Let me tell you, my wife and I barely had enough energy to take care of the kids at the end of each day during RAGBRAI. Our tent was a beast of a tent that took a little more time to set up and take down than the average tent. Blowing up and deflating 4 mattress pads, packing 4 bags, stuffing 4 sleeping bags in their bags, etc.... all added up to double duty for us. Getting the kids showered and into clean clothes at the end of the day, getting them fed, standing in line to use the bathroom and then getting them settled for bed at night left us with zero time or energy for socializing or recovering from our own ailments. However, we all feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment for making it through the week.

Tandems are fun - especially when you have a stoker on the rear seat that provides some fire power on the pedals. When my wife and I ride together, we can really keep a quick pace going. The kids did pedal quite well all week long, but it simply wasn't the kind of contribution that really helps to propel the bike down the road and up all of those hills that we had to go through.

Next year, we will have to arrange for a few miles of sharing the road together. You can try out the tandem and I'll try out your Paramount.

BB