From: jday@spam.ua.oz (Jemery Day)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles
Subject: Re: Tandems - help from experienced riders please?
Date: 19 Aug 92 03:04:31 GMT
Organization: Statistics, Pure & Applied Mathematics, University of Adelaide

In article <kelvin.714112029@kickapoo.cs.iastate.edu> kelvin@kickapoo.cs.iastate.edu (Kelvin Don Nilsen) writes:
>
>My wife and I too just bought a tandem.  I am the more experienced
> rider and am captaining.  We too are looking for hints from
> the experts.  Perhaps some of you need to be reminded of typical
> neophyte problems.

In brief - try a few things and do what works. I captain (I hate
this term) our tandem and my stoker (this one is just as bad!) has
a slight disability - some of her lower leg muscles no longer work
as they used to, causing footdrop and generally reducing the
strength in her legs. We ride recreationally a bit, tour occasionally
and commute daily on the tandem.

>Here are some of the specific questions that we have:
>
>  How should the stoker/captain cooperate when leaning into corners?
>   (Sometimes, it feels like my stoker is fighting me on corners.
>    Other times, I hardly notice she's there.  Are there any
>    "guidelines" for the stoker/captain?)

In my view, the person on the front is in charge of the bike and
has to decide how far is appropriate to lean into corners. This
requires a certain amount of trust from the back seat, which can
take time to develop, but it should not take too long to get used
to. A good stoker is one you can ignore whilst cornering (and one
who doesn't keep telling you to slow down going down hills), though
I can understand some nervousness when cornering at speed.

>  Starting and stopping is somewhat inconvenient, but we're getting
>   used to it.  My wife stays in the peddles always and I muscle
>   the bike around whenever it's not rolling.  but this is awkward
>   for me (and tiring in stop-and-go city traffic).  are there better
>   ways?

I always encourage the stoker to keep their feet in the pedals at
traffic lights and I put one foot down (regardless of whether they
have ridden with me before or not). This makes starting up easier.
Attaching stretchy cords between the front and rear pedals helps
when starting, as the pedal is then always the right way up, making
it easier to slide into a toe clip. This also makes it much more
pleasant when riding by yourself as you avoid the ting ting ting as
the toe clip spins around and hits the ground.

>  Mounting the tandem is a bit of a trick for me.  My seat posts are
>   always high enough that stepping over them is no easy task.  On
>   my single bike, I always mount by stepping into the left peddle and
>   beginning to roll before swinging my leg over.  I can't do this
>   on the tandem unless I take a spin by myself before returning for
>   my stoker.  Suggestions?

No suggestions here other than exercises to increase your flexibility.
Swinging your leg over the handlebars is sometimes easier when getting
off.

>  So far, we've not been able to both stand while peddling.  Usually,
>   if we have a tough hill or just want to accelerate quickly, i'll
>   stand but my wife stays in the saddle.  I cannot rock the bike back
>   and forth with her in the saddle.  I suggested to her that we should
>   probably try to stand together.  But the one time we tried that, her
>   natural reflex to the rocking of the bike was so violent that it almost
>   sent us onto the shoulder.  I think she might have returned to the
>   saddle before the bike was really upright.  What is the best way to work
>   together when we want to peddle out of the saddles?

Tandems don't accelerate quickly - unless you are going down hill. My
cycling partner does not have the leg strength to honk (get off the
saddle and pedal), but we have no problem with me honking. Simultaneous
honking should be possible I believe, but I imagine would require some
practice. I tried it once with an inexperienced stoker who was game, but
we both ended up on the deck - mind you trying it on the flat first may be
more sensible than on a hill requiring a 1-1 gear ratio!

>  Are there any good reference books that talk in depth about the techniques
>   of tandem riding?

No idea - I much prefer the idea of riding tandems rather than reading
books about how to do it. Experience is often a good teacher. Coming
to terms with nice smooth gear changes and finding a compromise cadence
are other issues which you get much better at over time. My usual cycling
partner seems to know when I am going to change gear almost before I do!

Good luck.

      ___   o
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    ___   -\           ciao      __________   -\<,-\<,
           /                      ..........(_)/---/(_)..
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      ....(*)..        Jemery  (jday@spam.maths.adelaide.edu.au)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles