Why?
I had been at the Significant Other to get a road bike so that they could come riding with me. They are wiser than that and, with the dual thoughts of either being left behind or patronised (I claimed it would be encouraged) by me, they suggested a tandem."It will be fun", "It's something we can do together" are the sort of things I heard in support of this plan.
To be fair, I wasn't against the idea. And it let me shop!
Buying
After looking around on the internet and weighing up our options we decided that it would be great if we could try it before we committed ourselves. And that's where JD Tandems came in. With the promise of a day or two's hire of a tandem and instruction on how to ride one they seemed an ideal place to visit. The only problem? They're in Yorkshire. So we planned a few days away to visit them and arranged the bike hire.
As soon as we arrived in their shop in Gargrave we were made very welcome. The proprietors Ruth and John seemed keener than I was to get us on a bike and off. Having read all sorts of stuff about the problems starting to ride a tandem I was very nervous about setting out. Our hire bike was ready and after a couple of adjustments from John for saddle height and bar reach we were set for our lesson in the car park outside the shop.
The technique is described elsewhere but here's my distilled version. The pilot (person at front) gets astride the bike, puts the brakes on and stabilises the bike by putting their feet as wide as they can go. The stoker (the person on the back) then gets on the bike and gets both feet on their pedals. This achieved they then set the pedals and the pilot narrows their stance so that they can put their foot on a pedal. Then a quick, "lets go", a release of the brakes and the bike sails off. Ruth and John make it look very easy and the bike covered the ground around the car park with effortless ease. Stopping looks equally easy and the bike came to a halt with Ruth still sitting on the rear seat both feet on the pedals with John looking really relaxed on the front.
Then it's time for my partner in crime to take Ruth's place and have John show me the starting technique again while getting them used to the idea. John does it easily again. I ask to have a go on the back to see what it's like. It's very odd and when we came to a stop I had to put a foot down, unbalancing the bike. Naughty stoker. John chuckled and said it's fine.
Then it was my turn to try piloting. I managed to get astride the bike with brakes on; that bit is relatively ok although stepping over the bike instead of swinging the leg over the saddle is different. My Significant Other got on. It's a funny feeling having a bike wobble around behind you as someone else gets on. They set the pedals. I narrow my stance. Go! No. I found it difficult to let go of the brakes. More chuckling and sympathy from John. We tried again and this time we wobbled our way around the car park. Stopping brings about it's own problem as I found that I tend to lean a bike when I bring it to a stop. Not a good thing for the stoker. Very unnerving. We tried again and were a little better. "Off you go then" said Ruth and I thought "Really? Are we ready?".
We got a few things together and put them in the provided rack bag, a thoughtful addition to the day's bike hire. John gave us directions to Malham and showed me on the map, also provided. They left us in the car park and we tried to set off. I still couldn't let go of the brake levers in time. We tried again and managed to get going this time. We went round the car park one more time; it felt safe and then we made our way to the road. We managed to stop at the junction without falling off but realised that to start again we were going to have to turn right. Visibility wasn't great and neither was our starting so we decided to walk the bike across the road, then over the humpback bridge to a flatter more inviting piece of road.
We got going again and this time we made a pretty decent job of it. We started cycling down the road. I began to get used to the gears and brakes. The thing was that the bars were straight like a mountain bike so nothing like my road bike and unlike my town bike too as that has twist shift gears. That and a longer, heavier bike made things interesting. We passed a car whose occupants waved at us. We suspect they see a lot of wobbling tandems there and that made us laugh.
We headed on up the road and by and large we made slow but steady progress. We stopped and started again which wasn't easy on the ever narrowing Yorkshire back roads. At least there wasn't too much traffic, but the lines of sight weren't as good as I'm used to and, of course, I had no idea of the roads at all. Eventually we arrived above Malham and could see the famous Malham Cove; a mecca for tourists and climbers alike. It looked like quite a steep drop into the village but we went down the hill and arrived at the visitors centre. I elected to park here and we made it into the car park and stopped relatively well. We locked the bike up (the lock again provided) and strolled along in search of a cup of coffee for the pilot and tea for the stoker. John had recommended somewhere but we couldn't find it. There are plenty of options though and we stumbled into one.
Over our beverages we discussed the 7 miles or so we had just done. A painfully short distance for me but quite a long way for my Significant Other. It had been ok but the rear cyclist did admit to shutting their eyes on one fast downhill bit. Pilot error I thought our experienced hosts would suggest. And the gap in our cycling history was brought to the fore. Ruth had asked what our usual mileages were. "Al thinks nothing of 100 miles in a day." was the reply from my better half, "I'm more like 4". On the whole though we were happy and agreed that if nothing went wrong on the way back we were likely to decide to purchase a tandem.
We got back to the bike and I was glad to see that it was still there. We were passed by two proper roadies looking like they were off to do some serious riding. I was slightly envious. We wheeled the bike back to the road and looked up the slope we have to get up. I was apprehensive. I didn't know what our combined climbing power would be like and I thought the slope looked steep. I was glad to have a bike that was geared for climbing and for partners of unequal experience.
The start was smooth for us and we got going. I managed to change gear to a sensible one and we spun slowly up the hill who's brow came surprisingly quickly. Then with almost apparent ease we cycled back to Gargrave. My stoker was surprised how quickly we got back. I pointed out that it had been mostly downhill as a consequence of mostly going uphill on the way there. I was surprised at how quickly I became somewhat used to the bike. It was still a strange animal but workable by now and not a horror story.
We got back to the shop. Ruth and John wondered if we were going to do some more; perhaps wondering if we liked the experience. But 14 miles on a strange bike was a long way for my rear gunner and I was happy to leave it for the day. I did take out a tandem on my own to try one with drop handlebars but although I preferred being in a more natural position and with controls I'm more used to I can see why John had his doubts for it as a first tandem. The flat bars give a more positive braking position and that, at the moment, is important.
As we discussed the options with John and Ruth in the shop I watched John work in the spotless workshop area. I gazed longingly at the tools he has wishing I had the skill to use them as well as having them in my less than spotless garage. We made arrangements to sleep on it to make sure the stoker's back had withstood the challenge and left for the hotel.
We hadn't changed our minds overnight and the next morning we popped back to the shop. "Could we pop out for a short run just to be sure?" we asked. It was no problem. We didn't go far, we just wanted to see everything was still as good as it had been the day before. We needn't have worried. We didn't go far and we were soon back in the shop agreeing to the purchase. As we left another couple arrived to pick up a Hase Pino. I'd seen it the day before and they had a test version too. Half bike, half recumbent it looks superb but I fought the urge to try it. I might regret that.
All we had to do now was to wait.
Arrival and riding
We didn't have to wait long; about 10 days. And then a very long box was delivered. Arriving this way it takes a little setting up as it travels with the handlebars turned, the stokers bars turned and the saddles fitted as low as they will go. Ever the efficient sales team though we had the measurements from the test bike we'd ridden as a basic starting point.
Our first ride felt like we were back to square one and I felt we wobbled around our local roads. I was reassured from the back seat that we were doing fine. And that's what the tandem is about I guess: teamwork and communication.
Since then we've been out and about quite a bit and enjoying the new bike. We are still learning, improving and looking forward to more. And the Significant Other will now be called the Stoker!
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| On our first "proper" ride. Photo by the stoker! |
