Hi
I hope I can be of help. We are both in our early fifties. We both started on steel framed Nishiki Mtb's. I became faster and fitter more quickly than my stoker. It became a frustration to train as I always had to wait for her. We came to a point where she started to seriously thinking about stopping. We then borrowed a tandem and the bug hit hard and fast.!!!!!!! WE since bought the Tandem. Visit our website and see how we enjoy our sport. Click on the link at the bottom of my posting. The photos are old but the enjoyment certainly NOT!!!!!! My ave speed dropped initially but quicly improved. Our ave speed now hovers between 28 km/h and 33 km/h for 100 km races. We can now both enjoy cycling AND do it together. One thing though ........ with a tandem there are no compromises...... You either ride straight into a new honeymoon ..... or straight into the divorce court !!!!!!! So beware.... this can test your relationship... we were lucky and are still enjoying our honeymoon after a year and a half. We are currently completing at least two 100 km races a month and have done various of the great classic fun rides in South Africa and have done almost 5000km during this time. Our first ARGUS in March2002 (
www.cycletour.co.za ) was the 25th running of this event with 32 000 competitors. We intend doing the 50th ARGUS !!!!!! (God willing)
Keep those wheels spinning!!!!!!
Big H