jimmuller 

I'm a reasonably good solo rider, had done little cycling for some years but this spring I got back in again. I'm 61, in good shape. Did 45 miles yesterday on a '73 Raleigh Gran Sport with no ill effects, to give you an idea of where I'm coming from. My wife has a great bike of her own but has ridden it only on a trainer for some years. She has some possible issues related to various injuries, so we aren't sure how much biking she can do. More to the point, she drives a car very little and is uncomfortable in traffic, so getting her back on her bike on the road may be a problem. But she wants to come with me. So yesterday and again today she asked about a tandem. Since I'd be the captain it would relieve her of much of the fear of responsibility.

Neither of us has ever ridden a tandem. What sort of things should I know about first before even thinking about it? Can one be rented, tried out before someone springs big bucks in an experiment?

Totally at sea on this issue...