Our Bike: Burley Samba
Whenever anyone mentioned the word “tandem”, the image of English comedians ‘The Goodies’ riding a three-person tandem (triplet) immediately sprang to mind.
I thought tandems were kooky, and used to roll my eyes whenever Timshel mentioned the idea of us riding one. Then our bike, the Burley Samba, arrived in the mail. Not so kooky now: our tandem is a graceful beast of a bike. I love it, I mean, her.
She is a 26” wheel tandem with a steel frame. We chose a steel frame because they give a gentler ride when touring. Steel also delivers strength. When we’re fully loaded the bike is supporting a weight of around a quarter of a tonne. Our braking system needs to be able to stop not only the weight of the bike, it’s riders and the panniers, but also our son Reuben and his trailer. Burley’s Arai drum brake kit gives us extra braking ability; in particular, helping us keep our speed down on long descents. As I ride on the back seat of the bike (stoker postition), I find the knowledge of our added braking ability most reassuring.
Our Trailer: Burley d'Lite
We tow Reuben is a Burley d’Lite trailer. We put a lot of research into choosing the best (safest and most comfortable) trailer. After trawling through all of the brochures, websites, shops and consumer-guides, we decided that a Burley’s d’Lite was the best choice. Why?
- Safety
Burley’s top of the range trailer is light but robust, with a padded two-part, 5-point harness. It is incredibly stable and has a safety-frame that is built to withstand being thrown or rolling over.
- Room
The d’Lite is big enough for two children and provides Reuben with enough space for his water-drinker, two favourite cars, spade, book and blanket plus room to move and stretch!
- Storage
As well as interior storage, the d'Lite has the best storage capacity in it’s ‘boot’ of any trailer we've seen: a necessity for us as tourers.
- Helmet-friendly
One of the best things about the burley trailer, however, is that it is built to accommodate a child wearing a helmet. Not all trailers are! Because a baby or toddler’s head is proportionally much bigger when compared to their body, their helmets are big things. If a trailer is designed without some sort of recess for the child’s helmet, the head can be pushed slightly downward by the sheer size of the helmet. This creates discomfort in the trailer, and in Reuben’s case, much frustration with his helmet. The d’Lite seat is designed so that the child’s shoulders and torso sit further ahead then his/her helmet. Hooray!
- Nap-friendly
When we are cycling along, the movement tends to make Reuben sleepy; regardless of whether it is his ‘normal’ nap time or not! Our trailer needed to accommodate Reuben’s in-trailer naps! Again, not all trailers are built to accommodate a sleeping child. A trailer we hired in France for three days seemed to make Reuben fall forward when sleeping in the same way that children loll forward in a buggy or stroller. It didn’t look comfortable. The d’Lite has a padded harness that holds the child comfortably in place, and the seat back is adjustable, permitting you to lower the back if your child is tending to loll forward. In addition to this I normally put a folded blanket or bedroll next to Reuben so he can rest his head to the side.
- All-weather-friendly
We knew we would be touring in the summer and so needed a trailer that would keep cool in the heat. The d’Lite has excellent air-flow with a mesh grill in the front and a mesh window in the back. When using the trailer as a stroller, I can completely open the front of the trailer in shaded areas and then pull the front down and use the sun cover in sunny conditions. The sun-guide is a must; when using my old trailer I used to have to use an old nappy or towel to provide sun-protection. I was much relieved to find that Burley provide this feature built-in.
The trailer is also wet-weather safe, keeping Reuben, and our luggage, dry during showers.
Our Panniers: Arkel OverDesigns GT-54, GT-18 and handlebar bag
Our panniers are full front loading models from Arkel OverDesigns in Canada. Arkel's GT-54 grand touring panniers are fantastic; amply large and work beautifully with our d'Lite trailer! We use them along with a set of GT-18 front panniers, one of which can be instantly converted to a backpack, in which store our valuables and baby change gear so that we can just grab it and go for day shopping and walking trips.
Our 'Home': How to fit your home onto a bike
The Coffee table handlebar bag
local maps, phrasebooks and guidebooks, snacks, camera, gloves, wallets, glasses/sunglasses, pens and notebook, sunscreen, keys, photocopies of important documents, and cable locks.
Shelley's room front left pannier
clothes, shoes, books, stamps and postcards, and my growing collection of rare european pre-victorian chamber pots.
The office front right pannier with backpack straps
laptop and power cords, camera re-charger, european adaptor plug, english adaptor plug, european extension cord (you are not allowed to have powered tent sites in england), guidebooks, maps, phrasebooks, passports and international drivers licence, photocopies of important documents (second copy!). nappies, changemat and plastic bag. This bag was our valuables bag and nappy bag, and went where-ever we did!
Timshel & Reuben's rooms back left pannier
clothes, shoes, towels (a regular towel and one small pack-light towel) and the tent pegs because they fitted perfectly into the front pocket of this pannier. There is a special tent pole holder on the side of this pannier that we used for this purpose, managing to squeeze some of the tent body in too.
Kitchen back right pannier
crockery (enamel, as I hate plastic), cutlery, trangia, plastic bags and snap-lock bags (very useful!), food, basic soap for washing dishes, dish-towel and scrubber, and one of our favourite camp-tools ever: a foldable plastic kitchen sink!
The living room on top of rack, secured with elastic travel clothesline.
child backpack carrier (for Reuben when trying to squeeze a tandem, trailer, and panniers on a train), folded up groud sheet (living room floor) and spare fly (for sitting on, creating shade, & draping over Reuben's room to stop him waking at 5am first light), first aid kit and toiletry bag (because they fit beautifully in a little gap on the rack).
The toybox main interior, burley trailer
baby sunscreen, cup, face-washer, board book, ball, cars, teddybear, paper and crayons, snack in plastic bag, wool wrap, and main part of tent inserted underneath the seat.
Larder back of burley trailer
sleeping mats, sleeping bags, water containers (3 x 2l), and shopping from our daily morning shop.
We also carried 4 water bottles on the bike.
Question: How did you secure your bike and panniers on trip?
When locking the bike up overnight we used a D-lock and two cable locks, using the D-lock to secure the bike to a post, tree or even our tent (!) and then using the cable locks to secure the front wheel and trailer to the tandem. We did not often leave the bike unattended with panniers on BUT when we did we locked the bike as usual, in a very public place, and removed the handlebar bag and backpack pannier. These contained all our valuables. My insecurity with leaving the remaining panniers on the bike was not for the contents of the panniers (smelly clothes and a little food) but for the panniers themselves. The fact that Arkel make a super strong and tricky fastening device, securing the pannier to the rack, was reassuring.
Question: What does a typical day look like?
7.30am Wake to the sound of Reuben calling "Mum! Dad!". Our tent had three parts, so one of us would stumble from our bedroom, through the main living area, to his tiny room. I would breastfeed and nappy change Reuben then everyone would dress, explore a little outside and cook and eat breakfast in the open. Once of us would usually start packing away the sleeping bags and sleeping mats whilst the other cooked and supervised Reuben. When trying to leave very early we would postpone breakfast till after pack-up.
10.30am Once packed up (this usually took at least 2 hours), we would leave the campiste and begin riding. Reuben's nap time is around this time so he would nod off in the trailer and sleep until we arrived at the next stop: the supermarket
12.00-12.30pm Stop at a supermarket (when we find it). We would shop for that day's lunch and tea. Lunch almost always consisted of local bread (ie baguettte or heavy german loaf), meat, cheese, lettuce, mushroom, tomatoe and avocado. Tea normally involved vegetables and a staple of rice, pasta or cous cous.
1.30pm Try and find the local tourist information centre. Collect maps (cycle map and map with camping sites) and ask for directions to the local park/playground. Lunch at the local park.
2.30pm Get on our bike!
4.30pm Get off our bike.
5.00pm Set-up site, have a wander about and play
7.00pm Prepare tea, wash dishes, and prepare Reuben for bed
10.00-11.00pm bed zzzz