I ditto the comments others have made about being able to cycle with DH (and faster groups) and keep up and simply "be together". Men, over all, will always be faster than women. They are simply built stronger. For me, as a newbie, even most women are faster than me. So getting on the tandem gives me a chance to do something with DH and a group where I'm not holding anyone back. DH can get a really good workout and so can I. Or one of us can take it easier if we need to and let the other do more of the work. Tandems are great that way.

It's especially fun if you can hook up with another couple who tandem. We have friends who let us try out their tandem before we got ours. They rode with us on their singles and gave us pointers, which were very helpful. We are now in the midst of trying to suck another couple into our little tandem club! It's a wonderful thing to do with friends and get exercise at the same time.

You definitely have to trust your partner. It's a huge thing with riding tandem. My husband is a very strong rider and, though he freaks me out from time to time, he has never had a crash on his own bike, says he's even way more cautious when I ride with him, and I know I simply have to trust his judgement. Just as with driving a car, he slows down later than I ever would and makes decisions differently than I would, but the more we ride, the more I can anticipate what he's going to do. Communication is also key. The more you ride, the less you need to commnicate, but first, I wanted to know everything he was doing and made sure he knew when I was uncomfortable with something. Like fast speed down a hill. "Scary, scary!", I'd say. "You think we should slow down a bit?!" Being brand new to that kind of speed, it was something to get used to. Since you've already been riding, these things won't be nearly as big of a deal to you. Plus, just so you know, a tandem is much more stable because of it's weight. It's much less likely to crash on a downhill because of a rock or something, because of it's stability.

Tandems seem to be getting more and more popular. Our cycling club used to only have a couple. Now they have quite a few, including the couple who run the whole thing. They are fast and competitive tandem riders.