stapfam

Ride went well but the MD could not get on with the Tandem. As Pilot he could not control the thing and as Stoker he was not happy and could not get used to the bike on corners as he had no control over what was happening. Luckily he fitted the Pinnie so at least he finished the ride. But when up against 6 fit young roadies the Tandem struggled. Didn't help by having knobblies fitted and we were running out of gears. 48/12 and cadence of 110 could not keep up with 52/11 and younger legs.

Just worked it out that the last time I rode was at the end of October so you can guess how unfit I felt. Used the 25 miles as a "Find out" if the legs worked and how congested the lungs were. First 5 miles of Me and Ross were across the marshes and although the other riders were young-They had old wise heads attached and sat behind us all the way till the headwind changed to a side wind. Only about 20 mph wind but the upright stance of the Tandem did add another disadvantage to our riding. Coming into Bexhill and they lost us and we continued on down to the cafe for a well earned breakfast and coffee. No sign of them and we thought they had gone to another cafe but just as we were getting ready to go--they turned up. Sweaty and cold as they had forgotten the first rule of bike rides-Know where the cafe is. They had missed the turning down to the front and done an extra 5 miles in a hilly area before deciding they had gone wrong.

Ross was beginning to feel the ride on the way back but I managed to persuade him to do a couple of 200 yard intervals to clear the lungs and I can tell you that mine do need a bit of clearing. My legs were fine but I had to alter the seat height. I started to get a groin pull so lowered the saddle by 1/2" and it cured it. May be that I have to get the legs used to exercise but think it is the different position compared to a road bike.

It was great to be back on the Tandem but in the current setup it is not suitable for the road. Well it would be but not for a fast ride with others that are younger and fitter than you. Only problem we found was that both Ross and I are used to road bikes and the pilots cockpit seems to have shrunk. So before its next outing a bit of adjustment will be needed to fit a longer stem and take those bars down a couple of inches.