Really tired! Is it just me??
 

We are out for a short 6 day tour. Normally we tour on our sinles, Surly LHT's. But we thought we would do a Fall color tour on the tandem. But to be honest I am more tired after a day of tandem riding than a longer day of single riding.
So what's up?
Thanks.

I don't know how long you and your partner have been riding together. A couple of things could be coming into play. In your normal riding on singles, especially when not riding with your partner, you may be accustomed to riding faster than the two of you can go on the tandem. Your brain is still trying to go your normal speed so you are pushing harder that you realize on the tandem. The other thing might be riding style, especially cadence. On the tandem it is a compromise so you may not be at your optimum efficiency.

Maybe it is just you...... pedaling.

YMMV, but a tandem is a great big averaging machine. I find riding the tandem to be much more physically demanding because of this. It is not that the stoker/captain is not pedalling as the over used joke goes but they are not pedalling quite as hard or with the same intensity as you are. And you can over exert yourself much easier on a tandem because it does not respond to the extra energy the same as a single (or a tandem without a stoker...). You put in extra effort and nothing much changes except you get more tired and more physical problems.

Twenty-seven years ago we bought our first tandem so that I COULD end the day tired when we were touring. Prior to that, on our half-bikes, I would take most of the gear and take naps at the top of some of the climbs. At day's end, I would feel like I hadn't even ridden and my wife was beat. Our first tour on the tandem was about 4000 miles and she ended every day feeling strong. I got my wish and ended every day knowing I had been riding.

Get a heart rate monitor and see if you are working harder on the tandem.
If its a hilly ride I definitely go faster on my single than on the tandem with same effort. On a flat ride not so much difference.
Also depends on what shape my stoker is in which varies day to day and month to month.

After a couple days of riding 'in tandem' you will get back into the swing of it.
Pedal on!

No kidding! Yep, a tandem works your legs harder than a single, especially climbing. We rode RAMROD this year on our tandem. Out of 800 riders, I think there were 5 tandems and a lot of folks around here have tandems, too.

I think the difference is that the much greater weight of the tandem means that it doesn't "get out of the way" of your pedal stroke like a single does. A tandem puts a constant strain on your legs. But don't ease off! Ride that tandem and put away your singles. After about 6 months have a go on a single again. You will be amazed, along with all the folks in your mirror.

Stoker and I keep things "fair" by using HRMs. She has my HR on her Garmin and also her HR on another monitor. She matches her HR to mine since we both have about the same LT. If LTs vary as is more usually the case, the stoker would compensate appropriately. If I'm more tired that she, she'll run her HR a little above mine, and vice versa.

I've done some riding while wearing a FitBit. The FitBit is worn on the wrist and uses an accelerometer to track movements. It's fairly accurate for tracking running and walking. Because my upper body doesn't move as much, the FitBit tends to underestimate my activity level when riding on a single. However, riding on a tandem I get much higher activity scores compared to covering the same distance on a single. My conclusion is that my upper body is doing a lot more work keeping the tandem balanced (not surprising when the stoker is 8 years old, but I think it's true even with an experienced stoker).

My wife and I once took the kids to school on our tandems. We discovered that we were faster coming home without our stokers. That's probably also not true with a good stoker, but explained a lot to us about why tandem rides feel like such a workout.

I normally train on my single using a power meter to help judge intensity. Because we were riding a lot more on our tandem this year I installed vector power meter pedals on the front of our tandem.

I have really liked having the power readout because in the past I have pushed too hard at times when trying to ride on the tandem, trying to attain the same speeds as on my single. It has been very interesting noting high power output levels when climbing and during accelerations. The meter allows me to more easily limit my output to sustainable levels.

Mark W