First Things First
 

Not to feel selfish, I also loaded up the Burley Picollo and my wife's Trek 6700 WSD. It was a big day for Stokid #2: her first ride on the Picollo. It would also be the first time my wife towed it.

Below is a pic from before their first ride (out on country roads). They did an excellent job right from the start, and my daughter had a massive smile on her face as they both pedaled along. Despite several "stop and itch" breaks, and an expected shoe jettison, they both rolled up 8.5 miles of riding today. Not bad for the first time for a four year old.

It's hard to say enough good things about the Burley Picollo. There's no question it's the most expensive trailer bike out there, but the quality is soooo nice. Also, the rack/hitch arrangement does a great job of keeping squirmy first time stokids from affecting the main bike too much.

No regrets about owning a Picollo:

Pulling Out
 

Of course, stokid #1 and I got in our first real ride. We first did about four miles with wife and stokid #2, and then we set out to do a 14 mile loop my father used to ride. It was sunny, about 55 degrees, and the bike did great.

If we look over-dressed, we were a bit. I couldn't trust the weather to not start raining on us again, so we were prepared.

Here's a pic of us pulling out:

Rolling By
 

The loop we did stops off at Gallon House Covered Bridge and then swings around the back of Mt. Angel (past Abbey Hill) before rolling down through town.

Traffic was exceptionally low on all the roads today, and we had only one scare. On the downhill into town, my Stokid was too anxious to see the rough road ahead and craned out to the left as we descended. The bike followed suit, and I found myself having to cross a deep, wide and long "wheel grabber" crack running parallel down the road. The front wheel handled the maneuver fine, but it wasn't something I would have chosen to do. It led to a good and positive talk about "not leaning out" because of safety reasons.

We stopped to share a Powerbar at the Gazebo in town. We were there no longer than two minutes before a family stopped by and asked, "How much do those bikes cost?"

Rolling by (yes, I do look like a perverted bunny in my commuting gear):

On our way
 

Performance-wise, the tandem did great. I continued to be impressed by how much help my small stoker can be on hills. I actually found myself telling him to "ease up" several times, fearing he might burn out too soon. At the end of 18 miles for the day, though, he was doing fine. Nothing hurt, nothing too tired, and a good stopping point for our first real ride. Stopping at the covered bridge and the Gazebo were good ideas for breaking up the ride.

On our way:

Okay, I promise to let this thread die after this... :rolleyes:

Got in another fun ride today on the tandem-- about two hours of riding (18 miles or so with 3 breaks) up and down the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. It's a ride we did many times with the Picollo trailer bike, and I was looking forward to riding it on the Q.

Good news: sunny and 62 degrees. Literally my first ride of the year in shorts and reguar jersey. My stoker got to try out his new (used) cycling outfit we picked up at "Next Adventure" this morning. (His first time in real cycling shorts-- big improvement for him.)

Bad news: the bike path up and down both sides of the river was crawling with peds, dogs, children and other cyclists.

Overall, a refreshing and exhausting ride. We rode well, but there was so much close quarters navigation that I'm worn out stress-wise. We're not quite experienced enough yet to do trackstands on crowded paths, or dodge dogs at speed.

My stoker did great, but in the last third he tired and "locked" my pedals a few times when I really needed to move them for balance. So, no crowded paths for us for awhile. Next time, we're headed back to the country-- Hagg's Lake, Mt. Angel, Sauvie's Island, or other quiet on-road destinations.

Tandem 4 family
 

Howdy from Tucson!
Nice to hear someone getting enthused about tandeming!
Couple suggestions: Pilot communicate with stoker: Shifting, coasting, pedal, braking, turning, stopping, slowing, etc; call out the BUMPS!
If spouse is goofy footed set up your timing chain 90 degrees out of phase; yes it works! It can also make it easier on the climb part as there is always a power stroke. And it looks no goofier than in phase! Have pedaled in-phase one year, out-of-phase {OOP} over 29 years. Guess which way we prefer? Sure, we are in the minority, but so what? Sending you some of our excess sunshine . . . only 82 degrees today!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy & Kay, Zona tandem

Thanks for your suggestions-- not only does a lot of talking go on about bumps, coasting, stopping and starting (we use the "1, 2, 3 go" method for now), but also about all sorts of other subjects.

I'll try your 90 degrees out of phase suggestion-- trying that is very simple on our tandem, since the timing chain can be slipped off by simply loosening the bottom tube. Sounds like it could make a real difference.

We had our first "full family" cycle tour today. Despite a friend's birthday party at 2:30, we cruised over to Hagg Lake with the tandem, wife's 6700 and the Picollo. It felt like seventy degrees and sunny, so we were all in shorts and short sleeves. My son and I rode the 10.5 loop around the lake on the Q, and wife and 4 year-old daughter did the loop quite well with the Picollo. In order to "train" for the Northwest Tandem rally, my son and I would have done the loop again, but we were short on time.

This ride was much more relaxing than last week's crowded bike path. Also, it had some decent short hills to climb, and some 35 mph descents that my son was concerned about but not scared. He's learned to "stay steady" and not move around when we descend.

I'm very glad we invested in the Bike Topper tandem rack. I use it all the time now for both singles and the tandem, and it crossed my mind this morning that it's safer with this tandem to not be breaking it down all the time. There are a significant number of bolts to keep tightened for safety on this tandem, and keeping it built and ready to go is faster and safer (given everyone's tendency to overlook things).

Best of all, my young daughter really enjoyed the trailer bike ride this morning. She and "mom" set their own pace, and talked about the lake, and animals, and other cyclists, and all sorts of things all the way around. So did my son and I. For six, he's a thoughtful character.

And, of course, we got the normal big smiles, waves, from cyclists and non-cyclists. Amazing how much interest there is in the bike from people with kids, and one non-cycling dad this morning even guessed the approximate price of the bike correctly. It is a chunk of cash, and it is more effort than tossing a single on the roof and heading for a club ride, but today's ride was pretty special all the way around.

One last point-- the wife is riding her mtb and touring bike more and more (even weekday rides on her own), but she's quiet about riding the tandem. It may be awhile before we ride it together, since she's a pretty independent rider (and would likely rather be on her carbon Specialized road bike for speed work), but it doesn't matter if the kids are excited about being stokers. So, in some ways, I think we're more into "family cycling" than the traditional "tandem team" scene.

Next month, I hope to try my first business trip with Q in single form in the suitcase.

I just got back from my first travel experience with the Q (as a single), and I had a good time. Details are posted here: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=50033

The trip was good enough that I plan to take the bike with me to Washington, DC this Wednesday.

The only "bummer" lately with the Q is that my primo stoker broke his wrist at school (falling from the monkey bars), and he's in a cast for four more weeks. First thing the doctor said was "no bike riding" because he's not supposed to grip the handlebars until healed, etc. Anyway, we'll still have two weeks to train before going to the Northwest Tandem Ralley together (http://www.nwtr.org).