Rules to a Happy Tandem Marriage

Now that we have a considerable amount of mileage under our belts, I offer you the rules to a happy tandem marriage.

Rule #1: Communicate If you are used to riding many miles on your own bike, you have to learn to say most of the things you are about to do instead of just doing them. You will get used to saying things like: braking, slowing/stopping, turning left/right, shifting (especially between chain rings), unclipping right/left, stop pedaling, and standing. I mentioned in an earlier post that I HIGHLY recommend the Tandem-com for communications between the captain and the stoker. It saves a lot of neck strain on the behalf of the captain always having to turn to be heard.

Rule #2: Swallow Your Pride If you are used to being at the front of the pack as a solo rider and your wife is new to tandem cycling, your going to have to swallow your pride and accept the fact you will get passed. Think of yourself as the loaded U-Haul on the interstate. It's not pretty, but you'll get to your destination. Your retribution will come when your stoker gets stronger and you can blow by them in a couple years.

Rule #3: Love thy Stoker There will be times when your stoker, especially one new to longer distance cycling, will not have much left in their legs. It is at this point that you have two choices: Slow down or suck it up and do the lion share of the pedaling. Still having issues? See Rule #2.

Rule #4: Have a good marriage to start with! A fellow tandem rider shared this prophetic statement when I started riding with Laura: "Whether your marriage is going good or going bad, a tandem will get you there faster." Hard to improve on that statement.