Last week I started a thread asking for some advice for a tandem novice - because that's exactly what I was last week. Thanks everyone for that advice - this is my take on tandem riding... On my way to our start point on Saturday morning (in my car) I see mdk555 pulling out at the stop street with no-one on the back on his tandem, and only my lonely pink saddle. It made me think of one of those t-shirts that say "if you can read this, the bitch has fallen off". We had an almost drama with the pedals, but I must say - Hats Off to mdk for ALWAYS being incredibly calm, relaxed and patient! We did a quick lap around the parking lot and even practiced standing! I had everyone's advice in the back of my mind and took note not to stop pedaling, move suddenly, steer or hold too tightly onto the handle bars. A few km's into the ride, I was convinced that either I'm used to riding a skew bike, or the tandem was skew...turns out the handles bars were slightly off. Once I knew that I could relax and start enjoying myself. I was amazed at how little work we needed to do to go fast. The poor guys that rode in our bunch were a little worse for wear at the end - and I felt (almost) as fresh as a daisy! So all in I had a GREAT time. Big thanks to mdk555 for being such a fantastic pilot. There is something to be said about having the "official tandem rider promoter" as your pilot. He spoke to me the whole time about what to do and what not to do - about what he was doing up front and what I could anticipate. I can imagine that riding tandem would make you quite strong - there were times where I was pushing myself harder than I normally would, because I didn't want to be a "lazy" stoker, and boy, did I feel that extra work on my "normal" ride yesterday. My advice? If you ever get a chance to jump onto a tandem (not sure about being a pilot!), grab the chance - ESPECIALLY if gentleman mdk extends the offer for his 555EXPRESS! Mike - once again - THANKS
