attention stokers: question here

[Trek420]

I like to think of it as reminding bu thanks for reminding me ;-)

Years ago I think it was on the Lost Coast Century a tandem past me up a hill with a woman captain and her male stoker. He was an above-the-knee amputee.

So he's doing one-leg-drills with this massively muscled leg, she's captain. If your lurking here, hi!

I thought it was a wonderful way for them both to enjoy cycling 8-)

For those wondering if a tandem will make or break your relationship, Santana Tandems has a test:

http://www.santanatandem.com/tandemtest.html

[DebW]

Sheesh, you nag a lot.

Years ago, in our really dumb and dumber days, we rode the Napa Century (or something in that area). The course came down a straight long hill so we went the same speed as traffic (and other reasons which have been lost to history). Anyway, at the bottom was a stop sign and that steel decked draw bridge (is it still there). Anyway, no way were we going to be able to stop at the sign and then there was a small lip onto the steel deck. At that speed, it was flight. We were very stable as no one panicked. We just pretended we were on our mountain bikes.

Was the drawbridge up or down? Are we picturing a little hop back onto the bridge or sailing over open water and taking a bath clipped to your bike?

[DebW]

Hmm, in a canoe, isn't the person in back the one who has the most control over turns? Your back seat partner may have just been accomodating whatever you did. I've only used 2 seat kayaks and the person in back was really the one in control.

Canoeing flatwater, the rear paddler has most control and the bow paddler can act like a blind stoker. In whitewater, both paddlers are responsible for manuevering, though one or the other may have more leverage in a given situation due to boat position in the current. The stern paddler is accomodating the bow paddler by following their manuevers, but the manuevers need to be synchronized, and the easiest way to do that is for the stern paddler to watch the bow paddler and the bow paddler to watch the water. The stern paddler has a more limited view of the water but a better view of the boat, and can use their heavier weight to control the boat's lean. For tandem whitewater paddling, having the stern person in control involves lots of yelling (so the bow person know where to go) and occassional crossed signals. It's more efficient and elegant to have a team where the bow paddler picks the route.