Keeping up
 

I met two couples on the Loop in Tucson the other day.

The husbands were on road bikes and the wives were riding electric bikes.

The wives said that couldn't keep up with their husbands without the electric bikes.

I think the husbands probably wanted to be out racing on the road but were trying to be good guys.

One of the bikes was an electric Trek worth about three grand.

I wanted to suggest that they could keep up if they were riding tandems, but I didn't.

So... The choice being tandem or not riding...? E-bikes not allowed? :innocent:

Yes, 350, that is correct.

Their wives need to HTFU! :D It can be done on singles or a tandem.

Sounds the perfect win-win solution to me.

If the wives rode tandem and they were not very strong they would likely slow their husbands down, causing more arguments.

How about this? The guys can leave the wives at home. Surely they don't have to be under foot even while they exercise.

Different strokes, folks. Some folks like to hang with their spouses, or at least keep an eye on 'em.:lol::lol:

I usually ride alone but also with my wife. On solo rides, or occasionally with my brother, I will ramp up the speed, but not so much with my wife. Occasionally I will want to push it when I'm riding with my wife, but 99% of the time I'll ride at her pace.

It is fun either way. It is always nice to to get out and turn the pedals.

John

Really? :rolleyes: Is that like women need's to stay home, barefoot and pregnant, quiet, and unobtrusive, taking care of the babies and not get in the way of the man of the house...? :rolleyes: WOW!!! I am male and I am offended by most of these posts.. :twitchy: :rolleyes:

That's what spouses are supposed to do, hang with each other. Leaving to do your own thing is why many men wake up one day to find that they no longer have a spouse.

The assumption that the husbands "Really wanted to be out racing" as opposed to being with their wives is a sign of our times. I guess actually loving your wife is the exception nowadays.


-Tim-

Tandem is The Thing. We've been riding ours since '07. For the price of an ebike one can find a nice tandem. The fact that is one's wife is not as strong will of course have the tandem climbing more slowly than the stronger rider's single bike. So what? It'll descend a heckuve lot faster and often be faster on the flat.

My wife turned out to be the best riding partner I've ever had. On one our tours across the U.S. , she rode fully loaded for 74 consecutive days, averaging over 50 miles a day. Can you make that claim?

We've also ridden through 11 countries in the last nine years, totalling 18,000miles.

I agree with the other folks who think the couples have worked out a win-win arrangement. What difference does it make to you what they ride?

I guess I'm lucky! My wife htfu'd a long time ago. It only took her 4 years, about half the 9 years to do 18000 miles. I did 7000+ in one year so I guess she had to if she wanted to ride along. It's worked out really well, even my male ride partners worry about keeping up with her. :D

I'm impressed!

We are talking 18,000 loaded touring miles during that time. The total on her 3 bikes for the period was over 26,000 miles.

Not bad. My wife is about 36000 for 9 years. Never done any touring, mostly fast sportlike efforts. She like your wife has turned out to be my number one ride partner over the last 16 years. I'd guesstimate 50,000 miles in that time as her first few were 2 and 3 thousand mile years. Yes we also have a tandem. She on her single is not much behind our tandem pace. Her best 40 miles at 18.1 average on her single bike. Thats how I know a wife can be the best partner ever. She is 54 so she's still on the younger side. :D......Which is amazing because nobody would have guessed that 16 years ago she would have even gotten on a bike.

When my wife was alive, she didn't ride with me often (she knew I liked to get out on the road/trail/MUP on my own), but when she did join me, I knew I'd have to ride at a slower pace than I was used to, and that was fine with me. Sometimes she'd point out things I had seen a hundred times over, but have a different perspective on them, which in turn opened my eyes to seeing some things in a different light. Looking back on those times, I wish she had joined me more often / I had invited her on more rides more often. The saying "you don't know what you've got till it's gone" is certainly true.

Yup. Whichever way your relationship is headed a tandem bicycle will get you there quicker.

To the OP's comments, this arrangement seems win/win to me and I wouldn't change a thing. They seemed to find a way to make the ride work for everyone, so no issues there.

E bike (for help), tandem or separate rides are all solutions to that type of problem. For me and my GF, I'll go out alone for a fast paced early morning, climbing type of ride then later on, take her out and enjoy a casual paced ride together.

I think it is great that they not only enjoy the sport together, they also share it with friends.

Who said anything about being barefoot and pregnant? I am all about doing things together but some things can't be done with each other. Not cycling can be done with your significant other but it doesn't have to be. I don't want to sit through a hen party and maybe she doesn't want to bike.

My wife doesn't ride. She's tried it multiple times. Doesn't like it.

If an ebike would get her out on the road with me, I would buy one today. (I already know that a tandem would be less than wise.) The story in the original post sounds like a good solution to me.

This entire thread makes me so glad I'm happily and permanently single.;) I only have to answer to my black lab, and he's easy to get along with.:thumb:

Wife and I bicycle together when rv-ing. We ride slowly and she knows I do that out of love. She understands and encourages my passionate affair with bicycling to the degree of telling me to GET OUT AND RIDE.

Love and understanding are important components needed for a successful tandem journey through married life. If 2 wheels connected by a frame and put into motion by 2 beings pedaling cranks in unison adds to the enjoyment of the journey, then mazel tov.

Many of our cycling buddies and forum friends often ask how the wife and I can be happily married and ride a tandem. :roflmao2:

Been riding tandem since 1997. I tell ya, it makes your cycling relationship that much better if you can work it out. :thumb:

Not to mention, having a cycling wife is having more trips to the cycling shops. She asks to go more often than I do.

Lead from the Back, let Her, in this case, set the pace.. It was a trip leader's requirement , for AYH tours, Leader rides Sweep.



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Not making general recommendations, just talking to this crowd . . .
All the tandem couples I ride with started like this: they both rode. Many of them rode on the same rides, but he had to moderate his pace to hers. One couple with Strava accounts, she'd climb at 145 HR, he'd climb at 115. So the females had some incentive to relinquish control in favor of equal effort for both, which also meant keeping up with the pack. Then they found they just loved it. It's kind of sexy, really. Dancing. That said, there are 2 couples where the female just couldn't give it up, maybe control issues, maybe trust issues. Doesn't work for everyone. I don't know of a male rider who didn't want to tandem with his SO if she already rode. I know female unattached riders who own tandems, too. Shopping for captains is apparently great fun.

When I suggested a tandem, my wife said, "But I can't keep up with you!" My reply, "On the back of my bike you can!" She went, "Oh."

Tandem couples do tend to be over 50. Maybe it takes a while for life to beat sense into us.