Tips for our first tandem tour

[Veronica]

When Thom and I first started riding, he would tell me about EVERY little bump in the road. It drove me crazy. Between the Thudbuster and my Brooks saddle, most of the bumps were no big deal. We finally established a level of bump he needed to tell me about. It's pretty much the size of railroad tracks.

It's important to figure out what will work for the pair of you. Every couple has their own little idiosyncrasies. We like to freak out local club members by standing without talking. I've captained our tandem and I never could manage to stand with me on the front. personally, I found being the captain VERY stressful. I much prefer being the stoker.

Veronica

[auburnrider]

We have only ridden togather a couple of dozen times. My wife is a non-rider for the most part, but she likes to cross country ski, hike, and camp (she can walk me into the ground). I have been riding road bikes for about 25 years. I typically ride 4-6k miles/yr. I know I must change my outlook on riding from, how fast and how far, to what did we see along the way and what did we do off the bike.

The Terry saddle is her primary saddle. It seems to be working pretty well. She has been riding a stationary bike with another.

We plan on camping but most meals will be at restaurants.

The tip on communicating and not asking the stupid questions is spot on! It's definately something I need to work on.

Our son will pick us up in SLO. If there's a problem along the way, since he is at UCSC he can rescue us.

Thanks everyone for your input.

[alimey]

My husband & I took our tandem on honeymoon to New Zealand!

Here are a couple of touring learnings -

1. however you do it, keep it as light as you can. I am a real pack rat w/ packing - but it was actually pretty fun to devise glam off the bike looks when I had 6kg of luggage total!

2. Am assuming she has a suspension seatpost? Stoking is hard on the butt (whether or not all the bumps are 'called') - I would have a Thudbuster if I could, but I don't even have enough clearance for a short-travel one.

3. If you can think of a good reply to 'She's not pedalling' - let me know. I just wished I had a £1 for every time I heard it. People are usually just trying to be friendly - but boy does it get annoying!

4. You can get great pictures & movies from the stoker seat!

I love touring on the tandem - it's a really great feeling on teamwork on a journey that you just don't get with single bikes. Have a great time!

[Kiwi Stoker]

Don't forget to allow coasting "butt breaks"- on the tandem its harder to move around on the saddle (my captain notices it) so he needs to remember to allow a coast so we can adjust ourselves.

[malkin]

Before you go, make sure your stoker can ride comfortably for the daily distances you estimate.