Tandem Cycling - Do century for first tandem ride w/ new stoker?

My sister and I considering doing a century around Lake Tahoe for a team in training event. She lives in Dallas, TX and myself in Portland. We are at different fitness levels, so we are considering renting a good road tandem for the event rather than separate bikes and not seeing each. We'll bring our saddles and pedals. Is this pure folly? I have captained a tandem a bit and am generally experienced, but I'm looking for some expert opinion - is this a catastrophe waiting to happen? The issues I see:
- lack of prep time together
- different position on bike = more likely to cause pain on longer ride, possible knee issues
- course will have hills (and downhills) - no practice with braking

Thoughts?

Thanks.

A challenging proposition. Rider position and hillclimbing are likely to be your problems, braking not so much (although you should expect a crowded course at times). Should be do-able but be prepared to stop during the event to fiddle with positioning.

I've done it many times with experienced stokers, that is, 100 miles for a first ride. You will have to get the fit right and be careful about the cadence. Guessing that you are doing the Leukemia rides, you should be somewhat experienced and fit cyclists by the time you get to Tahoe, ready to do a hilly century around the lake.

The other thing that you will have to be careful about is the fit on the back. If she is tall and the center-to-center bottom bracket spacing is short, her positions will be limited by the space you take up in front of her. The more upright position puts more weight on the saddle, and can tear up bottoms in short order. She should use her preferred saddle, and an appropriate lubricant where she might chafe.

Without any significant experience with heating rims / brake fade on a bike (lots on motor vehicles), I can't comment on that, save to say the problem is usually steep descents with sharp curves that require slow speeds and consequent high energy inputs into the braking system with speed between the corners, and that descents that lack sharp curves and have generous runouts at the bottom are not a problem--air resistance will eventually gobble up all the speed.

Before you get halfway through the century you'll be yelling at each other!
Our advice: use your singles!

My sister and I considering doing a century around Lake Tahoe for a team in training event. She lives in Dallas, TX and myself in Portland. We are at different fitness levels, so we are considering renting a good road tandem for the event rather than separate bikes and not seeing each. We'll bring our saddles and pedals. Is this pure folly? I have captained a tandem a bit and am generally experienced, but I'm looking for some expert opinion - is this a catastrophe waiting to happen? The issues I see:
- lack of prep time together
- different position on bike = more likely to cause pain on longer ride, possible knee issues
- course will have hills (and downhills) - no practice with braking


The way we read this is you want to do the century and you want to spend quality time with your sister. Assuming that the relationship with you sister is in good shape... Our advise:

Rent the size tandem that can reasonably fit both of you.

Take brakes as frequent and as long as requested by the weaker rider.

Take it easy on the descents... you do not want to scare your sister or worst...

Have her take measuraments on her single and try to mimic that on the tandem.
If she wants to stand, make sure you give her plenty of room, standing yourself or leaning forward to make room for her.

Have fun and enjoy each other's company!

It has the potential of becoming a very nice memory for both of you.

I once pulled my sister along the Big Sur marathon course... after many years, the memory of her sprinting towards the finish line still brings a tear to my eyes and fills me with satisfaction.

From a new stoker pov, it was a very interesting experience to do a century with a new tandem owner who had lost his stoker after the first 350mi. We had done a trial 48mi ride a few weeks before when this relatively flat ad hoc century popped up 3weeks ago. I find DF bikes wearing on the neck after 50-60mi
and my Rotator Pursuit bent is supremely comfortable but a little slow up hills, (not as slow as a tandem
though) so I mix and match according to the ride. My impression after the century was positive with the main problem being the seat. You can't shift around at will so some coordination is needed with the captain and standing is still a potential adventure, but a 100yds standing goes a long way toward easing the crotch burning. Because the stoker position on the tandem is more upright, there has been zero neck
problem. Another 'benefit' is we go 2-4mph faster than we can on singles, as long as the hills are not such as to give a 20+sec advantage to the singlets, and we just barely missed 20mph moving average on the century, a time I haven't seen on singlets since '00. We are still scoping out courtesies, one of which is how to deal with an excited phone call from the captain two days ago suggesting we do a
double century this coming Sat as part of the RAAM qualifier (qualifiers have to do 500!! miles over 60+
hour weekend. The 200miler is a sop for the less dedicated and has 10-12kft of climbing. Randonneuring stuff. [There is NO way!] But I am looking forward to a rolling century in 2.5weeks, got to find a decent saddle... and a cyclometer. The team weighs about #375 with clothes and supplies. If we keep this
up I may sound out the captain about a Comotion speedster, or better.

It would be ideal if you and yours could train together for months and have a custom built road tandem made for the ride.....but we live in the real world. Yeah its folly but I say do it, I am sure you will be fine and if you dont complete the course what happens.....you get to spend some great sister sister time waiting for the sag.

The fact you're concerned enough to ask seems to indicate you'd be willing to work with your sister in making the ride a successful one.

My stoker and I did a metric century last year (new course for us), and it was probably our 10th or so ride on the tandem, including a really shaky 2 or 3 mile first ride (first ride in a year for stoker after the her last ride, on a single, resulted in a heavy crash).

As I am more fit than my counterpart, I offered the following tips to her:
1. Spin easy, save your legs. Cramping halfway through doesn't do either of us any good. I work hard on the hills, cruise everywhere else. She pitches in when it gets hard, and due to her taking it easy for most of the ride, at the end we can really go hard. Feels better than crawling home.
2. I say to her tell me when you need a break - and I try and offer every 5-10 minutes. We just stand and coast, one leg at a time.
3. Let me know when to slow on the descents. As someone who wants to go as fast as possible, the concept of braking on a descent is almost foreign to me. However, I realized how scary "being scared" is when I got scared on a big descent I didn't know. I try and recall that feeling whenever I feel like we're going too slow. Curiously enough she is comfortable going just as fast or faster on the flats, but I think it has to do with the fact that when we stop going hard, we'll slow immediately.
4. I read out cadence (I haven't mounted a second computer yet). I quickly learned the comfortable cadence and try and keep to it (varies based on hills, wind, fatigue, etc).

Although not critical, she wears a HR monitor for herself. I was surprised at how hard she worked even when "taking it easy". I can find no fault in her effort level, and the HR monitor put some objective numbers behind that thought.

Fit is critical. Her shoes, pedals, seat, gloves. I find the cranks to be much wider on the tandem than my road bike but there's nothing to do about that. Seat height and setback are most important with knee health so make sure you can replicate both your positions on the tandem.

Make sure you have a suspension post for the stoker - it'll help when you miss that odd pavement crack that seems so insignificant but bounces her right off the seat.

I think if you can go for a 10 or 15 mile ride the day before, check fit, gears, brakes, and discuss anything that pops up about riding the tandem, you'll be fine. You might have spots of difficulty here and there but I think that's what makes doing a century challenging and rewarding.

cdr

Before you get halfway through the century you'll be yelling at each other!
Our advice: use your singles!

That would be my advice but if you want to do it- then go ahead. Just remember that you do sit down a lot more on a Tandem and you have to communicate to get Butt rests. A Stoker suddenly moving to get comfortable can put you in a ditch very easily. On the saddles-Take your own and they may be better than the Hire Tandem ones but I have found that a Tandem needs a wider more cushioned saddle than on my solos. SCH has it right in that Saddle soreness will arrive. Now about those hills- Enjoy them if you can. You will have plenty of time to look at the scenery- providing you can raise your head off the bars with the effort they can take.

Just let us know if you are still talking to your sister after the event as 100 miles as a first ride might be that step too far.