How the Tandeming Began

 Riding bikes has been an important part of my life since I was about 5 years old. My first experiences on the bike were not really recreational. My first experiences were more about utility. I found that I could ride around the small town where I grew up and visit my family and friends. The bike from pretty early on was a way to get around independently. My relationship with bikes waxed and waned over the intervening years but I took it up again as an everyday mode of transportation about 15-20 years ago. When I had my first career job I bought a nice bike and became a daily commuter. Interestingly, that was also when I purchased my first helmet. Since I rode every day I wasn't particularly interested in riding outside of my commute for recreation or exercise, but I went on a ride with some friends and also started reading journals on crazyguyonabike. I got some ideas about bike touring and decided that maybe I did want to do a little more riding for fun, so I bought a Surly Long Haul Trucker to use for my commute and for fun rides. I had been riding a Specialized Sirrus for several years by that point, which was perfectly fine and had served me well. I still have the Sirrus, in fact. Sadly, the LHT was stolen several years ago. 

My wife told me she hadn't ever felt very comfortable on a bike, but I persuaded her to give it another try, so she gamely agreed and we started riding together. We bought her a Sirrus and we went out for rides on some country roads. She was a fine rider but never got comfortable enough to enjoy it, so we rode less and less. She liked the riding, but she didn't like managing the bike, e.g. shifting, holding her line on the road, paying attention to the logistics of riding. We investigated getting a tandem, but I was a little shocked by the prices. The LHT was about $1200 from the bike shop, which was a lot for us, but the tandems we were looking at were twice as much. Most of the bikes I've owned over the years have been used bikes. I have found some good bikes at pawn stores and garage sales, so I looked on craigslist for tandems. We found a Cannondale Road Tandem in Atlanta for $1800, which was about the going rate for a decent used tandem. I have since found them cheaper but this has been money well spent. 

I told a friend of mine about our wanting to get a tandem and he jokingly said not to unless we wanted to get a divorce. He had known a few bike couples who had tried tandeming and had a terrible time. He said they just couldn't get comfortable with the roles on the bike. Having ridden a tandem for several years I can see what he meant, but this style of riding has been perfect for my wife and me. If she were a bike enthusiast and enjoyed riding a single bike, then I don't think the tandem would be for us, but it matches our disparate skill sets perfectly. She is a strong stoker and is perfectly happy to ride hard all day and enjoy the sites without having to be bothered by the shifting and steering and general management; this was exactly what she had not enjoyed about her single. I like those aspects of riding. I like maneuvering the bike and plotting routes and finding the right gear to keep a comfortable cadence. We are both acutely aware that it's our distinct interests and strengths that make the bike such a fun experience, and we know that unless both captain and stoker are happy there is no ride at all, so all of our rides are exercises in cooperation. 

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