I much prefer the 12-34 cogset because it splits out the ratios between the 39 and 52 rings in the midrange, giving us more choice upwind and on long slight inclines.

Around here we have brevets ranging from 4500' to 9000' for a 200, 7000' to 18,000' for a 400, and up to 24,000' for a 600. This spring we are attempting to attempt our first 200. We're hoping for something in the lower range. Stoker has what one might call a negative interest in doing anything that would involve riding from dawn into and perhaps through the night. She claims it doesn't sound like fun. Huh. Have done on my single, but not going to happen on the tandem.

I get her point. On my single I was a 7-9 hour guy on a 200 and a 15-19 hour guy on a 400, depending. Our tandem team will be working to stay ahead of the closing times, which is a whole different deal. I don't know if I would have been interested in brevets on my single if that were the case.

We can't stand on the steep stuff - we have to sit. Reason is that we have to be in such a low gear that the bike almost stops every time the pedals hit BDC if we're standing. So we can stand fine on grades up to about 10%, but not greater. Since we climb by HR, our sustainable climbing speed standing is actually lower than our sustainable speed seated, because standing always raises one's HR. The supremely talented don't find that a great objection because they are so far off their redline anyway. "Dancing on the pedals" is not something we'll ever do for more than a few strokes.

Our solution for the steep stuff is to learn to put out power at low rpms by pedaling smooth circles and just keeping the grinding speed constant. "Smooth, smooth" is one of our calls to each other. On long climbs, we try to stand for a few strokes every 10 minutes, by the clock. Gives us something to look forward to, rests the butt, and stretches the legs. On my single I'd hold the stand for about 45 seconds. We're trying to work up to that on the tandem.