No coffee stops for stoker.

[zronn]

My stoker is a Mad Woman! I thought I was the competitive gung ho bike racer.
Ha!
Our third ride out we decided to pick it up a bit for fun. So coming back on a false flat road we start picking the pace up. I knew I was starting to work pretty hard so I checked to make sure she was OK. She responded with a polite "faster". We start to come up on a single and I feel the pedals start to get lighter and pretty soon I am reaching for more gears to keep the cadence managable.

My big mistake:
As we approached the rider I said, dig deep and we will attack so that he can't get on our wheel. I was hoping this would scare her a little. No dice! We fly by the single so fast that he can't even think of jumping on our wheel.
She liked it and wanted to hunt down another single to blow off the road.

Then we stopped at Peet's for an iced coffee. We were supposed to just cruise home, but the pedals kept turning faster and faster no matter how much I soft pedaled. Pretty soon we were on the big chain ring and I (the captain) am dragging the rear brake.

She is getting tea from now on...DECAF!

[Doggus]

We tangled with an experienced 20 year racer turned track racer. My stoker responds real well when there's tough looking competition around. We even got the 'alright, you're killing me' comment. We like that better than the 'you're cheating' response which we've heard numerous times.

[ElRey]

dude, that's what it's all about!!!! My stoker is a former champ marathon runner and she just loves hammering it. We are the bane of local single riders. Embarrassing for some 30 year old to get dropped by a tandem with a couple of 55 year olds up.

[MyPC8MyBrain]

My stokie is not in that great of shape but still is a maniac like that. When she smells a roadie in full kit, I feel the pedals getting light. Then she waves when we blow by.... she's just funny like that. She also is a speed demon.. I'll be grabbing for brakes on a twisty downhill, and she wants to keep pedaling faster. Crazy girl...good thing I'm driving. :)

[zronn]

That is some good stuff there. Yummy fun!

We did our 4th ride last night and she is really tuning in to my body language. She sees me start to get in a tuck and knows it's go time. I didn't know I was that obvious. I'll have to hide that more when I am racing the single, don't want to advertise.

[ken cummings]

That is some good stuff there. Yummy fun!

We did our 4th ride last night and she is really tuning in to my body language. She sees me start to get in a tuck and knows it's go time. I didn't know I was that obvious. I'll have to hide that more when I am racing the single, don't want to advertise.

Won't work, hiding that is. The wife and I have been off and on tandems and the dance floor for so long we often respond to each others moves without conscious thought. After millions of years of human evolution a stokers' response to a captains' moves maybe set at the genetic level.

Besides if she is that mad keen about cycling do not spoil things, use them. If you two are anywhere near a velodrome you might consider kilo sprints on a track tandem. Now there is a place to hammer.