Can't get rid of her no matter how hard I pedal

[StillOld]

Having discovered cycling late in life and found the joys of wandering I have now taken another plunge into madness.....

We (Mrs NotSoOld and I) have just ordered a Thorn Raven Twin Tandem. 

Looks like the underwear is going to have to last a tad longer than I wanted, but working on the principle that you can't take it with you, what the hell.

Can't wait.......

[jags]

Fantastic u will have some fun on the tandem.
myself i had to stop riding with my blind buddy as his tandem Terry Dolan was to big and long for me killing my already aching back.it sits gathering dust now mores the pity no one willing to take up the pilot's role.
the only think i found hard on the tandem was  hills slow tough going but if your willing to ride low and slow then yeah it aint no big deal.
anyway enjoy every pedal stroke stay safe and keep her clean.

jags

[Danneaux]

Hey there, Still!

I think you'll (both) enjoy your tandem. They're a lot of fun and make talking and sharing in the ride so much easier because of the proximity. Anto's right -- they're slower on the hills, but fast on the flats (a bit more than the wind and rolling resistance of one bike, but the power of two) and frighteningly fast downhill (my aged father and I took mine to 101kph pretty easily). It is a great way to match people of differing abilities: The stronger rider can get a great workout while the less able one can still enjoy the ride.

Tandems foster cooperation and no one gets left behind. It is really nice reaching the top and bottom of a hill at the same time!

The only real touring challenge I've had touring with mine is the limited space for two peoples' luggage. The solution proved to be a trailer (I made my own, it works fine). Beyond that is the difficulty in finding partners, though you seem to have solved that problem first (well done!). In a pinch, many tandems make reasonable solo tourers. I have regularly ridden mine on hilly 260km day rides and found it surprisingly good.

The only real downside? Your respective solo bikes may not see as much use. 

Looking forward to seeing photos in the Forum gallery and ride reports too. If they are anything like your tour account, they'll be corkers!

All best wishes for lots of fun together and happy days ahead,

Dan.

[Mike Ayling]

Having discovered cycling late in life and found the joys of wandering I have now taken another plunge into madness.....

We (Mrs NotSoOld and I) have just ordered a Thorn Raven Twin Tandem. 

Looks like the underwear is going to have to last a tad longer than I wanted, but working on the principle that you can't take it with you, what the hell.

Can't wait.......

Mary and I love ours!

Here we are in action!

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/16958

Mike
Melbourne
Australia

[StillOld]

Mike....you and Mary are an inspiration to me! What a fabulous country to cycle in. Curry, fracking, honey and flat pack jails. You meet some interesting people whilst cycling.My wife doesn't retire for another 20 months so we are going to practice locally until then.

I dithered over the stainless couplings and decided we would try tandem cycling first and then have it done when and if we went further afield. I can see how useful it will be.

Keep healthy.

Gary aka StillOld

[Mike Ayling]

have you taken delivery of the tandem yet, Gary?

Mike

[mickeg]

I have heard that tandems reinforce your relationship.  If you have a great relationship, it gets better.  If you have a poor relationship, it gets worse as there are more opportunities to argue.

I hope everything works out really well.

[StillOld]

Mike...yes, took delivery a couple of weeks ago. Been out twice  and trying to get the communication going. We did a 10 miler to start and then ventured out for a chilly but sunny 18 miler round the back lanes with a stop off for a sandwich and coffee. However the stoker then caught a cold so we waited for that to clear....then I got one.

Hoping to get out this week if all goes well. You can certainly get a speed up......stokers only complaint so far is she gets no warning about bumps. 

[Mike Ayling]

Mike...yes, took delivery a couple of weeks ago. Been out twice  and trying to get the communication going. We did a 10 miler to start and then ventured out for a chilly but sunny 18 miler round the back lanes with a stop off for a sandwich and coffee. However the stoker then caught a cold so we waited for that to clear....then I got one.

Hoping to get out this week if all goes well. You can certainly get a speed up......stokers only complaint so far is she gets no warning about bumps. 

stokers only complaint so far is she gets no warning about bumps.

That is a big part of the communication bit!

What colour did you get?

Mike

[StillOld]

One of the standard colours....yellow and black. When we have decided that it will be of greater use then we will have the stainless couplings added and have a respray to something more personal.

We had the extra brake (disc) added as we have a lot of hills around us, rear luggage rack, front handlebar bag mount, apart from that it's standard. Our aim will be to build up some confidence and then play locally. When the stoker retires in 18 mths we can think about venturing further.

Meanwhile I mustn't lose the urge to play on my Nomad. Going to Scotland again and doing a route from Glasgow to Oban, Hebrides and then back to Ullapool, then round the top as far as we can get. Next year a friend and I will cycle through France loosely following the Pilgrim Trail over the Pyrenees into Spain.

The comms bit is getting better on the tandem and apart from the odd bump she enjoys it far more than solo cycling. Not that she did a lot of that. Neither of us was a keen cyclist so this, like my Nomad trips, is new fun and I think we will venture further when we have the time.