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Photo by Bill Green
Maynard Rosenberry takes a test ride on a recumbent bike during Mount Airy Bicycle Spring Tandem and Recumbent Demo Day.
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Mount Airy — Not only was the bike ride free, but so was the camaraderie.The hundreds of bikes lining the Mount Airy Bicycles parking lot were hard to miss, inviting people in for the Spring Tandem and Recumbent Demo Day. Nineteen years ago, store owner Larry Black began the annual ride after a Potomac Pedalers Touring Club event. "Some people have sale events (to gain interest)," Black said. His excursion is not meant to push sales; it is a way to help people make decisions about tandem and recumbent bikes. Tandem bikes are designed to be ridden by more than one person at a time. Recumbent bicycles place the rider in a reclined position, allowing the person's weight to be comfortably distributed. Black's shop offers upright tandem and recumbent tandem bikes. "A lot of shops don't like dealing with unusual bikes," Black said. "We like to teach people." Newlyweds Sarah Merritt and Arch McKown visited from Baltimore for their first tandem bike ride. "We're excited to check it out," McKown said. He has raced bikes since 1985 and the couple is in the market for a tandem bike. "You have to be in concert," McKown said of the ride. "There's a lot of teamwork involved." He called the sport "a great way to get out and ride together." Leah Sparks has been a customer at Mount Airy Bicycles, and last fall she asked Black about finding a partner for the spring event. "I was curious to try it," the Hanover resident said. Sparks was paired with Keith Adams of Rockville, who has participated in the seasonal event more times than he can remember. Adams said it's easier to ride a tandem bike and the recumbent feature is more sedate and comfortable on the backside. Bob Friedman, who runs the store's website, handled registration at Sunday's event. He said they get a lot of walk-ins, or people who were driving down the street and were drawn in by the bike display and the lines of cars. "This is an amazing place to ride bicycles," Black said. People routinely travel from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia, Black said. "We have had people come from overseas." The usual 100- to 250-person crowd is not huge, Black said, but lends itself to people getting to know each other. Black showed off a seven-seater bike, one of only 20 ever made, during the bike ride. "The tandem people are a group among themselves," he said.
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