Number400

Had this experience on our 5th tandem ride the other day and had to put it down so here it goes...

flying down the road
getting into sych
road starts to rise
quick get a drink
pedals under load
legs ready to explode
road keeps climbing
heart is whining
captain is taxed
heart rate maxed
digging deep from within
forehead glistening
to my chagrin...

...I hear the stoker whistling

zonatandem

My stoker whistles also . . . .however . . .
She carries a whistle on a lanyard around her neck! Purpose?
Dogs, coyotes, javelinas that get on the road and threaten to upset our tandem ride.
She blows that shrill whistle to break up the animals thinking process. So far it has worked great!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

reburns

Just think how much harder you would have had to work if your stoker wasn't in such good shape!

reiker

Haha, yes!

We've been riding since August, and still figuring out the power distribution. Generally, I do more of the work, since I'm just a harder pedal-er than she is overall. She has to remind me to back off so she can take some of the load. It is a lot different than riding a single bike, to be sure. It is hard to find the balance between how hard to pedal, and what gear to be in at any given moment, so the load is shared between both riders.

Carbonfiberboy 

My stoker sees both my HR and hers and just matches them or some percentage. We work out what the difference should be by getting our breathing the same, then looking at HR. Sometimes there's a lag between when I power up and she sees my HR go up, but usually she can feel it through the pedals. Pedal based power meters would be cool. If one of us gets tired before the other, she compensates by adjusting her comparative HR. Every now and again though she gets to talking in complete sentences with a rider beside us while we're climbing. Just a tap with the crop is all that's necessary.

I used to try to pedal at a cadence which optimized her power output. Over the years she's become more able to put down power at varying cadences, so I never think about that any more. We just fly down the road and have fun.

B. Carfree

Have you considered going a bit out of phase so your stoker can take more load without being overpowered? We've been 90 degrees OOP for decades, but are considering experimenting with some variations, even totally in phase, this year. It should be fun, as long as I remember where our pedals are relative to each other as we hit the curves.

Number400

We are having a great time! We did discuss phase and I actually can feel that her stroke comes in before mine so that may work out for us. I love the workout but may change my tune on longer days in the saddle. My Wife is getting back up to speed on the bike and we had a good ride yesterday in killer winds. Afterwards, I told her that I have done road races where I did not work that hard. Cannot wait to get back on a single to do some climbs after a few months pulling on the tandem.

Best bike decision we ever made!

reiker

I will have to try that out! I've thought about it before, but forgot about trying it. Hmm...

Number400

We had some good seat time this weekend and my wife wanted to take a few pulls with me just spinning and her doing most of the work. This opened her eyes quite a bit and she now wants to wear her HR monitor and to help even out the workload. I won't miss riding a 140lb bicycle as the hills have been quite a workout :-) I think she will come back into form pretty quickly and we may experiment with some slight crank phasing to involve her pedals a little sooner.

Loving the ride!

Carbonfiberboy 

It's usual with tandem teams for the stoker to navigate and thus have the Garmin. Sync her Garmin to the captain's HR strap.

B. Carfree

Whenever I've had a few months of all my rides being on the tandem, I'm always amazed when I take my half-bike out for a quick spin in the hills south of town. It's mostly just that the bike responds so much quicker to small surges in power, but it sure is fun for a change. Like lots of things, it's nice to visit, but I prefer life on the tandem.

StephenH

It's okay to say "I need more power back there!", just use that very sparingly!

When I first started riding the tandem, I pointed out to my stoker that if performance were the only goal, I'd get a Harley and be done with it. Theoretically, both of you work exactly the same, theoretically, you're more efficient and go faster, and all that. And in reality, that's not always the way it works, but that's okay, too. I told my stoker she's to pedal as hard as she thinks appropriate, I'll pedal however hard I think is appropriate, and then whatever happens, happens, whether that means going 10 mph or 25.

Speaking of this...reminds me of stories of certain parties who shall remain unnamed, who started riding a tandem with the sole purpose of going faster at PBP (1200k bike ride in France)- end result, they were standing beside the road yelling at each other. So speed's not everything!

waynesulak

I may know that couple. Was that a team that finished the very rainy 2007 PBP just outside the time limit but never rode the tandem together again?

StephenH

You probably know more of that story than I do, that was before I started cycling.

waynesulak

Interestingly I was told that after lots and lots of Brevets preparing on the tandem it came down to a cadence issue at a very tough PBP. I think they bravely finished a little over the time limit so I suppose that put them officially in the DNF category. Must have been a long flight home sitting next to your ex tandem partner.

From Wikipedia:

"The 2007 Paris–Brest–Paris was the first poor weather event since 1987. It was the worst weather PBP riders had faced since 1956. 30.2% failed to finish. Normally the rate of non-finishers is around 15%."

StephenH

Like I said, you may know more about than I do! Anyway, the whistling presumably stopped at some point there!

Champlain Rider

Am wondering how many out there ride tandems with the smaller rider in front and larger in stoker position? I've never ridden a tandem but me and my (considerable shorter) girlfriend want to try it this summer on a rental. Seems like the taller person (me at 6'5") could ride in back and then the shorty doesn't miss the view... I'd happily whistle from that stoker saddle, and see right over the top of her!

Number400

We are looking for an off-road/rail trail tandem on which she can be the captain. I would love to be able to switch roles on the fly with some quick adjustments.