Hi Auburnrider and welcome to TE! Please feel free to send us your wife, too.

Having the right gear seems like a good step, but just a quick question:

You don't say anything about how much you've ridden the tandem together before. How many trips have you done together so far? On separate bikes? On the tandem? How much do you ride on your own? And her? Is the Terry Butterfly her regular saddle?

I don't ride a tandem but I've looked into one a few times and I know my partner and I are not ready for that currently, we're just two too different riders. My understanding is that tandem riding is a pretty delicate thing and that at times the captain may not quite understand how the stoker feels (and vice versa I guess).

I found this online, I thought I'd share: Guideline by the Supreme Council of the United Stokers Union http://www.bikeaholics.org/CaptainTraining.html