Hello fellow Tandem riders. My wife is terrified of mountain biking and trails. I am not into technical stuff either but there's plenty of pretty forests to be ridden that don't involve big rocks, roots or jumps. I am decent (not great) at MTB riding and for the trails I have in mind I think if I am at the helm, or should I say the handlebar and she just plods along she could get better at it.

The only issue is do you have to synchronize your stokes? Like do you have to pedal at the same time? This seems kind of tricky. They call double kayaks "divorce boats" but in the end it works out because she is in the front and I am in the back steering taking control of the thing. She paddles as she likes (or takes breaks) while I do the lion's share of the work. As long as she is paddling or isn't I can time my stroke to her. However this is easier on a double kayak because I am in the rear and can see exactly everything she does so she has to really do things wrong to go the "divorce boat" route. Are tandem bikes divorce bikes too? Do you have to coordinate how you pedal? Seems hard if I am in front and cannot see what she is doing if so I would not want to get into this. Please let me know either way.

Thanks
A