The Valley Preferred Cycling Center

Standing at the rail this Friday at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center you might think you’re seeing double, but rest assured your vision is fine, it’s just Tandemonium taking over. Bicycles built for two will be featured August 3 as the World Series of Bicycling presents Tandemonium in conjunction with the North American Tandem Championships.

Tandemonium is unique to the Lehigh Valley. “You will not find that many tandems on the track at one time anywhere else,” Marty Nothstein, executive director of Valley Preferred Cycling Center, said about the scratch that will have eight tandems on the track at one time.

The race shakes out differently every year, and this edition is especially wide open. “This year it is really up for grabs. There’s no clear powerhouse squad and previous winners like Roberto Chiappa and Andy Lakatosh will not be competing,” Nothstein explained, “It’s always a mystery, the past couple years it’s been an upset. The team that will come out on top has skills, power, endurance, and a lot of luck.”

This year’s field will include Matt Diefenbach and Tyler “Bones” Nothstein or Team “Dief’n’Bones” and the Dutch team of Nils Hoanderdaal and Hylke Greakan. Previous United States National Tandem Sprint Medalists such as Ray Ignosh, Bill Elliston, Kurt Begemann, and Jim Alvord will also be in attendance.

The North American Tandem Championship is very similar to the sprint tournament that is contested by individual riders. The only difference is that instead of riding a 200 meter time trial to qualify, the tandems have a whole 333.3 meter lap to record the best time possible. The riders will be seeded according to these times and then sent out to make their way to the championship ride.

Event Details: The World Series of Bicycling event starts at 7:30. Gates open at 5:30. Tickets start at just $5 and kids 12 and under are free.

Story by Elspeth Huyett

Photo by Anthony Skorochod of Cycling Captured