indians’ participation in the Civil War. That part of the ride was hillier than the day before and this time, team TASK decided not to sprint for the finish line. They took a short cut to get home. We had lunch at their place where another drawing was organized. The prizes were some of Susanna’s work. Susanna is an avid, creative, and gifted craftsperson. I have a sneaky suspicion that she and my father-in-law have a secret competition going-on (they traded books last time they met, and showed each other their creations).
The Grand Prize
We parted in the afternoon, after a weekend that passed too quickly. We want to thank the Charlotte teams for their hospitality. There were 18 teams registered, including 6 local teams, and no one had to book a hotel. They did not have to host us at home; it was nice of them to do so. Team TASK in particular lent their home and camper for some of us to stay. The rides were good, the company delightful, in a way we hate to advertise it so it would become too big and less personable.
So, if past experience is an indicator of the future, this is what I think will be in store for STR 2004 in Charlotte: fun company, good riding, with varied terrain (some flat, some rollier), who knows a treasurer hunt (I cannot wait to see 150 tandem teams chasing smokers in their hotels to get their cigarette butts, or white feathers out of the hotel pillows!), and please give John and Susanna a workout to win the county line sprints!
Smith Doss & Claude Monnier – Raleigh, NC