Ritterview

Article in today's Fresno Bee prior to Saturday's Climb to Kaiser. This article mentions more than one BF Tandem Forum members.

specbill

We saw BF'ers Nick and Chris (mentioned in the article) up on Mt Hamilton a couple of weeks ago at the Canyon Classic Century ride. That climb liked to have killed my stoker and me while they just cruised up it using that ride for a gentle warm up for the C2K.

I can't imagine how the teams that do the monsters like Kaiser are able to do it...and oh btw, temps are scheduled well into the upper 90's on the lower portions of the course,...BIG kudos to all of you with that kind of talent.

We'll be there Saturday doing the Tollhouse or Millertom portions and marveling at the Kaiser riders. Best wishes to all.

Bill J.

Ritterview

I had signed up for my 3rd CTK on my half-bike, but changed my registration to the Tollhouse Century, that Mrs. R and I will do on our tandem. She's petrified of the descent, but Auberry Road from Alder Springs is fine, it was repaved last year and is smooth, has wide sweeping turns with good visibility, moderate grade and low traffic. I think it will go fine.

I switched from the 12-27 Campy 11-speed cassette to 12-29, and those extra two teeth bid to really help out on Tollhouse.

We'll be at there at the start at 5:30, maybe we can get a tandem peloton going for the first flat section.

oldacura

Sounds like Marek Warzawski has never ridden a tandem. Climbing hills, no matter how steep, is power to weight ratio. Tandems lose their advantage when riding below about 10 mph. They do not have a disadvantage.

Two equally matched riders should be able to climb a steep hill at the same speed on a tandem or on singles (assuming the tandem weighs twice one single).

Don't know Kaiser. We have ridden some roads west of Boulder, Co that were so steep in sections that we could only manage 3 mph with both of us standing.

Our tandem weighs more than 40 pounds.

cornucopia72

Maybe he hasn't maybe he has... The author of the article was citing experienced tandem riders from the area. We happen to agree with most of it.

Nick & Chris

[QUOTE=oldacura;

Two equally matched riders should be able to climb a steep hill at the same speed on a tandem or on singles (assuming the tandem weighs twice one single).[/QUOTE]


The point that Dale Johnson is making in the quotes in the article is that lots of tandem riders are not equally matched when it comes to pedaling style especially on long climbs--preferred cadence, in or out of the saddle etc. An example for Dale and his stoker Jane: My wife and I have put on a Tollhouse Time Trial the last 10 years or so (one of the climbs in the Kaiser ride--about 2600 ft in 6.7 mies). Dale has done it on his single bike in about 44 min, Jane on her single bike in 59 min, but on the tandem they are about 58 min, which isn't bad, but not what you would expect from their single bike times.

By the way if you want to give the Tollhouse TT a try it is the 2nd to last Saturday of Sept--see if you can break the tandem record for the even held by Cornucopia--49 min.

Ritterview

Well, we did the Tollhouse Century (although we omitted the 8 mile Maxon Road out-and-back). Distance, 85.71 mi, Elevation Gain: 6,760 ft. Mrs. R was very apprehensive about doing this, both the climbing and the descending, but she's glad she did, and is all smiles. Our time up Tollhouse was 1:16 minutes.

The switch of the cassette from 12-27 to 12-29 made a huge difference, BTW. It spared us the ignominy of walking our bike up to the Tollhouse Stop sign, when the grade hit 14%.

As I write, the Kaiser Tandem participants are making their way back. All hail to the Kaiser Tandem teams! I can't imagine Big Creek after we suffered on Tollhouse so.

specbill

Ritterview...It was good to meet you and Mrs R. today,be it ever so brief....good job on doing the Tollhouse climb. We found we had no legs today on Wildcat so changed courses before things got out of hand on Tollhouse...' did the Millerton 70 mile piece instead, had fun and got back well before it got hot....maybe next year for TH and absolutely never for Kaiser.

Bill J

tollhousecookie

Very cool post Ritterview... My brother just bought a tandem last night and was just poking around here. Cool pics... looks like you and the Misses are having a good time. Nice job on the climbing!

DanRH 

Man, I'll tell you, I did it on my half bike in '04 because I was boycotting the Death Ride (Lottery. I hated it and was a long time supporter and participant of that ride). It was one of the hardest days I've ever had on a bike. I cannot imagine doing it on a tandem. BTW, the temps where in the 100's at lower elevations. 60's at the top. Also, I saw a fellow cyclist get hit by a truck that year. Not pretty (he died).