Bike Forums - I Never Woul dHave Thought

Hey there. I read a lot but don't post much, but couldn't fail to post this.

A couple of weeks ago I started talking about doing one more century this fall and my lovely wife of 29 years, said. "I might like to go along on the tandem." She started riding this March with the notion of working her way up to maybe 20-40 miles per outing. Well, this past Friday I took the day off from work and we rode from our home in Manhattan, Ks to Topeka, Ks and back. It was a great day: very flat route along a river bottom, she had a blast, we stopped for pizza for lunch, the wind was at our backs on the return leg, we caught a few sprinkles but missed the rain entirely, etc. Averaged 18.8 mph for the trip and ended up putting in 111 miles!!!! Which - by the way - is my longest ride to date; single or tandem.

She was surprised at (in her words) "how easy" the trip was and didn't feel as if she struggeld at all. As the pilot, I can say that she certainly didn't, and she did at least her fair share of the work. Her knees did bother her a bit that night. A little sore on the fronts. Told her I'd have to raise her seat a bit. She never had any knee problems with other longish (62 mile) rides, and is fine with me raising it so long as I, "...don't mess with how its tipped." She's happy with the current seat angle.

Anyway, I did considerable reading on this site before purchasing a tandem and starting to ride. I felt obligated to brag on my stoker a bit. And (in a back handed sort of way) thank you all for your advice since we've undertaken this hobby.

Brad