If you are looking for a really fun thing to do, with a little bit of a challenge, you are going to want to check out tandem bicycling.

The little man and I took advantage of an invitation from Howard and Dawn Lindsay, owners of Syncd-N to try the bicycle built for two last Saturday at McDowell Mountain Regional Park. Not only is the bike great fun, but the Lindsays also are just cool to be around. They're funny and entertaining, and made the overall experience one to remember.

The first thing you do after you have registered is to provide some vital statistics: what size bike do you usually ride, how tall are you, what is your inseam, do like upright handlebars, or down handlebars and do you like cage pedals or flat pedals. When you arrive onsite, Howard has already selected a bike frame to fit your specs. I think if you're a "normal" couple, you might be a little bit closer to the same size. And since we are anything but a normal couple, Howard had a little challenge getting the bike just right for us. David is 6-feet tall with long legs. I am 5-feet tall with stubby legs. After a little adjusting though, we were set, and with a little instruction -- "Have fun, be patient with each other, have fun, don't get mad, have fun, enjoy the ride, have fun" -- we were on our way.

David was the captain, meaning he rides in front. I served as stoker. I don't know how much stoking I did, but the one thing that was really hard for me, being a somewhat controlling person, was I couldn't see a darn thing in front of me except David's back. So of course, I wanted to see what was coming, and I would lean over to one side and amazingly, the bike kind of leaned that way -- and was a BIG surprise to Captain David.

After a short time, we got our rhythm down and were riding pretty well together. But, it has been awhile since I have ridden a bike, and my little legs were getting very tired. I wanted to just coast, but on a tandem, unless you remove your feet from the pedals, you are going to be pedaling if your captain is pedaling. So my legs were just pumping and pumping and pumping and I was getting so tired, so I got a little whiny. I didn't remember the Lindsays saying anything about not whining, so I felt like that was okay. And yes, I could have taken my feet off the pedals, but it isn't like David wouldn't have known, so I was trying to be a trooper. A whiny trooper.

Finally David, make that Captain David, said we could take a break. After about 30 miles uphill. Not really. I think we rode about five miles before we stopped, and we got to coast a little bit, but we got a workout. And I liked it a lot. We had a ton of fun -- David is fun in these situations because he knows I am going to be a big baby, so he does stuff to make me laugh, which I appreciate a great deal. He doesn't realize that, but it's true. So we had a good time.

The Lindsays call tandem biking a "marriage maker." You do learn to work as a team, and I think over time, it does improve your communication overall. So it might be better than marriage counseling, and in the end, not only will your marriage be better, but your body will be better. Seems like a win-win to me.

Visit trytandem.com. There are rides coming up through November and into December. And even if you're not married, you'll have fun. Go with a friend or a sibling or a parent.