gregf83 

My personal best on a local hill came with one of the riders in our group about 50' back. He provided motivation for me and I was looking back to make sure I stayed ahead until he finally 'broke'. Childish perhaps, but I can usually find extra motivation when someone is behind or ahead of me. Works on zwift also.

Wildwood 

50' back on a lonesome, mostly empty trail. Certainly not drafting, but for a 1/2 bike rider = close enough to wonder, "Is my engine up to a tandem?'

I've passed lots of V-twins that had no power. Why not overtake 'em? and vice versa?


Actually, for proper tandem protocol, you must attend an organized tandem rally - and ask.

tomato coupe

Yeah, sometimes I think the people on online forums are culled from the most fragile segment of society.

rsbob 

when my buddy and I rode his racing tandem, back in our early 30s, we passed everyone in sight. Single riders would have to jump to catch our back wheel and if they got it, they were set. The real fun was blasting past singles on long downhills and watching them fruitlessly trying to catch a draft. Good times.

rsbob 

79pmooney

I've had 2 "rides". One was easy. Local event, about a thousand riders. My framebuilder on his tandem and I had the only two of his bikes there. I rode the 25 miles from lunch back to our cars on their wheel. Fun! He's an ex-racer, his girlfriend was also very strong. And two years ago at Cycle Oregon. Day 6 and last descent of the week. I caught an aggressively ridden tandem at the crest. I couldn't have done the descent that fast when I raced!

rsbob 

Did RAMROD on it a couple of times. On the flats we pulled up to ten at a time on the flats. Of course they never reciprocated because it was such a good deal. When it came to the long climbs, 10 miles up, all the freeriders would then jump off and leave us in the dust. When we summited, we would eventually catch them going 50-60 MPH. There was no way, even when they were at 45 MPH could they snag our wheel because they were out of gears. So long suckers!

we we had a couple of two tandem teams and each would take turns in the front, the speeds and ground we covered was nothing short of amazing.

frogman

My two cents is that I don't see any thing that leads me to believe he was irritated at your following him at that much longer than drafting distance. Why assume the negative from him looing back ? Just keep riding and enjoy the beautiful American River trail. I live in Napa and periodically go up to Sacramento and ride the trail up to Lake Folsom and back. It is a beautiful ride.

79pmooney

I'm a pure mountain goat. I live to climb. I also respect tandems big time. I thank them for the ride and apologize that I will leave them on the next climb. When they pass me for good on the downhill, they get a wave and thank you. (Going up the hill at tandem speeds - for me, close to torture. And regulating my speed variations to as steady as they want, maintaining a constant distance ahead of a bike I cannot see? When I try to lead them uphill, if I stay just a touch faster so they never have to slow, I keep pulling away. It's obvious I am not helping them very much.

In a different but similar world - VW buses. Trucks are a huge blessing but there was little I could do with my bus to help them. To establish a good "relationship" I would start out far enough back that I just barely was in his draft. Staying there was hard! But the driver got to see that I was respecting him and knew what I was doing. I gradually moved up closer. We both knew he could shed me any time by passing another truck and pulling back in as soon as he cleared like they do all the time. I moved across the country with a '71 bus towing a trailer. I had a driver give me a ride for hours. He would stay out in the left lane long enough for me to pass the truck he just passed to allow me to stay on. When he pulled off into a rest stop, we rolled down the window and gave him a big wave!

That Cycle Oregon descent - the young lady in back kept looking back to make sure I was on. I fell off three times, twice in traffic and last, when the rider who rode up the hill on their wheel came off. By the time I got around him, there was a real gap, It was shades of racing 40 years before, off the back and pulling all the stops to catch the field. Made it, racing days blown! and got a big applause from the stoker.

79pmooney

And the other Cycle Oregon single/tandem story(ies) - when I ride my fix gear. Drafting them in a 42-17. Nah! But I often came alongside on climbs and joked that me and the bike formed a half tandem. Captain from the waist up and headtube forward. Stoker from the waist down and back half of the tandem. Captain picked the route and steered. Stoker did all the work. Damned captain would never shift the gears (well sometimes at stops) and he would never coast! The stokers I told this to thought it was pretty funny. Captains less so.

caloso

I hope not, because the ARBT is a lousy place to draft other riders, especially a tandem, especially the farther east you get.

BlazingPedals

This. And he may have been expecting you to pass him since you'd caught up. You weren't drafting, so I doubt he was taking offense.