mchell

Yes, it was Bike Florida. Riding in and out of Quincy was a challenge, but that's closer to our geography back home. We enjoyed this year's tour although the distances were a wee bit long for unseasoned legs!. It was our 6th Bike Florida. Anyone who says cycling in Florida is flat has never ridden through Tallahassee on a recumbent tandem! Oh well, it got us off to a good start to our cycling season here in Canada. Unfortunately, Mother Nature has other plans and we can expect a few cm of snow tonight! Mike

StephenH

If you ride together on single bikes, the faster rider gets to take it easy while the slower rider works hard to keep up. You lose that when you switch to a tandem.
Also, you can't let your stoker think you're a big ol' wuss up there, so you're morally obligated to work harder than you would if nobody was watching.
On single bikes, you can adjust the cadence to whatever you like and coast when you like, and on the tandem, there may be a certain amount of compromise on those issues.

Something else I notice, is that on my single bike, if I pedal harder or get in the drops, instant speed happens. On the tandem, those effects are diluted, and it seems like the efforts you make don't always correspond to the results you get. So you're never sure if you're going up or down a gentle hill or the wind got harder or easier or your stoker is working extra hard or slacking off or what. So I just pour in all the power I can reasonably manage at the moment, and whether we go 12 mph or 32 mph, whatever happens, happens.

My stoker raised the issue of fitness before I ever got the bike. I told her she should do what she reasonably could to get in shape and stay in shape, I would do what I reasonably could to get in shape and stay in shape, and whatever we came up with, we'd just deal with it, and that seems to be working.

Voodoo76

Been on a tandem about 6 months now with my 11 year old son. It's definitely harder for me, but more because I've got 30 years of single habits to fight. I've lowered my cadence a bit, and don't get to stand as much as I used to, both have taken some adjustment. But today on a 25 miler my son came on hard at the end and got us both over a hill close to the finish. So there are rewards. And when I get on my single I fly, but it's not as much fun.

jimmuller 

What a fascinating thread, great collection of answers.

The amazing and perhaps not so surprising thing is that it all mirrors what my sweetie and I have experienced in our first 700 miles of tandeming.

bobthib

Here's a suggestion that I (and my stokers) have found to really help.

All tandems are delivered with the pedals IN SYNC. The problem is that most tandem teams are mis-matched. The stronger rider tries to do what he (she) is used to doing on a single bike, so they rider harder. The other person finds their power stroke lost in the power stroke of the stronger rider and finds it difficult to feel as though they are contributing. The stronger person does not usually feel any help from the other person.

Try putting the pedals OUT OF PHASE (OOP) by 90 degrees. This is accomplished on most tandems by loosening the eccentric bottom bracket (ebb) on the front crank. Cheap tandems like mine use an idler gear hanging between the two cranks to take up slack. Once loosened, the timing chain can come off the front chain ring. Advance the front pedal by 90 degrees and replace the timing chain and adjust the ebb (or idler) to take up the slack.

I think you will be surprised on your first ride how 1. You will feel your partner's input, and 2. your partner will really feel like they are contributing more. Note: they will probably have sore legs after the ride!

I discovered this by mistake when my timing chain came off as I was unloading the bike from the car. We were late, so I hurriedly put the chain back on, not thinking to worry about putting the pedals in sync. They were about 90 deg out, and man, what a difference!

That was with my wife as stoker. My grandson liked it too because he now could feel like he was pedaling when we were climbing or accelerating.

Good luck, and report back.

DoubleDiamonDog

I am happy to say that ridng the tandem is easier for both my wife and me, but we are probably the exception. I think in theory it should be easier, given the aerodymanic advantage, but that assumes that easch rider is working at a simliar percentage of his/her capacity. I am sure you will find that as you both get a better feel for it, it will get easier than you have experienced so far.A faster cadence could be helpful in balancing your output but it takes time and practice to get there - I can't say that it is really something that you should try to change, although ours has changed. I was surprised to read in this forum that a very experienced cyclist whom I hold in high regard said that only professional (or racing or can't remember but the point is only exceptional) cyclists ride at 90 rpm. He rides in the low 80s and most riders he knows are the same. I know that riding at too fast of a cadence causes the heart rate to go up and causes one to get winded but I thought that many "serious recreational" cyclists ride at 90 rpm - Lance rides around 110 which is considered high even among the pros.So we may be a little odd here in what has become our comfortable cadence. I used to ride in the mid 80s and my wife mid 70s so early on we would end up 80ish on the tandem. We do not use a cycling computer on the tandem so when i used to think about cadence i would periodically check by counting to see what it was. During the winter we ride spin bikes at the health club and they have a constant cadence read out. Over time, our naturally preferred cadence climbed to the point that we now ride at 90 on the tandem. I'll often ride at mid 90s on the spin bike and my wife upper 90. It has defintiely smoothed out our stroke on both the spinner and the tandem.Our only feedback other than how we feel is the heart monitor that I wear. I just adjust the gearing so that we ride in our comfortable cadence and my heart rate stays within the target range. It is likely that there are some days when she rides harder or easier than others but we do not monitor her HR. Our post-ride feel of where we are on the "fresh to fatigued" scale is pretty much the same for each of us - some days easy, some days wiped out depending on how hard we pushed it.

DoubleDiamonDog

Sorry for the long paragraph above - it is not as I had written...

Bill G

Well as a general rule a tandem like others have said in rolling hills and on long climbs will work you a little more. Tandems are fast on flat ground and down hill but tend to climb slower. Just keep at it and all will get better.. In general I find a tandem easier to ride overall on longer rides than a single but me and the wife took to it from the get go just like we had been doing it forever. There was realy no learning curve for us at all but we are the exception to the rule when it comes to issues with tandem riding when we started out as a new team 12 years ago.

Ride Safe,
Bill G

TheHen

When my stoker and I got our tandem a quarter-century ago, we immediately realized that we would be happier OOP. He is much stronger than me and as an added bonus he prefers to stay in the saddle on long climbs. (We can both stand to climb, but we don't do it much and it is a bit more difficult when OOP.) We have tried it both ways, and we go faster OOP. I don't know if it is because it keeps me from getting "lost" on the power stroke or if it is the smoother power or something else, but we do go a bit faster OOP than in-phase.

One thing I'll add. We both can feel changes in the other's output, but we can't really tell how that output compares to our own. So, if he slacks off, I can tell, but I don't know how much of the total power is coming from him, just that it is less now than an hour ago.

Hermes

Generally, the tandem is harder climbing longer, steeper climbs and faster on flat to rolling terrain. The key to having a faster ride is to get the stoker in the game. I have one command that I use - more power. When I see a situation that requires more power to hold speed, I say more power and get stoker power in first. Then I add what is necessary. I burn up the stoker first.

I say that in jest but the reality is that if the captain puts in all the incremental power required, he will be fatigued way too early in the ride. So getting the stoker in the game evens things out. Also, the captain will still take most of the hits for increased power just because we ride the tandem like a road bike and respond immediately when we need more power versus coordinating with the stoker.

The stoker is at a disadvantage since she does see what is coming. However, she can be aware of major changes in terrain and try to add power ahead of or exactly when it is needed.

Riding the tandem is like dancing together. Take two professional dancers who can execute difficult moves at high rates of speed. Put them together as a team and they will fight each other to an extent and have to slow down and choose simpler steps. Over time, they will execute at a speed/routine for pro pairs. That is what happens with tandem teams. They inadvertently fight each other such that there is a lost efficiency. So even if the captain can make 300 watts and the stoker 200 watts, it is doubtful that 500 watts makes it to the drive train and they fatigue at different rates. Over time, the team will improve execution assuming both parties work at it.