Guest Stories: Katherine and Dave Abdun-Nurs

Pedaling Together: A Tandem Journey Through Europe with Ciclismo Classico

We are Katherine and Dave. We have enjoyed riding bikes together on a tandem for over 30 years. Before our 10th anniversary, Katherine came home stating she was getting a passport and was going to use it. We started looking at cycling tours in Europe and found Ciclismo Classico. They offered a Tandem and we signed up for Bike Across Italy. We were hooked from the start. Great riding routes, guides who immersed us in Italian culture, cuisines, and wines. We discovered the best way to see a new place, one pedal stroke at a time. Time to look around, stop for photos, converse with the locals, and learn from the guides. A ride that we might do at home in 3 or 4 hours, we do it gradually, relishing the moments and the joys of exploration, and we have all day. Finding a panino in a small village, enjoying a spritz before dinner, and sharing stories over a long evening meal with new friends all make for a unique adventure. A memorable experience from that first trip was stopping in a small town, and all the kids coming to look at the tandem. Dave offered one of the teens a ride on the back of the tandem and rode around the block with him. He was so excited that when we stopped, he leapt off the bike with a great smile.

Every few years, we would sign up for another ride. We did Sardinia and Corsica, then the tour of Mount Blanc. One day, when climbing the Col des Aravis, going up the switchbacks was like riding into a postcard. At the top of the climb, our guides Enrico and Gabe were waiting with a beautiful raspberry tart to refuel us. Perfection! The guides are fluent in the local language and often have personal knowledge of the region. They are well-equipped to handle bicycle mechanical issues when needed and work quickly to keep you pedaling and comfortable on your bike. We have traveled with several of the guides multiple times, and it is a pleasure to ride again with old friends.

In more recent years, we have enjoyed tours of other countries, including Bike Across France and Provence, Portugal, and, most recently, Slovenia. Other memories include hiking in the Alps while Gabe recited lines from Monty Python movies, which kept us laughing so hard that we could hardly climb. Spending nights in castles and Vineyards, waking up to the sounds of hot air balloons drifting across the lake over a castle. Canoeing down the Dordogne River (also to a castle). Climbing switchbacks and hearing the farmer saying something in French that we later determined to be “She’s not pedaling.” Seems to be a universal saying from men to the stoker on a tandem.