The Caprice!

A few weekends ago, Simon and I made a very exciting purchase:


Now that we're a two-tandem couple, we've had to name our sweet rides. At first, we referred to this bike as the crappy tandem, but then realized that we may insult our friends Edo and Silvia as they own a similar tandem. (By the way, the four of us seem to be the only people in the Netherlands under the age of 70 with sit-up-and-beg tandems.)

Anyhooooo, we named this tandem the Caprice after a Chevrolet Caprice Classic that I occasionally had to drive when I worked for Mr. Zucker. Long story short, I began working for Mr. Zucker in August 1989, the start of my freshman year at Meredith. Mr. Zucker was 89 and nearly totally blind, and it was my job to go to his apartment a few times a week, tidy up, read the Wall Street Journal to him, and run errands. Usually Mr. Zucker wanted me to drive his car, the Caprice. It was a beast. Just to go around a curve, I would have to turn the steering wheel about 720 degrees. And, though I've never driven or ridden in a hover-craft, I'm pretty sure that the Caprice simulated the effect accurately.

Are you wondering what we've named the Santana Arriva SE? It's the Quattro -- as in "Let's fire up the Quattro!"