Tandem Cycling - Stokers & Navigation

Does anybody else have a stoker that complains about how difficult navigation is? I'm not sure what the problem is.

http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs207.snc1/7420_137713889628_779969628_2366911_576732_n.jpg

:D

On our tandem ride this morning we headed out on the Los Gatos Creek Trail MUP. When we had had enough of dodging toddlers, skaters, dog walkers, oblivious cell phone talking pedestrians we got off and had no idea where we were.

Just put in our home as destination in the Garmin Edge 705, and got a course home.

http://www.gpsmagazine.com/assets/garmin-edge705/garmin_edge_705_preview_stock.jpg

iPhone would have done the same, but it is nice to have the route right in front of the captain, rather than in the hands of the stoker.

Does anybody else have a stoker that complains about how difficult nagivation is? I'm not sure what the problem is.

There. I fixed it for you.

Nope!

No complaints here. I am the stoker for my team and I'm happy to "just sit there and pedal and let my captain do all the navigating. I have complete trust in him.
When we get "misplaced" and have no idea where we are we just ride around till we recognize something and head the way we figure we should go. We've discovered some great scenes and out of the way places we'd never have seen otherwise.
We have no navigation device, other than a few maps, and we hardly even use those.
By the way, what are the best navigational units out there?

After 5 wrong turns on a ride with a cue sheet, we decided it was best that we get a Garmin Edge 705. I now put the ride in beforehand and it gives us warnings about the turns.

I''m a stoker that have very good peddling strength which mean that my tandem guide doesn't comclin. He says I am a strong peddler.

My stoker was not overly "directionally challenged" when we first met. I was a very avid fisherman/boater at the time and she was quick to pick up the basics of reading a navigational chart and how to hold a course by compass.

Now she has her own GPS. Its an eTrex and doesn't have all the routing capabilities of the 705 or others, but she does fine with it. Even at events where cue sheet cumulative mileage doesn't match the GPS, it's usually because of some .2-.5 mile error somewhere along the way, she picks up on the add-on or subtraction miles and does the math to tell me in advance of the next turn.

She's been telling me where to go for about 17 years now, so this comes pretty naturally to her by now.

We have 705 and 305 Garmins on our tandem, but I'll still take a paper map if we're trying a new ride in unfamiliar territory. The Garmins are great if you're following what we call the "blue line" or if you're completely trusting of turn-by-turn directions, but if you're forced to go off program I don't trust the Gramin's to just get me there on a bicycle. I've had enough problems in rental cars. Nothing says "Situational Awareness" like a paper map.

If you do get lost, however, you have the satisfaction of knowing exactly where you are in Lat/Lon.

As stoker I willingly abdicate my role as back-seat driver. I have Google Maps on my BlackBerry in case the Garmin fails -- I'm a former Girl Scout and I believe in being prepared. ;)

Wow, I feel totally old-school.

I stick the map in the captain's back pocket, preferably in a clear plastic sleeve and with the bit of road we're currently riding visible to me. If we get lost, or ride off the map, I take it out of the pocket for closer inspection or to fold the map over.

Works like a charm. :thumb:

Ginger

At a recent tandem rally we did 44 miles on a 36 mile route, with captain (me) navigating. Stoker never complained at all.

I hope everyone realizes that this post was only intended to point out the humor of arriving at the intersection of "Second" & "Second."

Rick