Hello! We are new to this forum. We live in Northern CA (Yuba City) and ride an 04 Road Cannondale Tandem. I am the Captain since my husband is visually impaired. We have particpated in many organized rides and are training for our first Century (April). We are both in our late 40's and have been riding for over three years (started with a Diamondback tandem). I just ordered a single Specialized Sirrus Comp for those days I need to ride by myself.
Looking at the different threads I would like to add the following:
We use platform pedals only. I feel more comfortable knowing I can get my feet down to the ground in a hurry in an emergency.
We haul our bike on top of our Honda CRV with a Yakima Sidewinder, which we love.
We are putting in 50 to 75 miles per week on the road (the weather has been terrible lately). We ride mainly on country roads around our neighborhood and around the Sutter Buttes.
I hope to learn a lot from this Forum, both with tandem riding and riding on my own. We love to ride and think about it all of the time. It is our way to escape from all of the madness....
masiman
03-09-06, 12:08 PM
Welcome redryder. This forum gets some good action which I think may be seasonal (I have only been lurking about 6 months).
There have been some mentions and threads on visual impairment but it sounds like you will be an SME (subject matter expert) for this area!
bidaci
03-09-06, 12:11 PM
Welcome!
Finally someone that admits to using platforms only.
redryder
03-09-06, 12:25 PM
Welcome!
Finally someone that admits to using platforms only.
And proud of it!!!
Most of the people I ride with use clipless, but it is not for me or my husband. We use platforms with a lot of teeth and ride with mountain shimano shoes. We have no problem keeping up.
redryder
03-09-06, 12:30 PM
I will be honored to answer any questions I can on visually impaired riders. My husband has been visually impaired since birth and he definetly loves a challenge. He use to ride horses with me when I was a Team Penner. We only stopped that when he fell and was run over by some cattle.
He was crashing too much on a single bicycle so the tandem works great for us.
JMarino
03-09-06, 05:36 PM
My visually impaired wife and I ride a lot, too. After just selling our Burley Rumba, we are waiting patiently for our new Co-Motion Supremo. I wonder how many teams with visually impaired stokers are out there?
Anyone else?
Brian
03-09-06, 08:10 PM
Welcome! My wife prefers flat pedals too, for what it's worth. But please don't complain about the weather - we got 6-8 inches of snow in the last 24 hours.
thomson
03-09-06, 08:27 PM
Welcome Red. I look forward to hearing of your adventures.
zonatandem
03-09-06, 09:14 PM
Welcome!
Nice to have a female captain too!
Have ridden with several blind stokers; very rewarding/fun!
Back in 1977 had a couple, like you, with male blind stoker riding track at the outdoor Kenosha, WI velodrome.
Stoker had the bigfgest grin on his face!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem
redryder
03-10-06, 09:58 AM
Welcome!
Nice to have a female captain too!
Have ridden with several blind stokers; very rewarding/fun!
Back in 1977 had a couple, like you, with male blind stoker riding track at the outdoor Kenosha, WI velodrome.
Stoker had the bigfgest grin on his face!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem
I cannot tell if my husband is grinning, but I know he loves riding, and ride fast. He motivates me when I get tired. Besides being visually impaired he has Ataxia, which in his case, his brain will tell him to walk one way and his body walks in another direction. But, with his feet on the pedals he can ride and ride for hours. It is the best therapy for both his body and mind.
There are not many tandems in our area and it is funny to listen to all of the comments, like; "Do you know your husband is not pedaling" to "How come your husband is in front?" We take it all in stride and just laugh. But the best advantage to riding a tandem is that it scares dogs! We will have dogs start chasing us and when they have two people yell "NO" at the top of their lungs, they stop in their tracks.
zonatandem
03-10-06, 03:32 PM
Dogs can be an issue on a tandem also.
Yelling "get off the couch!" seems to work too!
My stoker carries a sharp toned whistle in a case of chasing dogs; seems to startle them a bit and they'll break stride. Dogs in farm country seem to be especially very territorial.
But stoker's been dive-bombed by a bird; had a squirrel run into our front wheel; had a bull jump a fence and run in front of us. Have had horses startle and run. And of course people yelling "(S)He is not pedaling back there!" Pilots usual reply: "I steer
(s)he pedals!"
Sounds like you're having a great time!