Last week I was on the trail to work, running late as usual, when I caught up with and overtook a couple on a MTB-style tandem—only to have them surge past me again on the next uphill slope, their chunky tyres whirring on the concrete.
Oi! Two-against-one is an unfair advantage!
Oh well, I soon caught them again on the flat. Then on the next incline I heard the familiar buzz of MTB tyres and they were flashing past again.
Will you stop doing that?!?
I've always wanted to try out a tandem, partly just for the hell of it and partly because I think it might prove to be a good way of keeping MLSP and I within the same postal district when we're out on a ride together. So whenever I see a tandem team I try to grill them about the experience.
Generally all I learn is that tandem owners don't get out together as often as they'd like. In the case of the serial over-takers, it had been several years since their last outing!
Anyway, this encounter made me think it was about time we gave it a try. So this week I took a day off, we unloaded the Co-Pilot to his willing grandparents and hired ourselves a tandem for the afternoon.
How was it?
It was great!
Sure, we were a bit shaky at the start. But we took to some quiet streets to work out a few wobbles, adjust the seats, and get into something of a rhythm. That only took us about ten minutes then we hit the Bay Trail where a bit of southerly was blowing, so we turned that way and headed into it.
We were soon zooming along, MLSP was breathing easy and I was coming to terms with the decidedly quirky gears! Not too far out—music to my ears—MLSP said, "This is great! We should do this again on our next holiday!"
Elwood, Brighton, Hampton, Sandringham, Black Rock—all flashed by, until Ricketts Point—and coffee!
We were genuinely surprised that we'd made it so far; we'd expected that we'd blunder around for awhile then give it up and go to the pub. (So confident were we that it would be a flop we didn't even bother to wear our knicks, which proved to be a minor source of irritation!)
With the wind at our backs and our experience growing, the return journey (while it lasted) was even better.
Stuff we learned
Here are a few things we learned from our first tandem outing:
- Take-off
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Probably the trickiest thing is the take-off. Thankfully, some time ago I'd read Sheldon Brown's excellent article about riding a tandem, in which he gives good instructions about getting under way. In short, the captain straddles the frame and holds the bike steady with the brakes jammed on, the stoker gets on, gets comfy and turns the pedal up for the captain. Then, on the count of three, both give it plenty of boot and away they go. Well, that's how it worked for us.
- Stoker stability
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The stoker really does need to maintain a pretty stable position; I found I could easily tell if MLSP's head was off-centre (usually leaning to one side to look over my shoulder!)
- Steering
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With extra weight and length, we found that the bike tended to under-steer a bit on the corners. But once we got the hang of moving together (keeping our heads lined-up, basically), we were able to lean into the bends and we got really quite zippy.
- Talking
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The stoker's view is impeded, so the captain must warn about everything: turns, obstacles, bumps, slowing down, gear-changes, and stopping.
- Cadence
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Sheldon Brown also singles out cadence for extra attention, and we reckon he's right. The bike we had was equipped with toes clips on the captain's pedals but only flat platform pedals for the stoker. This made it a bit tricky to keep pedalling in sync, but better pedals and some practice would soon sort that out.
- Time and space
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It was no random chance that we decided to do this on a quiet weekday. A weekend on a busy shared path full of trundlers and bladers and promenaders is not the time or place to be learning how to ride a tandem.
- Relationship
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I've heard it said before, and the folks at the bike shop repeated it: riding a tandem may threaten your relationship. In our case that couldn't have been more wrong, in fact it was quite the reverse. Going tandem looks like being a good option for MLSP and me!
[Photo credit: 'Willy Fritsch - Lilian Harvey' from The Polite Tandem
]
Comments
Absolutely GO FOR IT!
And dont forget the Co Pilot will enjoy it even more than the two of you - and then years later it leads to this.
Cheers
Tim
What a fantastic trip—but I dare not show that story to MLSP (yet!) Hopefully there'll come a time when we'll be up for something like that.
Oh, and I love the reference to the PBP as a little scenic detour to Brest and back!