So we bought the tandem

"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:bZ_ic.36397$_L6.2096805@attbi_s53...

Quoted message said:

o Amusingly, I can literally kiss his ass, especially on
downhills in a tuck. Heh.

On long downhills when we are sailing fast I've been
known to put my head down on his back and take a little
nap. Comfy!

Quoted message said:

o It's easier for me to reach the water bottle when tucked
into his back jersey pocket than on the bike. Maybe after
we both feel more confident on the thing, we can reach
down for waterbottles, but we're not quite there yet.

Well, okay, the above wouldn't work it I put water bottles
in his back pocket. Don't worry, you'll be stable enough to
grab water bottles from the cages in no time.

Quoted message said:

This tandem thing might prove to be fun.

It certainly has for us. Good luck!

Claire wrote: ...

Quoted message said:

o My husband's used to riding at a higher cadence than me.
Maybe it's just as well I get used to that.

Cadence=aerobics. Not all bad.

Quoted message said:

o He'll eventually learn to warn me when he decides he's
going to coast, or suddenly start pedaling again.
Especially since the suddenly start pedaling again thing
could have potentially damaging consequences to my crotch.

As they say in day care centers, "use your words." A few
times of shrieking in his ear will learn him right quick.
Ditto on the bumps (if yours doesn't have a special
trampoline seatpost). I've broken in several captains,
and I am the world's best captain myself at notification
of road surface and so forth. (I even say "bump" to my
auto passengers!)

Quoted message said:

o Our speed was totally kick ass. We were cruising along,
at an effort that would have produced in our mutual
estimations about 17 mph in him and 15 in me, but I know
we were going probably 22 at a minimum. We rode past a
couple of This Is Your Speed signs (speeding along the
lake is a real problem), and were at 17 mph on an uphill
stretch, and 25 on a flat. Maybe we'll eventually buy a
computer for it.

Two computers. The Rear Admiral position can get boring,
and if you have your own buttons to push you can do
mental calculations or announce the details to all the
singles drafting you. On my tandems we each have a
computer, and it's funny to see that the rear of the
Counterpoint travels further than the front.

Quoted message said:

o I'm close enough to him to *smell* him. And this was on
only a 15 mile thing largely in the late afternoon shade.
Makes me wonder if we'll really do the Flying Wheels
Century together on that thing. He'll be pretty ripe on a
summer's day after a hundred miles.

Baby wipes, no beans.

Quoted message said:

o Amusingly, I can literally kiss his ass, especially on
downhills in a tuck. Heh. o It's easier for me to reach
the water bottle when tucked into his back jersey pocket
than on the bike. Maybe after we both feel more confident
on the thing, we can reach down for waterbottles, but
we're not quite there yet.

Stuff the cue sheets in there too, or get a hunter's
license holder for the back of his jersey. Captains are
good for more than just driving.

HTH --Karen M. so what kind is it? Photos???

Karen M. said:

no beans.

uh-oh. any tips for a vegetarian captain? besides
starving, i mean.
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

Karen M. said:

Two computers. The Rear Admiral position can get boring,
and if you have your own buttons to push you can do mental
calculations or announce the details to all the singles
drafting you. On my tandems we each have a computer, and
it's funny to see that the rear of the Counterpoint
travels further than the front.

Clearly, the stoker must be working harder.

--
Benjamin Lewis

Accordion, n.: A bagpipe with pleats.

In article <[email hidden]>,

David Reuteler said:

Karen M. said:

no beans.

uh-oh. any tips for a vegetarian captain? besides
starving, i mean.

Stoke.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden]
sfu.cawiredcolaOpen ↗ President, Fabrizio
Mazzoleni Fan Club

Claire Petersky wrote: .
:: o Our speed was totally kick ass. We were cruising along,
:: at an effort that would have produced in our mutual
:: estimations about 17 mph in him and 15 in me, but I know
:: we were going probably 22 at a minimum. We rode past a
:: couple of This Is Your Speed signs (speeding along the
:: lake is a real problem), and were at 17 mph on an uphill
:: stretch, and 25 on a flat. Maybe we'll eventually buy a
:: computer for
:: it.

Get a computer, cheapo!

:: o I'm close enough to him to *smell* him. And this was on
:: only a 15 mile thing largely in the late afternoon shade.
:: Makes me wonder if we'll really do the Flying Wheels
:: Century together on that thing. He'll be pretty ripe on a
:: summer's day after a hundred miles.

Well, you can sit up front and he'll smell you ripe 🙂

:: o Amusingly, I can literally kiss his ass, especially on
:: downhills in a tuck. Heh.

Well, you can sit up front and he can kiss your ass. 🙂

::
:: This tandem thing might prove to be fun.
::

Sounds like you two will come to know each other even
better! 🙂

Enjoy!

Claire Petersky said:

Yesterday we just took it up and down the street, then
around the block a few times, and then finally out to the
arterial and back. My husband's never ridden a tandem,
whereas I have some stoker experience and I've been a
captain on our other tandem with the kids. So it took some
practice to feel steady and stable on the thing. It's much
easier to get started with the two of us than me and a kid
-- it really helps I think to have a stoker and a captain
with a clue. (...)

Is the husband *always* captain ? I understand it conforms
to the usage of the male more often driving the car or
assuming (apparent) leadership,... But I am still
surprised to see that in practically all reports I read on
tandeming there is practically none where the husband is
stoker and the wife captain. Ok, no problem with me, I
prefer being captain, but I would expect women to
challenge us more than this.

Jacques

Roger Zoul said:

Claire Petersky wrote: .
:: o Our speed was totally kick ass. We were cruising
:: along, at an effort that would have produced in our
:: mutual estimations about 17 mph in him and 15 in me,
:: but I know we were going probably 22 at a minimum. We
:: rode past a couple of This Is Your Speed signs
:: (speeding along the lake is a real problem), and were
:: at 17 mph on an uphill stretch, and 25 on a flat. Maybe
:: we'll eventually buy a computer for
:: it.

Get a computer, cheapo!

<even worse stuff snipped>

Somehow, flaming Claire comes across to me a little bit like
flaming Mother Theresa. There's no reason to, and everybody
knows only an ignorant jackass would do it.

Austin

Quoted message said:

Is the husband *always* captain ? I understand it conforms
to the usage of the male more often driving the car or
assuming (apparent) leadership,... But I am still surprised
to see that in practically all reports I read on tandeming
there is practically none where the husband is stoker and
the wife captain.

Since the male is often the larger/heavier rider, bike
fitting is simplified and handling of the tandem
(starting/stopping and to a lesser extent steering) are
better suited to having the larger/heavier rider as captain.

This topic came up recently on the tandem e-mail list, and
while the vast majority of mixed teams had male captains,
quite a few women captain's participated in the discussion.

Chris Neary [email hidden]

Chris & Tracey 1999 Co-Motion Speedster

AustinMN said:

Somehow, flaming Claire comes across to me a little bit
like flaming Mother Theresa. There's no reason to, and
everybody knows only an ignorant jackass would do it.

i kinda like it when people flame claire. her replies get
funnier and better with the intensity of the flame so knock
yourself out. i'm sure she can take a challenge. i could
use a laugh.

i don't think the flame in question really was, tho.
possibly in poor taste but it didn't read like a proper
flame to me. i'd be much more irritated at being compared to
a religious character myself.
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

AustinMN wrote:
:: Roger Zoul wrote:
::: Claire Petersky wrote: .
::::: o Our speed was totally kick ass. We were cruising
::::: along, at an effort that would have produced in our
::::: mutual estimations about 17 mph in him and 15 in me,
::::: but I know we were going probably 22 at a minimum. We
::::: rode past a couple of This Is Your Speed signs
::::: (speeding along the lake is a real problem), and were
::::: at 17 mph on an uphill stretch, and 25 on a flat.
::::: Maybe we'll eventually buy a computer for it.
:::
::: Get a computer, cheapo!
::
:: <even worse stuff snipped>
::
:: Somehow, flaming Claire comes across to me a little bit
:: like flaming Mother Theresa. There's no reason to, and
:: everybody knows only an ignorant jackass would do it.

That's not a flame, it was suggestion, jackass!

::
:: Austin

David Reuteler wrote:
:: AustinMN <[email hidden]> wrote:
::: Somehow, flaming Claire comes across to me a little bit
::: like flaming Mother Theresa. There's no reason to, and
::: everybody knows only an ignorant jackass would do it.
::
:: i kinda like it when people flame claire. her replies get
:: funnier and better with the intensity of the flame so
:: knock yourself out. i'm sure she can take a challenge. i
:: could use a laugh.
::
:: i don't think the flame in question really was, tho.
:: possibly in poor taste but it didn't read like a proper
:: flame to me. i'd be much more irritated at being compared
:: to a religious character myself.

why did it even seem like a flame? She even commented about
getting a computer, I was just encouraging her along that
path, since i find them fun.

Roger Zoul said:

That's not a flame, it was suggestion, jackass!

see now, that's a flame.
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

Roger Zoul said:

why did it even seem like a flame? She even commented
about getting a computer, I was just encouraging her along
that path, since i find them fun.

it didn't. not to me, anyway.
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

Jacques Moser said:

Is the husband *always* captain ? I understand it conforms
to the usage of the male more often driving the car or
assuming (apparent) leadership,... But I am still
surprised to see that in practically all reports I read on
tandeming there is practically none where the husband is
stoker and the wife captain. Ok, no problem with me, I
prefer being captain, but I would expect women to
challenge us more than this.

Well, for my wife and I, I do captain. For many reasons,
such as, I'm much taller/heavier, I'm stronger, I have
several orders of magnitude more time on the bicycle than
she does, etc. It would be basically be unsafe for her to
captain our tandem. As for driving the car, my wife does
all the driving unless she's ill or very tired. She tends
to get motionsick unless she is driving, and I confess I
don't like to drive.

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"If its sinful, it's more fun."

David Reuteler said:

Roger Zoul said:

That's not a flame, it was suggestion, jackass!

see now, that's a flame.

No it's not, I deserved it. 😉

Austin

--
I'm pedaling as fast as I durn well please! There are no X
characters in my address

Claire Petersky said:

Notes: o My husband's used to riding at a higher cadence
than me. Maybe it's just as well I get used to that.

My regular cadence is a little fast for my wife, but she
pronounced it as reasonable. When I started spinning up for
downhills and to try and pickup speed she was very quickly
convinced she needed clipless. 🙂

Quoted message said:

o He'll eventually learn to warn me when he decides he's
going to coast, or suddenly start pedaling again.
Especially since the suddenly start pedaling again thing
could have potentially damaging consequences to my crotch.

We're working on this skill. We've only managed to get out
three times now (including this weekend). We took a spin
over to Mercer Island for a children's event.

Quoted message said:

o Our speed was totally kick ass. We were cruising along,
at an effort that would have produced in our mutual
estimations about 17 mph in him and 15 in me, but I know
we were going probably 22 at a minimum. We rode past a
couple of This Is Your Speed signs (speeding along the
lake is a real problem), and were at 17 mph on an uphill
stretch, and 25 on a flat. Maybe we'll eventually buy a
computer for it.

I'm really hating the speedo that came with the tandem. It
doesn't do automatic stop/start, which all the others I have
do. Our speeds are not nearly as nice as yours, but then my
wife is not a regular cyclist (and she does have the rather
good excuse of being 24 weeks pregnant 😉 Still, we go
considerably faster than if we were constrained by her being
on a single.

Quoted message said:

o I'm close enough to him to *smell* him. And this was on
only a 15 mile thing largely in the late afternoon shade.
Makes me wonder if we'll really do the Flying Wheels
Century together on that thing. He'll be pretty ripe on a
summer's day after a hundred miles.

Heh. I don't think this has come up yet. I'll have to show
her your post.

Quoted message said:

o Amusingly, I can literally kiss his ass, especially on
downhills in a tuck. Heh.

Heh. I haven't received any smooches, but someone does
occasionally develop wandering hands. Of course, she claims
it just to place gloves in my back pockets...

Quoted message said:

o It's easier for me to reach the water bottle when tucked
into his back jersey pocket than on the bike. Maybe after
we both feel more confident on the thing, we can reach
down for waterbottles, but we're not quite there yet.

Tina is having some problems with this, but our balancing
does seem to be getting smoother. Our starting is noticably
better now.

Oh, and congrats on the new bike!

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
"Heck was created for those who refuse to believe in Gosh."

Quoted message said:

o He'll eventually learn to warn me when he decides he's
going to coast, or suddenly start pedaling again.
Especially since the suddenly start pedaling again thing
could have potentially damaging consequences to my crotch.

Likely he will eventually learn to subtlety
decrease/increase power as a cue for you to do the same.

Chris Neary [email hidden]

Chris & Tracey 1999 Co-Motion Speedster

"Karen M." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Claire wrote: ...

Quoted message said:

o My husband's used to riding at a higher cadence than
me. Maybe it's

just

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

as well I get used to that.

Cadence=aerobics. Not all bad.

Yup, which is why I say, just as well.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

o He'll eventually learn to warn me when he decides he's
going to coast,

or

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

suddenly start pedaling again. Especially since the
suddenly start

pedaling

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

again thing could have potentially damaging consequences
to my crotch.

As they say in day care centers, "use your words." A
few times of shrieking in his ear will learn him right
quick.

He also has a vested interest in the health of my crotch.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

o I'm close enough to him to *smell* him. And this was
on only a 15 mile thing largely in the late afternoon
shade. Makes me wonder if we'll

really

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

do the Flying Wheels Century together on that thing.
He'll be pretty

ripe on

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a summer's day after a hundred miles.

Baby wipes, no beans.

Oh girlfriend, you don't even begin to know. He is one of
the windiest persons I've ever had the priviledge to spend
major portions of time with. The joke is that it helps
propel the bike, action and equal and opposite reaction, and
all that, but I'm not so sure.

Quoted message said:

Stuff the cue sheets in there too, or get a hunter's
license holder for the back of his jersey. Captains are
good for more than just driving.

I"ve seen stokers with cameras, taking pictures as the team
glides along. Maybe I should stuff a novel back there?

Quoted message said:

so what kind is it? Photos???

It's an Erickson, custom-built, and pretty as all get-out.
Maybe I should get a digital camera one day.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato and .net for .com
Home of the meditative cyclist:
home.earthlink.netWelcome.htmOpen ↗
See the books I've set free at: bookcrossing.comCpeterskyOpen ↗