Tandem Cycling - transporting tandems

has anybody came up with a plan on how to best haul tandems in a pickup . we have 3 we need to haul at the same time but are having trouble coming up with a good rack system.

I've never needed to truck all my tandems at once, cause I can usually find enough riders, but my best and cheapest solution is as follows:

bolt 3 of these (http://www.google.com/products?q=pyramid+fork+mount) to your bed (or a 2x4 in your bed), stick the tandem's forks in the mount, and drive away! If the bikes are a bit too unstable, get another 2x4 the width of the three tandems, and strap it across the stoker top tubes of the three bikes, and down to your tie downs. a marline (http://www.seascout.org/about/program/knots/marline_hitch.gif) hitch would serve well here, with each of the hitches passing around the top tube and the 2x4, one hitch per bike.

bolt 3 of these to your bed (or a 2x4 in your bed), stick the tandem's forks in the mount, and drive away! If the bikes are a bit too unstable, get another 2x4 the width of the three tandems, and strap it across the stoker top tubes of the three bikes, and down to your tie downs. a marline hitch would serve well here, with each of the hitches passing around the top tube and the 2x4, one hitch per bike.

That's how I haul mine in a small trailer. With three you may have to stager them or run one backwards. :)

It depends on the length of your pick-up bed and the length of your tandem and whether or not you have a shell and are willing to haul them with the tailgate down.

Three fork mounts on the front of the box would be the easiest for an exposed / gate down configuration.

At the other end of the spectrum comes innovative use of a roof rack, a custom-fabricated wood structure or some creative use of PVC to create a tandem cradle (or three) that allows the tandems to be slid in and out of the truck's bed.

I have one cradle made out of an older style Yakima rack for our road tandems and a PVC creation for the Ventana that allow both tandems to got straight in our Toyota Tundra's enclosed bed with the front and rear wheels removed. It helps that our Tundra has a true 6'-long bed.

Look for something like this (Xport Xpress Truck Rack). I've been using this setup for a couple of years now. The rack actually stays in the truck all the time, even with the roll up tonneau cover over top of it. Tried the 2X4 with a fork mount and found that the captains chain ring can hit the ground.

i have a 2 x 4 that fits into the pockets designed into the bed, a fork mount bolted into it. I either leave the tailgate down or close it and rest the back tire on the top of the tailgate. I use a tiedown strap to keep it from bouncing.

Tried the 2X4 with a fork mount and found that the captains chain ring can hit the ground.
May need to add another 2x or 4x spacer, to get the fork mount up higher, and spare the front ring, if using the fork-mount approach.