Building Captain Confidence?
 

Maybe a strange question, but here goes. My husband and I are both confident riders who bike commute daily in a hilly and congested city. We bought a new-to-us tandem after borrowing a friend's for a long weekend in the country and having several great rides. Fast forward a few months, I love riding stoker, but he can't seem to get past the slightly panicked, death-grip-on-the-bars phase of riding captain if we're anywhere other than flat, empty trails (and yes, we tried him riding stoker- he nixed that before we even started pedaling).

It's an older Burley duet, plenty of lateral rigidity and very stable handling (I've captained it with a newbie stoker, it was fine). I'm doing my best not to "fight the bike" and since I feel quite relaxed back there I don't *think* I am. We are pretty evenly matched size-wise and power-wise though, so maybe I'm creating more movement in the frame than I think?

I've considered jury-rigging the cable routing so that I can take over shifting responsibilities and give him less to worry about - - but I also understand all the reasons why this is a terrible idea. Do any experienced captains out there have any other suggestions for building my captain's confidence so we can enjoy riding this bike together?

Hmmm... hmmmm... so riding in the country was an enjoyable experience. I am not surprised. Our first tandem was very similar to your Burley except it was a flat-bar model. 700C wheels, disc brakes so intended for fast club riding, but flat-bar cockpit. When I converted it to drop bar for even more speed after a couple of seasons I gave up 3" of leverage on each side of the bars just like that. Riding in Brooklyn, NY and lower Manhattan were NOT a lot of fun. So we got another flat bar model and left it stock for town cruising, errands, etc. and used the drop bar sport ride for club rides.

You may already be doing this, but I would confine rides on the Duet to the park or otherwise off the main grid for the time being. Rides need to be fairly often so the Captain can build confidence. Riding the tandem solo as captain is a good exercise as the solo tandem has some of the flop of the loaded rig (no offense) but there is none of the risk of stoker injury to cause concern. Slightly panicked, death grip on the bars describes my approach even after 12ish years of nearly daily commuting, lol. Are you sure your Captain isn't getting more comfortable? Has he voiced it or are you inferring from non-verbal cues?

I would advise not altering the shifter locations. I would not even give drag brake control to my stoker. IMO the Captain should be in direct control of shifting, braking, etc. Our bell is, however, on her bars. When I need to 'shout out' to someone, I have to relay a command through her. Shows where I rate bells on the importance scale.

How much riding together do the two of you do now? Are your commutes done in tandem (as it were) or do you head off in different directions? I ask because it might be that riding a tandem is just not something for which your Captain is suited. We belong to a fairly large tandem club and most teams have a clear difference in riding experience, power output, etc. between Captain and Stoker. In our case my stoker is blind. If she were sighted it is unlikely that we would be on a tandem. We would still enjoy riding together, but it would definitely be on separate bikes.

Fairly new here to tandeming also, but other than during first days of starts and stops, I'm feeling pretty confident. But we also have been touring for years on a motorcycle, and I think that has helped us both. But it is definitely different than single bikes, starts and stops require a bit more thought and control (no more waiting for the absolute last millisecond to unclip trying to time a stoplight). I guess you could say just be more deliberate...

You've probably already read these, but they certainly helped me (albeit they make it clear that the captain is has 99% of the responsibility).
Advice for New Riders of Tandems
The Proper Method
Tandem Bicycles
First Ride - Tandem Cycle Works

Probably the best is just experience; just put some miles on. We love it, and have ridden 30 to 50 miles on it almost every weekend for the last few months that we've had it.

p.s. For me at least, and this may be in your captain's mind, I would be extremely upset if I failed and got my wife hurt. We've talked about the risks, especially related to the motorcycle riding, and have both agreed we understand and accept it, but I still think about it...

First off, when I started riding the tandem, it took about a thousand miles before it felt "normal" and didn't just feel totally weird.
Secondly, it is a different situation from riding single bikes for several reasons. It's kind of like the difference between driving a sports car around town and driving a semi. You CAN drive the semi around town, but it obviously works better on the open road. The tandem is more awkward to start and stop, accelerates less quickly, requires more room to make turns, and comes with double the responsibility.
My advice is go somewhere with less-busy roads or wide-open trails and just make an opportunity to ride it more where it IS easy. Not once or twice, but a lot. Get out and have fun on the thing where it IS fun for both of you. That may or may not change the situation on busy roads, etc- no guarantees there!


One of the local bike club rides involves a ride down White Rock Creek Trail. This is a paved trail, but it's not very wide, has a fair number of other cyclists and pedestrians, and the bike club rides it at about 20 mph at night. There's a couple that rides a tandem on that ride. Meanwhile, I've got about 25,000 miles of tandem experience now, and that is the last place I would want to take MY tandem. So I enjoy riding it, but don't want to ride it everywhere I go, either.

One other thought, if you are using clip-less pedals you might want to go with flat pedals for a while. We rode with flat pedals the first year, toe-straps and clips the second, and now many years with clip-less.

I'll echo a couple of those concepts. The semi truck analogy is spot on. And I would never consider riding it on a multi use trail; we ride our singles on a nice MUT which is about 30 miles round trip, but will never get the tandem on it. Open road, preferably not around too many single bikes around us (although they do like drafting behind us).

My guess is that he feels extra cautious because now he is responsible for your safety - not just his own.

I've told many people that riding a tandem requires that the stoker be very trusting and the captain must be very trustworthy.

We have never crashed on the tandem & I have not crashed on my single in decades. If that were to change, our confidence would likely take a big hit.

Be careful. Have fun.

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. It sounds like consensus on the best solution is just time in the saddle. We'll try him riding the bike solo, maybe with some heavy panniers to get used to the weight without the added stress of that weight being human. We do plenty of riding together on our single bikes, but the tandem is nice because we can actually carry on a conversation and leaves me free to read the map, so we're both invested in trying to make it work out. Also we're a pretty strong team together and it's just a lot of fun to blow by all the spandex-clad weight weenies :)

Re: flat bars- I might try that. Right now it's running the widest drop bars I could find at my local shop (46cm? 48? they look monstrously big to me) but I'm sure wider can't hurt, and it could be helpful to have the shifters and brakes accessible from the same hand position. I don't think the clipless pedals are an issue since he has the same ones on his daily commuter and is plenty comfortable getting in and out in a hurry.

oh, and I hear you on the multi-use trails. We live in Seattle, and won't go near hte burke-gilman any time it's even remotely nice out. even in a city with uniformly terrible driving, cars are still way more predictable than pedestrians.

A little different perspective. Reading between the lines I appears you are a very competent rider yourself. Perhaps he gets nervous that in traffic and tight situations he is tense because you might do things differently and that causes him stress? My wife and I are both very experienced riders and she is a capable captain when she rides with others and a great stoker but we sometimes "disagree" on the best lines or gear choice etc. I don't stress any longer about it and we just agree to disagree at times but it could be an issue if I let it.

HAhahaha! fair enough, yes, we do also "agree to disagree" plenty- tandem riding or otherwise. I'm always working to do better on the "agree" part, good reminder to work harder at that!

A new mixed tandem team rode with our group for a while. She (stoker) was a much better and more experienced rider than he. It seemed to us that he felt pressured to perform and consequently couldn't relax and enjoy the ride. He was actually a terrible captain. Too strong minded to allow himself to, I don't know, meld with the world. They quit riding with the group, which we appreciated after they had a few close calls.

That's probably not you, but is an illustration of how difficult captaining can be mentally. One thing I (captain) did after we got our tandem was to almost completely quit riding my singles. We both only rode the tandem and that's still the case after 9 years of tandeming. Singles and tandems do handle very differently. Now when I get on a single, that thing is all over the road for the first 5 miles. Only riding tandem hardened all my reflexes into appropriate tandem reflexes. We think nothing of riding that bike in city traffic or difficult terrain.

One realization that helped me to relax is the idea that with a single the rider has pretty much complete control over every tiniest motion of that bike. On a tandem, no matter how excellent the stoker, that isn't true. So I think of the direction of our forward motion as a vector. As long as all the minor motions the tandem makes add up to that same vector, it's all good. In other words, as long as the bike keeps heading in the general direction that I want, the little stuff doesn't matter. It's no good trying to make small corrections for every little deviation from the course I want. Better to just relax.

Another poster mentioned bar width. I run 40cm (c-c) bars on my singles and 44cm on the tandem. That works very well.

We are fairly experienced team and, as captain, I too sometimes get a little uneasy when navigating dicey situations (crowds, narrow passages, blind corners, etc.) and concur with a lot that has been said. I have combo pedals that are MTB SPD style on one side, and flat on the other (shimano makes them and Performance has a house brand version).

When approaching these conditions, I unclip and flat pedal it until we are past them then I clip back in. Knowing that if I have to come to a complete stop (and hold the bike/stoker up) in the matter of a second or two is doable when not clipped in.

If your captain is clipped in, try flat pedals as Paul suggests. If that helps, check out the dual function pedals and have fun.

It may help if you have a candid chat with your captain and work on specific skills that will reduce your anxiety (eg. riding in traffic or group, start/stop, tight turns).

You can accelerate your learning process by riding with more experienced teams. Since you live in Seattle, have you considered joining the Evergreen Tandem Club on their regular rides?

Seattle also has several tandem dealers. They may do a tandem fit to improve comfort and efficiency (eg. wider bars, proper reach & stack). What works on a single bike doesn't always work on a tandem. They can also suggest upgrades that are compatible with your Burley.

The tandem feels a lot different from the single bike, and that's just the way it is. I wouldn't recommend riding one around empty or with weights just to get used to it, either, get used to riding with the stoker and that's what will feel more natural. If I swap back and forth a lot, both bikes feel natural. If I ride one a lot without having ridden the other, the other starts feeling odd. The weight on the back of a tandem is up high, not low.


One time, I rode 500 miles (2 or 3 different rides) on the tandem without riding my single bike in between. I took off on my single bike and was just sure something was loose. Stopped and checked, the frame wasn't broken, the wheel wasn't loose or anything. It was just the different weight, or lack thereof, that made it feel all loosey goosey on the back end. Here recently, I rode a tribike, and it was a similar effect when I stood up- it was a lot lighter, and just seemed off.

When we started I was a very confident on a single in any situation but the tandem was a new world. Then over time I learned that the tandem and a team working well together does have a lot of safety advantages.

An extra pair of eyes and ears. Seems obvious with "car back" calls but it is more than that. If the team has good clear communication using an agreed upon distinct words then the captain gains confidence having another look out on the ship. We often ride before dawn and going 20 mph down a dark country road it is not unusual for an animal to cross in front of us. It is reassuring to me that the stokers eyes are actively scanning. If I hear Deer! I grab two handfuls of brake. She knows to use Deer! even if it is a skunk or other animal because its our signal. I don't have to analyze the word to decide what to do or misunderstand. In situations like that we are all business and don't chat. We have built up trust so that I can trust her signals 100% just like she must trust my steering and braking.

Stability-Physics is your friend. That long wheel base and weight of the tandem really makes for a stable platform. We had another rider swerve into us at a bike rally and after adjusting our speed to bump shoulders he bounced off of us like a bug. I was prepared for a good jolt but I don't think are line changed at all. When no other option was available, we have easily run over things like a large Possum or straight over a curb that would have caused problems on my single.

I suggest practicing handling as a team in a safe place. See how long he can keep the tires on a fog line. Longer than on his single I bet. Practice riding one handed, holding the bars just in his finger tips of one hand. Have fun trying to learn new ways to challenge your teams handling skills. Some teams can bunny hop a tandem but that is one skill that will probably always elude us.

Crowded narrow multi use trails sometimes challenge my calm on the tandem. It is the other people that are the problem though not the trail. It helps if you know you can hold a line close to the edge of the trail so you can use as little space as possible when needed. The fog line practice helps. I also hate ear buds!

We ride out tandem so much and our singles so little that I feel more nervous on my single now.

If the stoker is about the same size as the captain, I don't see any reason to not give the stoker the shifters and drag brake. I happen to be stoker and much larger than my captain (she's 5'6", I'm 6'2"), but I could easily see adequately if I were much shorter. I have controlled the shifting and drag brake on our tandems for 28 years.

That said, if the captain is having trouble I would think the most likely culprit is the stoker. You've really, really, really got to ride quietly and give in to be a good stoker and to allow the captain to get a good feel. Are your hands out wide on the bars, or are you keeping them in the center of your handlebars to decrease your leverage when you rock? Are you sure you're riding like you would on rollers (you do ride rollers, don't you?), or are you controlling the bike a bit with your weight and steering it against what he's trying to do?

Just so you don't think I'm picking on you, here's something that I often catch myself doing. My captain likes a lane position that is further right than I would choose. This is particularly troublesome on two lane roads with traffic coming both directions but not enough room for a safe pass by the overtaking vehicle. I always want to be far enough left that no moronic motorist would ever think of trying to pass before the oncoming traffic clears. My captain will be a foot or two further right than I like. Often, I resist her lane position by leaning just a bit left. All that does is cause us to ride along with the top tube displaced to the left of the bottom brackets. It's uncomfortable and must look silly and annoys my captain. It's also 100% my fault and bad behavior for a stoker. As soon as I stop fighting the bike gets plumb in a heartbeat.

<<Our bell is, however, on her bars. When I need to 'shout out' to someone, I have to relay a command through her. Shows where I rate bells on the importance scale.>>

Why did you include this in your post? Now, stokers everywhere may demand that they get the bell in back.
You may ruin it for the rest of us :)
I'm not giving up my bell.

Another thought. The captain may want to try a mirror. Especially if you ride in groups and want to pass frequently, it can be difficult to look back to see around the Stoker. A mirror will allow him to see that it is clear to pass without having to look backwards. I use a mirror when we are riding in groups. Less so when we are on our own.

Some comments suggestions:

1. Have the captain ride the tandem solo for several miles.

2. Keep the controls in his hands. I suggest that you take responsibility for traffic, front, sides and rear. Get a good rear view mirror for both of you.

3. Do not ride in groups! Maybe in 5,000 miles. Ride solo on quiet county roads or lightly traveled trails, stay away from traffic.

4. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

5. Take short rides at first. Then gradually add to the length of the ride.

6. Practice starting and stopping. Develop a method that is comfortable for you. We do not use the method that many use. We start with one foot clipped in and then take off like on a single bike. I clip in and then stoke clips in. When we stop we both put one foot down. Much more comfortable for both of us. It woks for us. You have to develop you own system.

Can you clarify on the hand position? Are you riding the whole time with you hands right next to the stem? And if so would you recommend putting some dummy levers on my bars in order to do that comfortably for the long haul?

And I don't make a habit of riding rollers because I find it soul-sucking, but I can do it. Captain, however, cannot. Do you think it would be worthwhile for him to work on that skill too?

There was a time when we were first getting things together on the tandem that I rode almost exclusively with my hands right up against the stem. Once I got the feel for not using my upper body as levers to control the bike, I began resting them further out more and more of the time. If you're not controlling the bike with your hands, then there's really not much of a comfort issue; the hands just rest on the bars.

Bear in mind that, until very recently, we were riding 90 degrees out of phase, so any tendency I might have to rock the boat would have been exactly the opposite motion from what the captain would find natural, so the need for me to ride quietly was enhanced. Fortunately, I've always been much happier in the saddle on climbs and spinning a higher cadence than most other riders, so it wasn't a big learning curve to not wrestle the bars.

I strongly recommend that everyone ride rollers. I also think you should be targeting staying in the central 1-2 inches on the drum and try to do it with your hands towards the stem. Yes, I think the captain should do it too. We mostly confine our roller riding to December, when our roads are so filled with drunks and harried people that we choose to minimize our riding. We'll ride them for an hour or so as a warm-up for weights, which would be another soul-sucking activity but for the fact that I'm as immune to that as I am to ovarian cancer. :D My captain says I don't have to worry about brain damage either.

If you are close in mass and strength, maybe you (wife) should try captaining.

My wife and I are new to tandeming. As the captain, I find it to be like driving an 18-wheeler, not that I've done that. It demands a lot of my attention. Taking a hand off the bar just to scratch my face is tricky, whereas I can literally ride miles with no hands on a single. I also can't look and admire the scenery on the sides as much when on the tandem.

The previous owner of our tandem installed a stem extender and trekking bars. This brings the bars up pretty high. The bars are very wide and have lots of positions. This seems to be very fortunate for us. I'm not sure I would have thought of this.

With the lower power-to-weight ratio, I have to shift gears much more often than on my single. The lowest gear is barely adequate. The highest gear is very inadequate. If my biggest chainring is 52T (I have to check), I feel like I want a 58T or 60T. On slight downhills, we can hit 35 mph with little effort, since the tandem has a higher power-to-wind-resistance ratio, and the 2" wide tires help it feel safe.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bq...w1600-h1200-no

It doesn't sound like you are ready for a set of aero bars yet! I attempted this Men?s Tandem 24H Record Attempt | UltraCycling News after piloting a tandem for a whole 2 hours practice! it was something of a learning curve to say the least!!!

Eating drinking removing hands is nothing like riding solo but after a few hours you do get the hang of it :)

[MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION], that is the funkiest (in a good way) tandem I have ever seen. What model of Burley is that? Triangulation for days, should be adequately stiff despite the comfort tires. I can't see what your small cog is, but the big one is likely 34T. Assuming your granny chainring is 28 or 30 teeth, your low gear is less than 1:1. A good thing. But if it isn't low enough, I for one would not hesitate to shop for an FSA 24T for the front. You might have trouble keeping your balance at such low speeds but you will be able to ride up any hill you encounter in the Tri-State area. As far as the big ring, its either 48T or 52T. The good news is your crankset appears to allow for swapping rings independently. On our tandem that I would most like to modify the gearing of, the entire triple is bolted together and I either replace the whole thing or live with it as it is. Enjoy.