What is a stoker: The person (or persons on a tandem with three or more seats) who rides behind the individual in the first seat (aka, the Captain). The Captain is the one who does the steering, shifting and braking. In earlier times, there were courting tandems where the "captain" sat behind the stoker, which is where the etymology of the term "stoker" gets interesting.

Is it difficult to manouver one of those bikes? At first, they can be a handful as new stokers have a strong tendency to try and look around the captain to see the road ahead. These side-to-side movements by the stoker's upper body tend to make the tandem move left and right. As the stoker gains the trust of the captain these unitended wobbles usually disappear. As your skills as a team grow it becomes relatively easy to make even U-turns on your basic two-lane country road and track stands are also not difficult to master.

Do beginners fall a lot? No more so and perhaps even less than beginning solo bike riders.

I have always wondered what it's like to ride a tandem. For some, it's one of the most rewarding experiences they can have on a bicycle. For others, it's pure hell. We have enjoyed it enough to make it our only past time and recreational activity. We ride road tandems, off-road tandems, and use our vacation time to particpate in tandem rallies and tours.