Dan and Staff,
I thought I’d share with you some pictures of my tandem, past and current, and a story.
Back in the early 1980s, I corresponded with Angel Rodriguez for a month or so about the custom tandem he would be building for my wife, Diane and me. This was pre-email so there was a lot of writing. It was great fun being able to select components, paint, etc. It was our first experience with having a custom bike built.
Angel built up the most beautiful tandem for us and it was perfect. I mean perfect. I have never seen such beautiful fillet brazing, detail and paint, before or since. People still remark about how beautiful it is. It has been a special part of our lives ever since, with the exception of a few years (the story).
In the 1990s we got away from riding the tandem and decided we should sell it to a couple that would ride it. I know, what were we thinking? Well, we had some cycling friends in Tucson (we’re in Phoenix) who had asked on several occasions if we wanted to sell the tandem and we finally gave in and sold it to them.
Ten or so years passed and one day I was watching a commercial on television at my daughter’s house. It was a commercial for my Tucson friend’s home improvement business. I had to call him to see how he was doing. We arranged lunch and had a great time reminiscing over lunch. In the course of the conversation, I asked if he and his wife were still riding and enjoying the tandem and he informed me that they weren’t riding it and hadn’t for some time. They had had a close encounter with a car and she didn’t enjoy it anymore.
After I returned home, I couldn’t get the tandem out of my mind. I asked my wife if she missed it and she did. Well, I called him back and asked if he was interested in selling it back. He was, and we headed down to Tucson the next weekend. We got the tandem back along with our Yakima tandem rack mount. What he couldn’t find was all of the correspondence and records I got from Angel. That was disappointing.
We’re riding the tandem weekly now and it still looks and rides like the day it was new. Over the years some components have been changed out but it is otherwise the same bike we bought way back when.
I was hoping that you might have some record of this bike and be willing to make copies for me. I don’t even remember the date I ordered it or received it. Here are some pictures.
Chad K
Eastern Arizona – Early 80
With my daughter – 11 years old at the time – 42 now and a Pediatrician in Tucson
Current Pictures:
With my daughter – 11 years old at the time – 42 now and a Pediatrician in Tucson
Current Pictures:
