Walking home from the Braddock Metro station in Alexandria one day I saw the strangest thing zoom by me down the road. I did a double take. Was it really? Yes…yes it was a guy riding on the front seat of a really tall tandem bicycle.
I sort of kept this to myself. No one else had mentioned it and how could you not be fascinated by seeing something like that. I was actually starting to think that I had just imagined the bike. Or maybe it wasn’t as tall as I had thought.
Then one day when leaving the Braddock Metro station I saw the Tall Tandem locked up on the bike rack, towering over a row of normal-sized bikes.
Standing next to this thing, the front seat comes up to my shoulders. I am 5’10″ tall. Imagine hopping on to my shoulders to mount your bicycle.
I mentioned the bicycle to a few neighbors. They had not seen it. Then my girlfriend and I were sitting on the couch at home and, through our window, I saw the bike zoom by again, this time with both seats taken.
“There it is!” I shouted! But it was long gone before my girlfriend got a peek.
It was starting to feel like I was spreading a myth. “Did you see the tall tandem bike? I swear, it exists!”
Then the magic of the internet came to the rescue:
@ It's Mike's from Saddle Sores Bike Club, he's also involved in @, and yes, lives in Del Ray now (off Clifford). The Tall Tandem bike owner and I are neighbors!
The beast of a bicycle was constructed by Mike Gilbert and Kendall Ghee and I have to say they have done some excellent work. But there are so many questions! Luckily, we have some answers (through @RideRichmond).
How do you get on this thing?
You can lean up against a wall, street sign, lamp post, or another tall, sturdy object. Or if you’re going tandem you can implement the “double runner”- each person runs on the opposite side of the bike and hops up while it’s in motion. That, I imagine, takes some practice and plenty of coordination.
What happens at stop lights?
Leaning against a car is an option “if someone is being cool and giving props.” (If I’m driving and you see me hanging out the window shouting and waving, feel free to lean against my Mini…though come to think of it, the car might be too short for you.) Otherwise you lean against something tall again or just ride in circles.
And finally, why?
“To make days. Keep fun free. Favorite thing to do on it is slap double hi-fives down a school bus. Day maker extraordinaire.”
Just the image in my mind of slapping hi-fives down a line of school bus windows, little kids’ hands hanging out the window as they shout with glee, has made my day, and also made me envious. Unless I get a ride on this thing, or rent some stilts and put roller skates on the bottom, that is an experience I may never have. Now I get it.
This bike is amazing.
If you are a fan of the Beatles then you owe it to yourself to listen to George Harrison’s first solo album, 
