warming up the legs
 

I ride a tandem and like to come out of the gate like a rocket. My wife takes at least 5 miles before she hits her stride. Does anyone use the warm up type rubs, I think I want to give these a shot. Can you verify that these actually do something and recommend a brand?

Thanks,

Craig

It's good to ride easy for the first little while on a ride to allow the muscles to warm up. My recommendation would be to ride at a pace your wife is comfortable with for the first 5 miles ... and then pick up the pace as desired.

BTW - there is a tandem forum here.
http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...Tandem-Cycling

But if you go out like a rocket, why do you need a warming rub? A rub won't replace any warmup which is attained by oxygen flowing through your muscles etc. You should be doing some kind of real warm up to avoid injury.

I use both Mad Alchemy and Greyhound Juice for embrocation, but typically use them to keep my skin warm on cold days. This comes in handy during the cyclocross season when I'm racing in a set of bibs on a 20 degree day in December. They help to get blood flowing a bit, but do not replace a warmup.

You've got the best warm up tool already under you: your bike.

Just pedal easily with her for a few minutes, it's not that difficult...

I ride with a bunch of guys that love pushing hard right out the gate. My solution is fifteen minutes on the trainer before our group rides.

It takes me about 5-10 miles to warm up before i can lay down some heavy power on a good day, and about 10+ miles on a not so good day.

I don't understand. Who needs the warm up. You like to kick ass right out of the gate so I assume you don't want, or need, warmed up, so do you need something for your wife??

As someone else said, take it easy at the start, and you will both be warmed up :p

There's no reason you couldn't pedal hard but your wife could take it easy at first. I need about 10 miles before I feel fully warmed up.