It took about twenty miles for my wife and I to get completely comfortable on our first tandem twenty-five years ago. A few days after that first ride we took that tandem out on a 500 mile shakedown tour in the coast range of Northern California that had about 100 mile of off-road and two days out of five that involved heavy rain. In fairness, we had been riding together for years and had ridden over 100,000 miles together on half-bikes before we started riding twogether on the tandem.

We did a LOT of verbal communication in the early-going and we also do a lot of talking when we are returning to the tandem after a bit of a lay-off. It's always better to say too much as opposed to saying too little. You'll know when you two are so in sync there is no longer any need to discuss gear changes, coasting, standing or braking.

Although it may not be as critical for your team as it is for ours (we do the unusual big male stoker/small female captain), I encourage both of you to work on your riding skills. Do balance work (dance, yoga, martial arts) if that interests you and definitely get a set of rollers and use them from time to time. When I become a bit of a wild child my captain will gently prod me to spend a few hours on the rollers. If nothing else, it encourages me to mind my movements.

Congratulations on the new-to-you tandem. Fun times ahead, I'm sure.