Tandem Cycling - What to do / where to ride in SE USA

The wife and I are trying to set some days aside for tandem events.

While we have gone to several "Festivals" with the off road bikes, including the off road tandem, we are curious what are some of the "rallies" for the road tandems we might enjoy.

I've been checking some listed on the internet, mainly using Tandemgeeks page as a directory.

We live in South Florida so I'm guessing Sebring, Villages, Georgia TR are closest.

Any others to consider.

We have never done a rally, so I assume it is more map based, ride at your own pace, or are these group rides with a lead and sweep like they do for off road.

Any other details would be great (distances, casual or hard core racer based, non ride activities).

Thanks
PK

It really hasn't changed that much since '03:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=300178&postcount=6

This has what I think is some useful information too, as GTR and TTR will both open up registration here pretty soon and I'm sure they'll both fill-up fast:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=262476&highlight=rallies+tandem

Thanks for that information, you did a great job writing that and I honestly never expected to find something that detailed posted anywhere.

I suspect we will try and go to Sebring, two reasons, one it's real close, and second is that the folks we bought the bike (Co-Mo) from are involved in that event.

I've been to the Villages before, though not on a tandem just driving through, I need to do more homework on this one. Any idea on what age group we might encounter?

The Georgia event sounds like a great time. With us it would offer enough travel and newness to be a vacation, so we're looking to get in on this if we can manage time off at work.

The nice thing about each event, is that if we plan well, the locations all have off road venues nearby. Sebring has Alafia or Balm Boyette, Villages has Santos, and I'm certain we can find somewhere in Georgia to ride, or possibly go further North to Fontana, Tsali or Pisgah, another we would like to ride is FATS which we haven't been to yet.

Again thanks, and if anyone else has something to add, I'd appreciate it.

PK

Any idea on what age group we might encounter?

STR at the Villages will likely be a very different mix of folks vs. what we've seen in quite some time as this is furtherest south STR will have been in, well, a real long time. Therefore, there's an expectation that a lot of south Florida tandem teams will jump all over this event given the proximity and familiar, very flat riding terrain. At the same time, a lot of folks who have attended STRs in NC, KY, NC, TN and KY over the past five years might not be as inclined to make the very long drive to the Villages or could find themselves behind the 8-ball on registration if the South Floridians fill the available slots.


The Georgia event sounds like a great time. With us it would offer enough travel and newness to be a vacation, so we're looking to get in on this if we can manage time off at work.

GTR (http://www.georgiatandemrally.com) should prove to be a pretty nice rally if the weather cooperates. GTR has been there twice back in 2001 and 2002. The town offers great restaurants and the terrain is excellent. Moreover, GTR always tends to be a 1st class event and draws a very diverse crowd in terms of age and riding tempo.

STR at the Villages will likely be a very different mix of folks vs. what we've seen in quite some time as this is furtherest south STR will have been in, well, a real long time. Therefore, there's an expectation that a lot of south Florida tandem teams will jump all over this event given the proximity and familiar, very flat riding terrain.

hehe! Come on down, TG! I got your "very flat"! http://tinyurl.com/9y8j7k ;-)

Actually, Bob and Jan Thompson, the hosts of next years Southern Tandem Rally, deliberately moved to the Villages from south Florida for the hill riding surrounding that area, (among other considerations.)

It is true that MOST of Florida is dead flat, and I have no idea yet how much climbing the routes Bob & Jan map out will entail. But I would suspect that there would be more climbing than in last years Georgia Tandem Rally, (which had virtually none since it was in southern Georgia). Obviously, there will be no major climbs, but after the 50th set or so of short, steep rollers ......

As for age, the majority of tandem teams that are able to attend these rallies tend to be from the 40's on up with a predominance of boomers that are retired or about to retire. It's that "time off from work" thing you mentioned that determines a lot of that.

hehe! Come on down, TG! I got your "very flat"! http://tinyurl.com/9y8j7k ;-)

Context: We have a 1/8th mile, 8% grade at the entrance to our sub-development and get about 2,000' of vertical gain on our 30 mile loop from the house without ever encountering any long, steep climbs. There just aren't any 'flat' sections of road around here. My relative scale for the South East US....

Mountains = North Georgia, East Tennessee & West North Carolina 'mountains'
Hilly = Where we live along with many other places in North Georgia, Eastern Tennessee & the Western Carolinas.
Rolling = Kentucky & Southwest of Atlanta
Flat = North Florida & east of Atlanta
Very flat = Coastal and low-country
Dead flat = Places we try to avoid.

Mountains = North Georgia, East Tennessee & West North Carolina 'mountains'
Hilly = Where we live along with many other places in North Georgia, Eastern Tennessee & the Western Carolinas.
Rolling = Kentucky & Southwest of Atlanta
Flat = North Florida & east of Atlanta
Very flat = Coastal and low-country
Dead flat = Places we try to avoid


Great definition, we frequent the bottom two.

Good to hear it's a mix of ages and abilities. Not that we're infants or teens, but the Villages had me wondering.

Terrain or not, we'll aim for a good time.

Any tips on what to carry on board, regular stuff for tools and tubes, or make it like an epic woods ride alone.

Also, with this rally format, it seems they provide a map. Do they also have available downloadable tracks for Garmins and other GPS's for those of us that use them as our cycling computer also.

Anyone interested in doing some off-road tandeming after Sebring or any events, assuming we're able to get in and attend.

PK

Any tips on what to carry on board, regular stuff for tools and tubes, or make it like an epic woods ride alone.

The basics: spare tube, patch kit, reuseable chain link, multi-tool, tire lever and pump and/or C02 carts and some money -- where greenbacks double as tire boots. Some folks also carry spare tires (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't), but they are far and few between.


Also, with this rally format, it seems they provide a map. Do they also have available downloadable tracks for Garmins and other GPS's for those of us that use them as our cycling computer also.

Typically, there will almost always be a map / cue sheet for each of the ride options. Depending on which rally it is and local laws, rally hosts will also put 'Dan Henry' markings on the route at key turns, often times color coded for the different days of the ride to eliminate confusion. While invariably someone will end up getting lost at just about every rally, that's the exception and not the rule unless there's simply an error in the cue sheets, a road sign goes missing or the road markings get gone.

As for GPS, GTR's organizer got into the Garmin Edge thing a few years back and has for the last two or three years provided downloadable GPS route tracks. At present, while Roger hasn't revealed the actual routes he has already posted the always easy to mis-interpret topo maps of the routes to the GTR Map Room page: http://www.georgiatandemrally.com/maproom.html. There are disclaimers about the % grade and scale on the maps so that folks will hopefully realize that what appear to be epic climbs are probably short little climbs and valleys.

Context: We have a 1/8th mile, 8% grade at the entrance to our sub-development and get about 2,000' of vertical gain on our 30 mile loop from the house without ever encountering any long, steep climbs. There just aren't any 'flat' sections of road around here.

Wow! I'd move!! ;-) I'm with PK, I not only seek out the bottom two, but look for a tailwind to boot!

As for your scale, the part of Florida we're talking about would perhaps fit into your "Hilly" or "Rolling" category. Here's a link to a page from Gary & Carol Speary's journal on CrazyGuyOnaBike's site:
http://tinyurl.com/7jlzfg

In addition to a few nice pics, they document the annual "Horrible Hundred" ride held in that area each year as 5770 feet of elevation gain and that, too, is with no climb over 300 vertical feet. Again, I have no idea how much climbing Bob & Jan are planning, but it's there to do if they want to.

How can I find out more about the STR in/at The Villages? The only link I have found so far just gets us to a hotel-which we don't need.

We just bought a second home in Clermont (not far at all from The Villages) and are keeping a tandem there. IMHO the area is almost ideal for tandems; some rolling climbing is available but there are also endless flat rural roads if you like that sort of thing. Lots of nearby long paved rail-to-trails too.

How can I find out more about the STR in/at The Villages? The only link I have found so far just gets us to a hotel-which we don't need.

Actually, I'm doing the website for Bob & Jan, and I'm working on it right now. Meant to have it done already, but you know ... life, work, sick kid, etc. Hopefully it will be live by the New Year. I've registered the url http://www.southerntandemrally.com/, so when it's ready that's where it'll be.

In the meantime , did you have any specific questions? If I know the answers, I'll be happy to give them to you.

Context: We have a 1/8th mile, 8% grade at the entrance to our sub-development and get about 2,000' of vertical gain on our 30 mile loop from the house without ever encountering any long, steep climbs. There just aren't any 'flat' sections of road around here. My relative scale for the South East US....

Mountains = North Georgia, East Tennessee & West North Carolina 'mountains'
Hilly = Where we live along with many other places in North Georgia, Eastern Tennessee & the Western Carolinas.
Rolling = Kentucky & Southwest of Atlanta
Flat = North Florida & east of Atlanta
Very flat = Coastal and low-country
Dead flat = Places we try to avoid.


Central Florida in the area around the Villages is almost more like Kentucky than the rest of Florida. There are rides in that area that definitely would be described as rolling.

IIRC correctly the Horrible Hundred Century out of Clermont has about 7,000 vertical feet, and the century in Ocala has something close to that.

None of the hills are long (they can't be over 300 feet) But some are fairly steep. (Sugarloaf is 15% plus)

I'm not saying these are the Florida Alps, but the amount of roll to certain parts of Central Florida will suprise a lot of people.

The profile for the Horrible Hundred:

Actually, I'm doing the website for Bob & Jan, and I'm working on it right now. Meant to have it done already, but you know ... life, work, sick kid, etc. Hopefully it will be live by the New Year. I've registered the url http://www.southerntandemrally.com/, so when it's ready that's where it'll be.

In the meantime , did you have any specific questions? If I know the answers, I'll be happy to give them to you.

What's the date?

What's the date?

October 9th, 10th and 11th.

I spent a week on my sisters boat in Titusville,kayaking and bikeing,spending most of my time in the big kayak but when bikeing the space coast was wonderful rideing but the old Dixie Highway with its smooth dirt road and all the beautiful old orchards is where ill start when the god;s let me back to titusville./Kenkayak

.....The profile for the Horrible Hundred:



The scale for that graph is way out of whack. For one axis it is 100 MILES and the other is 400 FEET!!!

Here are a couple of pix of the area; one is the climbing and the other is really much more typical of the riding in Lake County.....

Note that my wife is riding her fixed gear in both.

The scale for that graph is way out of whack. For one axis it is 100 MILES and the other is 400 FEET!!!

That is the case with most of these ride graphs. The x axis has to be compressed to show the total ride, so what would normally be plotted as a small, gentle incline ends up looking like Mt. Everest. You have to just consider the data, (elevation and miles), to get any sense of how steep the climb will really be.

There's almost no point in displaying these graphs that will fit into any reasonable amount of screen space, but a few years ago somebody got a new GPS toy with "downloadable elevation graphs", and now everyone thinks they have to publish one. Most come with a disclaimer about the x axis compression so they don't scare off any newbies that think it IS Mt. Everest!

the graph shows you however the number of 'climbs' and the vertical of each one.

Of course understanding how to read a graph and the affect of scale of the axis on the visual presentation help in interpreting it.

My point is that the area around Cleremont and Ocala is a lot more like rolling farmland of Kentucky than people would think.

It's obviously not mountainous terrian, but there's a lot more elevation change than most of Florida, and enough to add some interest to the riding, particularly if you map out a route to incorporate the "hills".

As for your scale, the part of Florida we're talking about would perhaps fit into your "Hilly" or "Rolling" category.


Central Florida in the area around the Villages is almost more like Kentucky than the rest of Florida. There are rides in that area that definitely would be described as rolling.

Good to know, as I suspect we'll make the trek down. We always look forward to visiting with Bob and Jan, as well as many other Floridians whom we've come to know over the years. Moreover, it's always fun to explore new places and meet new people.

Good to know, as I suspect we'll make the trek down. We always look forward to visiting with Bob and Jan, as well as many other Floridians whom we've come to know over the years. Moreover, it's always fun to explore new places and meet new people.

Outstanding! Gives me another chance to get a look at that hot rod tandem of yours! Pretty bike .. sleek, sexy, and bad to the bone! Alas, there, but for money, go I! :thumb:

Florida Bicycle Safari in Live Oak, FL is a great event. It's open to all kinds of cyclists and always draws a fair number of tandems.

This year's six day event is April 18 - 23, 2009 or you can opt for only three days April 18 - 20.

Terrain south of I-10 is very flat, north of I-10 is flat to rolling.

http://www.floridabicyclesafari.com/

Live Oak, FL

Nice area....

From about '97 - '00 we'd visit the Live Oak area in late October / early November for the Southern Bicycle League's North Florida Tour, hosted out of Camp Weed. We'd do a Friday loop ride from the "Camp" (we opted to stay in the on-site motel, thank you very much), then do a remote start from some fire tower closer to the Gulf and do a 30 mile out and back with the nastiest lunch stop at the Gulf that was made a lot better than it was by the great company. Sunday was another remote start but, by and large, and with the exception of a few small hills around Live Oak, it was dead-pan flat riding.

Back in '03 or '04 we also went down in January for the "Ididabike" ride off-road challenge with our Ventana ECdM. The off-road riding was very different from what we were used to: lots of very sandy soil, some undulating terrain and for the most part flat riding in and amoungst the pines.

That and our visit to Tallahassee for STR '03 forms the basis of our Florida cycling experiences / impressions. We've visited Orlando and have been down the East coast to Daytona but that was pre-tandem.

We're not campers either. We've been staying in one of the local Live Oak hotels, not fancy but clean enough. We may stay in Lake City this year, about a half hour away, with more choices to upgrade to newer hotels for not much more $.

Anybody done the Sebring Tandem Rally? Apirl 3-5 this year. We just made our hotel reservation. Apparently registration for the rally will be open soon.

Anybody done the Sebring Tandem Rally?

I think this will be our 4th year. Riding is nice. Host hotel is 20 years past due for renovation. We'll stay at the new Marriott Residence Inn a couple of blocks away.