Tandem Cycling - Tandem always invokes comments

It's really something how a tandem draws attention. Today, while the Missus and I were riding the SJ Livestrong event we had no fewer than a million comments. Typical among them was the "You know she's not pedaling" and the ever popular "Who's doing the work?".

We're really appreciative of the comments and we know that our matching outfits and the fact that I'm 6'4" will tend to draw attention. We have a lot of fun riding the tandem.

Anyway, today a motorcycle cop was arranging traffic during the route and, using the loudspeaker, said "Isn't that kinda cheating?" That's the first we heard that and we laughed a lot. Coming into a rest stop shortly thereafter someone yelled "Now there's double trouble".

We didn't see too many tandems today so maybe that was part of it.

Andy

I get a kick out of responses from kids. We've had two kids, out pedaling with their parents, say "Nice bike!" We also put a cheesy little Bell squeeze horn given to us by a co-worker on the stoker handlebar; that almost always gets a smile

True, If you do not like attention don't get a tandem.

:) Hi, we usually get the same comments while riding our tandem. I did have one person ask me if a tandem was harder to drive than a single bike; My answer was basically no, but I have to make wider turns and had to make quite a few adjustments to make this bike fit the two of us. I also tell people that my tandem has 2 horse power. Today on our usual trip to Seal Beach we passed four other tandems. [record]

We've had all the same comments you guys mentioned here plus one from an older gentleman sitting on a park bench. We waved as we went by. He said, "Whoa, I'm seeing double!" That just cracked us up!

We like the way traffic notices us and gives a little more room as they pass by. Life is good on a tandem!

Hehe the alternative to 2 horsepower is a 4 stroke engine :)

We get the usual "She's not pedaling in back", plus "You're going the wrong way." This bike is goodwill ambassador for tandem cycling as everyone who sees it wants to come over and talk to us.

tandemania.blogspot.com (http://tandemania.blogspot.com)

I'm surprised in San Jose there weren't many tandems. On the Portola Loop in Portola Valley I usually see at least 10 or 12 tandems in just my short ride. I thought this here was tandem country.

I think the most comments we got was touring in France. Unfortunately, most of them we didn't understand :innocent:. One time we went into the caves at La Cave and came out and an entire class of students on a field trip were circled around our bike checking it out. They were thrilled to see us mount and ride away. As a part of our tour we got to meet with the mayor of this small town that had worked hard to get the Tour de France to go through his town the next year. When he heard about half our tour was on tandems he declared them "Divorce Machines".

Best we heard was a little girl talking to a grown up, maybe 5 yrs old, she said:
"¿esa es la que se casó?"
"is that the one [the bike] that got married?"

tandemania2 - Is there a YouTube video showing how that contraption works? And what the heck is it made of?

charmed - When we were shopping for a tandem a few months ago we visited my Dad in SJ. I grew up there. Figured there'd be lots of shops with tandems. Not the case at all! I'm puzzled why that is? Way more tandem activity in the PNW (Portland/Seattle) even though our weather sucks compared to SJ.

If you want to fit right in, attend a tandem rally. Our triple gets many comments at the usual organized ride, but it seems that you need a quad or quint to draw much attention at a tandem rally. It's OK, though. I'd rather draw attention for riding well than having more than one seat on the bike :-)

The most memorable comment for us was on a climb towards the summit of Mt. Diablo, a couple of unicyclists were coming down the hill and one of them said, "hey! that's the right ratio, one rider per wheel!" :D

tandemania2 - Is there a YouTube video showing how that contraption works? And what the heck is it made of?

charmed - When we were shopping for a tandem a few months ago we visited my Dad in SJ. I grew up there. Figured there'd be lots of shops with tandems. Not the case at all! I'm puzzled why that is? Way more tandem activity in the PNW (Portland/Seattle) even though our weather sucks compared to SJ.

Telkwa, the Flevo is aluminum with a plywood inner core. It has separate drives and gearing for the captain and stoker. Suspension is via the cylinder at the top of the frame. They were produced in Holland until about 1999. It's low, light and fast. With my regular stoker we can cruise above 20mph without much trouble. That's pretty good for an old, fat guy like me.

Look here (http://youtube.com/watch?v=ggGbgBKZIas) and here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CplLUp6xySU) for videos.

We get the same comments that you have stated add one .. kids call it a "double bike". We did have an experience in RI while coming off the Block Island ferry some years ago. A police officer on a bike was stopped at a stop sign, we rode up next to him and I commented that he should turbo charge his bike. He was a bit baffled until he looked behind me ... he laughed and we talked about tandem cycling for the next 15 minutes. Seems his girlfriend was not a cyclist but he wanted to share his love of the sport with her. This was a perfect answer to his problem.
Last comment ... have you ever noticed that couples at tandem rallies have very good marriages ...happy, trusting and loving ... seems the comment by the mayor was not correct.

I've heard that a tandem gets you to where your marriage is going, only faster. I think (hope!) that's right.

Andy

One day durring the 80 miles event on the short steep climb two guys came from behaind ( they were racers in team kits ) one of them said Okay Your Ready! and I would normally said somthing back to the them , but this time my wife said yeah we are ready! & we just stomped on the pedalls and started riding high tempo, over the hill and on the flat.
Pace picked up to around 25m/hr for next 4 miles and finally those two guys got tired to hanging on Cheryl's weel.

man o man!! we had lots of loughing after this because not only they could not dropped us on the hill but on the flats we basiclly cooked them and they finally figured out that tandems can climb and they can roll fast for long times!
Most of the cool coments you get when you do some epic events with lots of climbing single bikes are some times can not beilive what can be done on the tandem,
Life is good!
les korcala

We get the usual "She's not pedaling in back", plus "You're going the wrong way." This bike is goodwill ambassador for tandem cycling as everyone who sees it wants to come over and talk to us.

tandemania.blogspot.com (http://tandemania.blogspot.com)

It looks like a pushme-pullyou. Strange to wrap my mind around it. The videos helped a lot. That could be fun.

I've heard that a tandem gets you to where your marriage is going, only faster. I think (hope!) that's right.

Andy

I've heard it thusly: Wherever your relationship is heading, the tandem will get you there faster. I know folks who were dating who are no more, since their experiences on the tandem.

We get a lot of "nice bike" and even more "she's not pedalling" comments from passerbys. If I only had a dime for every time someone has made this comment...

A couple of years ago on a tour of Austria we were pedalling along the countryside when a man shouted out something in German. Since we don't understand the language, we asked our German-speaking friend what the man had said. She replied "She's not pedalling".

I think people who say this think that they are so clever for thinking of such a pithy comment.

There aren't many tandems in New York City, since most apartments and bike shops lack the space. So people don't see them that often. We get a lot of "Cool Bike" "Awesome", or "Hey, look at that". A few days ago my stokid and I were on our way home, and we overheard a kid on the sidewalk telling his dad--"There's that bike I was telling you about." We still get the "she's not pedalling", but my favorite comment, from an oncoming cyclist was, "She's following you awfully close."

Rich

After reading this thread you guys got me thinking that I needed a sign for RAGBRAI. It says, "I know she is NOT pedaling!" It has our names and city below that. Hopefully that will fend off some of that comment all week.

+1 for all the "she's not pedalling" or "who works harder"

But the best ones are when you pass people on 1/2 bikes on a long climb and they say, "I thought tandems are slow going up hills", to which I have not figured out an appropriate response...

After reading this thread you guys got me thinking that I needed a sign for RAGBRAI. It says, "I know she is NOT pedaling!" It has our names and city below that. Hopefully that will fend off some of that comment all week.

I've had the same thought Baldy, but why ruin their fun?

Whenever we get the "She's not pedaling" comment it always fires up my stoker/wife. I always ask "Do you want to get on and show her how?" That always makes them change their tune. :thumb:

+1 for all the "she's not pedalling" or "who works harder"

But the best ones are when you pass people on 1/2 bikes on a long climb and they say, "I thought tandems are slow going up hills", to which I have not figured out an appropriate response...

... how about "they are" :)

is slow, and you're even slower...]

Most fun exchange I've had so far...while riding the tandem home alone from the bike shop, got a comment "where's your passenger?" I turned around, looked behind me with shocked look on my face and exclaimed "Oh my Gawd, she musta fallen off !!!"
Got a stunned look, then a good laugh.

We pull a trail-a-bike (with a kid on it) on occasion, and we certainly get alot of waves and smiles, and like some said, the cars give us a bit more room.

Give me two!

The completed sign project. :lol:

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q157/DrDover/DSC_2711.jpg

I would change the emphasis: "I know she is not pedaling!"

Best one I've heard yet was directed to my stoker/wife: "Don't pass him"

That is a good one! I also like the one about tandems being slow. "They are" :lol:

I decided to make a different sign for each day of RAGBRAI since I can't have a sign picking on my stoker everyday. My buddy suggested "I'm working hard, he is not"

Any other good tandem lines that you guys can think of?

I still get a kick out of my stoker's comment that, whatever route I take, she's "right behind me 100%".

Andy

:) Hi, tandems might be slow, but when some idiot blocks the bike path, [teenager on skateboard Etc.] I just keep pedaling [and ringing my bell] and when they see it's a freight train coming right at them, they move out of my way before getting run over. Anyone else have this problem?

We have one small section of trial that connects a parking area to a residential street. It runs about 50 yards through some woods. When we passed a walker wearing head phones (with us ringing bell and saying "on your left") the response was more like a startled jump when I passed followed by a screech of some sort when the stoker followed.

"its your turn to Pull" always gets a response from the 1/2 bike followers

We get the same comments too. The one that made us feel good was from some people in a tour bus that passed us on the way up to the top of Cadillac Mountain (Acadia National Park, Maine) 1600' of climbing in a little over 3 miles. They came over to us and told us they had never seen anything like us riding up the hill. Had a great trip down the hill too. Got radared by a park ranger for 50 in a 25 zone at the bottom of the hill. He pulled up next to us and told us we were flying. He said it with a smile on his face too.
What a great day. Any of you that been up CM and around the park, know what I'm talking about

But the best ones are when you pass people on 1/2 bikes on a long climb and they say, "I thought tandems are slow going up hills", to which I have not figured out an appropriate response...

How about, "Compared to what?"

...a subtle way of pointing out to the single-seat rider that you just passed him.

For "She's not pedaling" -

"Who? There's someone on the back?"
or "She has to, we're chained together."
or "She'd better be because I'm not."

We get a lot of little kids saying "WOW, look at that! It's a two bike!"

"Who? There's someone on the back?"



I love that one! I'll have to use it!

We heard this so many time it got old.

We were doing the PA Governor's Ride one year and a fairly obnoxious single rider kept making comments about "She's not pedaling... I saw her with her feet up... is it hard pulling you both up a hill?" and the like.

About mid-day at a rest stop somewhere between State College and Altoona (read HILLY), she leaned over and said, "Let's blow this guy's doors off..."

I was never more pleased.

We took off like a rocket and never looked back. We pedaled up hills nearly all were walking, and by the 15 mile mark, had 4 singles drafting us so far out front we had to wait for the Police motorcycles to catch up!

....to the top of Cadillac Mountain (Acadia National Park, Maine) 1600' of climbing in a little over 3 miles. .....Got radared by a park ranger for 50 in a 25 zone at the bottom of the hill. He pulled up next to us and told us we were flying. He said it with a smile on his face too.
What a great day. Any of you that been up CM and around the park, know what I'm talking about

We were just there about 3 weeks ago. Had he whole family on a day trip so we did not do the loop on the bike, but we did do Jordan Lake. When we came down CM, I let my oldest (9), ride down. Clocked them at 30-35mph. It was pretty scary because steering was all over the place. Nice blueberry picking up there.

While riding a tandem solo for about 25 miles, absolutely everyone I saw felt it necessary to inform me that I had "lost someone."

Recently a small child exclaimed "That one has two wheels!" (and I was under the impression most of the one rider bikes had two wheels as well. Go figure.)

Sometimes I like to beat them to it and will comment "Your bike is missing a motor." as we overtake someone.

When I tell people at work how far I rode, they let me know that it only counts for half, but more likely less than that even, since they know my stoker is doing most of the work.

My stoker recently has been asked where her brakes are. Apparently thinking that without her own brakes, she will keep on going when I stop.

Originally my stoker was recorded as having a finishing time on the Eastern Sierra Double Century one minute faster than mine. Possibly an issue with her missing brakes?? This has since been corrected.

While walking around San Francisco, girlfriend/stoker and I glanced through a jewelry store window. "Holy cow!" I jokingly exclaimed. "You could buy a bicycle for that!"

"You talked your girlfriend into doing Climb to Kaiser on a tandem???"..."Talk her into it? It was her idea!"

I have ridden my tandem solo quite a bit. I really never want to hear "you forgot someone" again. I'm not a real big fan of people yelling at me from cars anyway.

'She's not pedalin' comment gets pilot's standard reply:
'I steer, she pedals!'
Were at local farmers market last Saturday and tandem was parked but we were wearing a tandem motif jersey when a young fella (early 40s) asked: "Can I ask you-2 a personal question?" Sure . . ."Seen you 2all over this valley riding that tandem, what side of 70 are you on?"
Told him:"The middle part!" . . . 75/73.
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

My wife is thinking of getting a shirt made with "yes, I am pedalling" emblazoned across the back!

When Stoker Malkin and I are out 2gether, we often run into the poor fellow who laments, "I wish I could get my wife (girlfriend, partner, etc.) to ride with me..."

I think we happy tandem couples are pretty fortunate. And I think we tandem captains with happy stokers are the luckiest cyclists in the universe!

Cheers!

I get the "you lost someone" every time I ride the tandem solo. I mean...every time, and usually more than once. It gets SO old.

I do want to get my wife a jersey that says "Back Seat Driver". That would be pretty funny.

I think the funniest tandem related comment I ever heard went as follows: I was on a local group ride, which was frequented by a couple of really strong male/male tandem teams that were training for the 540+ mile Race Across Oregon. Early in the ride, they dropped the hammer and just took off like a rocket, and one of the single bike riders in the paceline grumbled loud enough for all to hear "There's nothing WORSE than following a two peckered tandem"

That comment still cracks me up to this day.

We were doing the PA Governor's Ride one year and a fairly obnoxious single rider kept making comments about "She's not pedaling... I saw her with her feet up... is it hard pulling you both up a hill?" and the like.


On the recent "family friendly" Santana San Juan Islands rally, none of the quads thought it was funny when I yelled: "Someone's not pedaling back there" as we passed. My wife also did not find it funny.

Most fun exchange I've had so far...while riding the tandem home alone from the bike shop, got a comment "where's your passenger?" I turned around, looked behind me with shocked look on my face and exclaimed "Oh my Gawd, she musta fallen off !!!"
Got a stunned look, then a good laugh.

Give me two!

Mine did "fall off" - we crashed about 5kms from the finish in a 100km ride when the guy in front of us braked for no reason at speed, she got carted off in an ambulance.

Since the bike would not fit in anything, I put it back together best I could (the handlebars stopped on the top tube leaving a nice dent and the wheel did a full 180 - but stayed true amazingly) and "smiled" all the way to the finish enduring all the "you've lost something" comments (in some pain).

Surprisingly the excellent state of the clothes in no way represents the amount of raw skin underneath

Any other good tandem lines that you guys can think of?

A local team has a sign on the back of their tandem that says: "Bike Pool. One less bike on the road."

"She's not Pedalling." "It's not her/my turn."
I've never had a SOV driver suggest that I'm missing someone, when I'm riding my tandem solo.
Yes, it's harder to ride a tandem solo; I have to do my own signalling.