First tandem ride

"Jacques Moser" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

We rented a tandem today. First time ever for my wife.
First time for me after >20 years. The thing was a Trek
T100, not too new based on its 3x7 group, but in good
shape. The first starts were a bit difficult for lack of
coordination, and we had to start straight into downtown
in the busy Saturday morning traffic.

But soon we were out of town and things went much better.
Our ride was mostly flat but the only 150 m climb,
although it slowed us down quite a bit, was no real
problem. Downhill was really great - at least for me as
the driver, a bit frightening for my wife... On the flat,
I had the feeling that we were going quite fast for a
moderate effort (no computer to really tell us, though).
We came across quite a lot of well equiped and fit looking
road riders, but none passed us, which is a sign...

We finally rode 50 km around Lake Thun without feeling
really tired. This was a great experience, and maybe one
of these days we'll be looking for more than renting !

Is anybody around this newsgroup riding tandems
regularly ?

Jacques

I bought a tandem a couple of years ago, mainly because my
daughter could not keep up with the rest of the family on
rides. I agree with the speed on flats part, although I
don't have a computer to know for sure either. Anyway, the
tandem has been a lot of fun, but is a little difficult to
get used to with a new rider. I also don't care for riding
the tandem in town, sort of a pain at all the stops. It is
great on the open rural roads though. Paul

I wish. I would love to do a ride on a bicycle built for
two, if only for the experience!

As for going faster, don't be surprised. Remember, you have
the power of two and the air resistance of only one.

- -

"May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear
for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Is anybody around this newsgroup riding tandems regularly ?

My wife and I split our miles roughly 50-50 between singles
and the tandem.

The tandem gives us an edge on some fast training rides
where I would be just hanging on riding my single and she
would not there be there at all.

A tandem is a hoot with the right partner.

Chris Neary [email hidden]

Chris & Tracey 1999 Co-Motion Speedster

Jacques:

My wife and I have rode tandem for about 3 years. I ride
single as well, she does not. We ride in town or out in the
country. Now, with our 16 month old, we are pulling a
trailer, too.

My wife, on her first ride (she had not really ridden since
she was a teenager) did a 20+ miler. The tandem allows us to
ride together, while if we were on singles, there would be a
big differential in our speed and distance abilities. It all
comes out the same on the tandem... more or less.

If starts are an issue for your, check out Sheldon Brown's
article on proper starting technique, it's a must read:
sheldonbrown.comtandem.htmlOpen ↗. Essentially, you
straddle and steady the bike while the stoker (your wife)
gets on the back and gets clipped or strapped in. Then she
positions the pedals, you clip in one foot, and then start
off. Your unclipped foot should have the pedal around 1
o'clock position, so you can get momentum. The stoker should
provide a key amount of the initial inertia on the start up.

Once you do it a few times, its easy. Communication is the
key when riding a tandem. Sudden moves by either party can
be unnerving to the other... and the stoker cannot really
see forward, so you have to advise them of what is
happening.

We have ridden tandem for several years... starts and stops,
even in traffic, seem no different than on a single.

Anything that gets you out riding is goodness.

Rick 2001 Santana Noventa

"Jacques Moser" <[email hidden]>
wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

We rented a tandem today. First time ever for my wife.
First time for me after >20 years. The thing was a Trek
T100, not too new based on its 3x7 group, but in good
shape. The first starts were a bit difficult for lack of
coordination, and we had to start straight into downtown
in the busy Saturday morning traffic.

But soon we were out of town and things went much better.
Our ride was mostly flat but the only 150 m climb,
although it slowed us down quite a bit, was no real
problem. Downhill was really great - at least for me as
the driver, a bit frightening for my wife... On the flat,
I had the feeling that we were going quite fast for a
moderate effort (no computer to really tell us, though).
We came across quite a lot of well equiped and fit looking
road riders, but none passed us, which is a sign...

We finally rode 50 km around Lake Thun without feeling
really tired. This was a great experience, and maybe one
of these days we'll be looking for more than renting !

Is anybody around this newsgroup riding tandems
regularly ?

Jacques

Jacques Moser said:

We rented a tandem today. First time ever for my wife.

You did much better than I did. On my first tandem ride, I
managed to steer the tandem off the road, into the ditch...

and I was on the back seat!

Quoted message said:

Is anybody around this newsgroup riding tandems
regularly ?

Not any more. But I've done thousands of miles with my wife
and then with my daughter as stokers. It's allowed us to do
many rides they wouldn't have been capable of on singles.

My daughter's now grown and moved away - sadly. My wife
prefers to control her own single. But I still think a
tandem's great fun.

--
-------------+ Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's
between "at" and "cc"]

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 22:50:50 +0200, "Jacques Moser"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Is anybody around this newsgroup riding tandems regularly ?

We have a triplet (three seats) - it's great. My wife and I
have tried tandeming and I have been known to steer for my
bike mechanic who is blind and has a tandem. It's a slightly
different style of riding, more measured for the most part
in my experience anyway, but very sociable. You can't drop
your partner when you share a bike :-)

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

If you lock up the wheels in a car, you can do a side skid,
and you see a controlled skid like this in racing.

Is there a similar trick to learning to do a side skid on
the bike? Do you lock up the back wheels and then lean or
something?

I'd like to be able to do this kind of stop instead of the
panic 'over the bars' kind of stop, if possible. I realize
you should learn the brake better, and as Shelton says, use
that front brake, but I'd also like to learn a side skid.

Not that I would use it to kick up the pebbles and impress
the chicks, mind you. Nope. Wouldn't do it. ;-p

-B

"Jacques Moser" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

We rented a tandem today. First time ever for my wife.
First time for me after >20 years. The thing was a Trek
T100, not too new based on its 3x7 group, but in good
shape. The first starts were a bit difficult for lack of
coordination, and we had to start straight into downtown
in the busy Saturday morning traffic.

But soon we were out of town and things went much better.
Our ride was mostly flat but the only 150 m climb,
although it slowed us down quite a bit, was no real
problem. Downhill was really great - at least for me as
the driver, a bit frightening for my wife... On the flat,
I had the feeling that we were going quite fast for a
moderate effort (no computer to really tell us, though).
We came across quite a lot of well equiped and fit looking
road riders, but none passed us, which is a sign...

We finally rode 50 km around Lake Thun without feeling
really tired. This was a great experience, and maybe one
of these days we'll be looking for more than renting !

Is anybody around this newsgroup riding tandems
regularly ?

I pretty much only ride tandem. Well, I have a junker that
I tootle around town on for errands, but all my long rides
are on the back of our tandem. We go out with guys on
singles (regular road bikes) and in general we are a little
faster on flats, much faster on downhills, and much, much,
much slower on uphills, so it tends to even out. When my
husband goes out without me on his single he's way faster
on the uphills, but the rest of the guys are disappointed
they don't have a wheel to hang on during the long slight
downhills.:-)

Follow the other poster's description on start up. Once I
climb on the back and clip in I don't unclip until 30 miles
later at coffee. If you have a really good shock absorber
for the stoker you can skip calling out all the bumps. (We
have a softride on the back.) But you should still call out
shifts, your stoker's knees will be thankful. We have a drag
brake I control, so on steep downhills I can slow us down.
Haven't used it in over a year, I've gotten used to the
speed, but it gives your stoker some control.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 11:24:34 -0400, Badger_South <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

If you lock up the wheels in a car, you can do a side skid,
and you see a controlled skid like this in racing.

Is there a similar trick to learning to do a side skid on
the bike? Do you lock up the back wheels and then lean or
something?

I'd like to be able to do this kind of stop instead of the
panic 'over the bars' kind of stop, if possible. I realize
you should learn the brake better, and as Shelton says, use
that front brake, but I'd also like to learn a side skid.

Not that I would use it to kick up the pebbles and impress
the chicks, mind you. Nope. Wouldn't do it. ;-p

Dude. Skid?

lock up the rear and skid that mother. Waaaay easy if you're
riding an old BMX with a coaster brake.

It's been a while since I went curbsurfing and played
biketag...

-Luigi

Quoted message said:

-B

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 12:53:31 -0400, Luigi de Guzman <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Badger_South said:

If you lock up the wheels in a car, you can do a side
skid, and you see a controlled skid like this in racing.

Is there a similar trick to learning to do a side skid on
the bike? Do you lock up the back wheels and then lean or
something?

I'd like to be able to do this kind of stop instead of
the panic 'over the bars' kind of stop, if possible. I
realize you should learn the brake better, and as Shelton
says, use that front brake, but I'd also like to learn a
side skid.

Not that I would use it to kick up the pebbles and impress
the chicks, mind you. Nope. Wouldn't do it. ;-p

Dude. Skid?

lock up the rear and skid that mother. Waaaay easy if
you're riding an old BMX with a coaster brake.

It's been a while since I went curbsurfing and played
biketag...

-Luigi

Quoted message said:

-B

OK, I'll find a place with some sandy pavement and try it. I
can only skid left, b/c of my bad left hip, and post on my
right, I think.

BTW, keeping up the winter riding is paying off. I'm now
riding about 8-12 miles per day, seven days a week, and
feeling no pain!

-B

Badger_South <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Not that I would use it to kick up the pebbles and impress
the chicks, mind you. Nope. Wouldn't do it. ;-p

Well, your 12 year old class mates might be impressed.

[censored] Durbin

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Is there a similar trick to learning to do a side skid on
the bike? Do

you

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

lock up the back wheels and then lean or something?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

better, and as Shelton says, use that front brake, but
I'd also like to learn a side skid.

Dude. Skid?

lock up the rear and skid that mother. Waaaay easy if
you're riding an old BMX with a coaster brake.

At $45 a tire, there will be no skidding here. Damn frogs,
are there ANY american companys that make a tubless tire?

tk said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Is there a similar trick to learning to do a side skid
on the bike? Do

you

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

lock up the back wheels and then lean or something?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

better, and as Shelton says, use that front brake, but
I'd also like to learn a side skid.

Dude. Skid?

lock up the rear and skid that mother. Waaaay easy if
you're riding an old BMX with a coaster brake.

At $45 a tire, there will be no skidding here. Damn frogs,
are there ANY american companys that make a tubless tire?

I tried the skid and it seems to work better if I lock up
the front wheel, which acts as a pivot, letting the back
swing forward. Is this unusual?

-B

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 13:00:28 -0400, Badger_South <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

tk said:

Quoted message said:

>Is there a similar trick to learning to do a side skid
>on the bike? Do

you

Quoted message said:

>lock up the back wheels and then lean or something?

Quoted message said:

>better, and as Shelton says, use that front brake, but
>I'd also like to learn a side skid.
Dude. Skid?

lock up the rear and skid that mother. Waaaay easy if
you're riding an old BMX with a coaster brake.

At $45 a tire, there will be no skidding here. Damn frogs,
are there ANY american companys that make a tubless tire?

I tried the skid and it seems to work better if I lock up
the front wheel, which acts as a pivot, letting the back
swing forward. Is this unusual?

It is. Go talk to the BMX kiddies on your block and ask them
to show you a skid-stop. They do it without touching the
front brake.

The only thing I can think of is that your weight is shifted
too far forward to do it properly. On an old bmx with a
coaster brake, all you had to do was back-pedal and shift
your hips ever so slightly and it would skid. Think about
popping a wheelie but dont pedal forward--shift your weight
back and slightly to one side and you'll skid....

-Luigi

Quoted message said:

-B

Jacques Moser said:

Is anybody around this newsgroup riding tandems
regularly ?

Not terribly regular yet, but my wife and I recently
purchased a tandem. We quite like it. 🙂

For her, it means she doesn't have to hurry to catch up
to me. She doesn't feel like I'm continually trying to
leave her behind. We can carry on a conversation. She
doesn't have to do anything except pedal, and she can
look at the scenery.

For my part, I no longer feel like I'm about to die of
impatience. In my defense, when I'm only pedaling with one
leg, have the child trailer (with child and backpack and what-
not) behind me, and I'm still out-pacing her - I get a
little frustrated.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
Some of my readers ask me what a "Serial Port" is. The
answer is: I don't know. Is it some kind of wine you have
with breakfast?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Is anybody around this newsgroup riding tandems
regularly ?

Not terribly regular yet, but my wife and I recently
purchased a tandem. We quite like it. 🙂

I've been on a tandem twice.

First time was on a "normal" tandem. Husband was in front &
I was stoker. Never again ;-) I've never felt so out of
control and unsafe on abike in my life.

Second time was on a recumbent tandem trike - a trice. One
of these.. ice.hpv.co.uktrikes expedition.htmOpen ↗

I *loved* it! Once again husband was in the front & I was
stoker. A totally different experience and *huge fun*.
I'd love one.

However...

husband liked the traditional tandem and loathed the
recumbent tandem.

B*gger...

Cheers, helen s

--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get
correct one remove fame & fortune
h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$

--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel
is switched off--

"Dane Jackson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Jacques Moser

Quoted message said:

Is anybody around this newsgroup riding tandems
regularly ?

Not terribly regular yet, but my wife and I recently
purchased a tandem. We quite like it. 🙂

We're going to look at this one on Saturday: www-www-Open ↗
.cascade.org/Community/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=4&th-
readid=1106

We already own a tandem, which I use with the kids. The idea
of getting this one would be that I could use it to ride
with my husband. As my older daughter's legs grow (she's
already 5'4"😉 we can use both tandems together and the whole
family can do some long trips. The purchase of tandem #2
also implies buying another tandem holder for the Yakima
roof rack. Another consideration: we finally might have to
park one of the cars in the driveway, as we will have in
toto: two tandems, two mountain bikes, two road bikes, a
hybrid, a beater bike, and a couple of kids bikes.

An even big question -- will our marriage survive? Concerns:
o He has no sense of direction -- I'd have to be alert
enough to tell him where to go all the time; can't snooze
back there o He is bad at pacing himself -- typically on
long rides he'll burn himself out at the beginning, then
limp along at the end -- would tandeming help this? o He
sings obscene ditties all the time when he rides -- I will
not be able to escape these on a tandem!

What else should I worry about?

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato and .net for .com
Home of the meditative cyclist:
home.earthlink.netWelcome.htmOpen ↗
See the books I've set free at: bookcrossing.comCpeterskyOpen ↗

"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:vxihc.36464$ru4.35000@attbi_s52...

Quoted message said:

Another consideration: we finally might have to park one
of the cars in the driveway, as we will have in toto: two
tandems, two mountain bikes, two

road

Quoted message said:

bikes, a hybrid, a beater bike, and a couple of kids
bikes.

Got room in the yard for one of those "build it yourself"
storage sheds?

Quoted message said:

An even big question -- will our marriage survive?
Concerns: o He has no sense of direction -- I'd have to be
alert enough to tell him where to go all the time; can't
snooze back there

Is being too shy to tell people where to go a big problem
for you? Besides, it's no worse than 2 singles.

Quoted message said:

o He is bad at pacing himself -- typically on long rides
he'll burn

himself

Quoted message said:

out at the beginning, then limp along at the end -- would
tandeming help this?

Maybe. Most tandems require you to pedal in lockstep, so you
are both going to have the same cadence. A few don't.

Quoted message said:

o He sings obscene ditties all the time when he rides -- I
will not be

able

Quoted message said:

to escape these on a tandem!

And the problem would be...?

I shouldn't talk. I bought a tandem in 1979 in vain hopes
that it would get my wife riding with me. When I was
captain, she didn't like the lack of control, but she didn't
like being captain, either (although that might be, in part,
because the bike's harder to control with the bigger person
in back). The tandem only became useful when my daughters
got big enough (about age 8 or 9). As they got older, it
became a nice novelty item and most kids in the neigborhood
have served as stoker with one daughter or other as captain.
My daughter even took it to school last fall.

One thing that might or might not be a problem: the captain
can almost always hear the stoker, but the reverse isn't
true. That might be some help with the ditties.

Tue, 20 Apr 2004 23:40:11 GMT, <vxihc.36464$ru4.35000@attbi_s52>,

Claire Petersky said:

What else should I worry about?

Chili dogs.
--
zk