Carbonfiberboy 

We rode our first 200k on our tandem yesterday. CoMo Speedster, carbon fork. Conti 4000s at 120 lbs. We did several hilly 100k rides this year as prep. We picked a flat route, only about 3000' of climbing, and a sunny day. Lots of serious chipseal, though. Rode it with another tandem as a Permanent. 8:57 in the saddle, 11:34 ET. Yeah, we stopped a lot - weren't riding for time, just the experience.

We got pretty tired and legs hurty, but finished strong. I drank about 2000 cal. of my maltodextrin homebrew, Stoker about 1500 calories of Ensure Plus. And two Dove bars, snack of champions.

I'd gotten used to winter riding and got dehydrated before we reached the halfway control. We were battling pretty good headwinds, dead flat and 13.5 mph in the drops at a climbing HR. I drank about a pitcher of ice water and was good to go again. Stoker did better. We also took a good few Endurolytes.

At least we started and finished in daylight. Stoker has no interest in riding at night.

StephenH

Good job. I just recently started randonneuring on a tandem, and it's been lots of fun. On the minus side, we don't have an opportunity to ride the bike other than rando events, but on the plus side, we've both done lots of rando events, so it's working out okay. We're on a CoMotion Primera.

phatfree

My stoker and I are one ride away from our first tandem SR series. We have the 600k at the end of this month. Rando on a tandem is very different and very fun!
We roll on a Cannondale.

vik 

Congrats. I'm glad you guys had a great 200K ride....

My GF and I did a 100K on our Bike Friday Tandem recently. A LD PR for her!...

When I met her she didn't ride a bike. Now she's talking about riding a 200K once we build up to it.

It's unlikely she'll want to ride more than a 200K, but it means we can complete a few populaires and brevets together. Plus she's getting a better perspective on what the whole rando thing is about.

BTW - I'm jealous of all the speedy tandems you folks have! I can't really justify a new tandem and our BF Tandem Traveller XL is a touring rig not a speedster.

Carbonfiberboy 

Nice bike! Our tall wheels are just more wind resistance. It's more about the motor, and as you point out, stoker comfort. My stoker sits on a Specialized Lithia, recommended by a PBP stoker friend. No problems as long as we stand every 15 minutes or so. That's a good bit of elevation you folks did! Congratulations on a good ride. A good beer after is the thing, isn't it?

Homeyba

What do you flavor your homebrew with? Every homebrew I've tried was really gross tasting.

Too bad, bet you'd both have a a blast on some longer brevets.

Homeyba

One word, Aerobars!

Carbonfiberboy 

Yes, I use them on my single. I guess I'm shy about using them on the tandem. Only a few thousand miles on it. We still screw up sometimes. Also, stoker has a hard time staying low for long periods. I don't know what to do about that, other than ride more. It is hard to hold that bent arm position if your arms aren't strong. She has a cowhorn, but also she's, uh, not physically suited for pedaling in a low position with 170 cranks. I sure can feel it when she does get down, though. She's just not interested in sitting on a bike for that long. Wouldn't be fun for her. I know that's hard to understand, but that's how it is. If we could do 8 hour 200s, that might be different, but we can't. At least we don't watch TV.

I mix straight maltodextrin with Optimum Nutrition flavored Gold Standard 100% Whey Protein. I use either Vanilla Ice Cream or Chocolate Malt or Double Rich Chocolate flavor. I mix them about 7:1 by weight or maybe a little more whey. You know, it's bike food. It's not delicious, but I've never barfed it up, the highest compliment there is for bike food. I can drink it all day and night if I have to. It's very mild, which I think is the secret for not burning your mouth out on stuff.

Homeyba

I understand how it is with your stoker. Better to enjoy the rides you can do rather than trying to push her and end up not doing anything.

Your homebrew sounds pretty standard. I don't do so well with the "blander" foods. I can do them for 350 miles or so then I'm done. I can do Spiz, Ensure and Boost for longer distances.

As far as the aerobars go, my Calfee steers pretty close to the single. Your CoMo shouldn't be too far off from that. It'll probably take a short adjustment period but you should get comfy pretty quick. Even if she can't get real low it's going to be better than not having them.