Tandem Cycling - Any captains out there have a relative they'd like to get on the bike just once?

I'm so desperate to get my #1 son (21 minutes older than his brother) on the tandem, that I'm going to let him captain:eek: His latest solo training effort a cool 127 miles, 9500' of climbing at 18.4 mph. Love my wife/stoker, love doing organized rides with same, but would be nice to go really fast just once:D And don't claim a relationship with Lance.

Wow... I had three thoughts.

1) He's gonna scare you silly.

2) You'd better pedal your brains out to contribute your fair share of power.

3) Have fun!

You'd better pedal your brains out to contribute your fair share of power.


He's got a DaVinci, he doesn't have to pedal.

He's got a DaVinci, he doesn't have to pedal.
This.

Actually, although I have little hope for getting my son on the tandem, I'm holding out hope for his two sons, 10 and 5. If I break them in early then they can pedal me around when I'm old and feeble. The 10 y/o is close to tall enough and the 5 y/o would need a kid stoker kit, but might be worthwhile investment. I'd like to get their dad trained as a captain so he can take his the kids out as well.

There is always hope. My son while not as accomplished as yours agreed to stoke our tandem after breaking his arm in a training accident. It was the only way he could ride outside so we went for a few rides. Needless to say he had a little more power than his mother since he is 30 years younger and 50 lbs heavier. Really a blast especially since he was a fairly new cyclist at the time so lots of raw power but not a very smooth stroke.

My question for you is would you stoke for him if he agreed to captain?

There is also a two man team time trial in Austin each year and tandems are allowed to participate. The tandem division has been won multiple times by a father daughter team. .272147

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My question for you is would you stoke for him if he agreed to captain?......

Absolutely. In fact I'd like him to captain so he'll be able to borrow the tandem to use with his two sons. This would be could training for moi, the better able to appreciate the stoker's plight.

Interestingly enough I had him on the back once a few years ago as he was transitioning from tri's. His pedal stroke was so smooth I couldn't tell whether he was in phase or out. Of course he had ridden a hard 90 miles the day before so he whined a bit. In any event downhills will be either a)special or b)terrifying depending upon one's perspective as we would total out around 390 lbs.