I get the value and I like the notion of supported tours. They're not my cup of tea, but I am very, very pleased that they exist. The more the merrier. I'm sure many thousands of people learn the joys of daily rides away from the usual annoyances due entirely to these outfits. Also, I have known more than a few tandem riders who only have performance tandems who would be loath to ride in the middle of nowhere (otherwise known as our back yards, Shifty) without some sort of support. Those Rolf tandem wheels do have a nasty way of failing at just the wrong time.

I guess my sort-of joke about the grand created the impression that I don't support this type of riding. Sorry about that. Ride on.