[wooglin]

Saturday my sweetie and I did our first century on the tandem. We've had it since last summer and have been aiming for a century ever since but events have conspired to postpone it until this weekend. It was well worth the wait. It was also our first "group" ride on the thing and it took me a while to figure out that our pace was completely different than a single-bike pace. Once I grasped that we stopped worrying about staying in the draft and just did our own thing. Mostly we hung back from the lead group by 1-200 meters, but I was pretty sure we could reel them in at will for most of the day since they really seemed to be out for a leisurely ride. I was proved correct when a guy that had dropped out for a pee break at mile 20 caught back up to us. He was completely spent from the chase and asked if we could give him a hand. We told him to grab a wheel and off we went, dragging him up to the lead group with no trouble at all. Then, at the 66 mile point we left a sag stop a couple of minutes before the lead group and never saw them again. We did get caught, but it was after a 10 mile chase about 80 miles into the day, and it was by a couple of guys who'd left the start late and had been attempting a 4hr pace. The chase blew them up though (they caught us on a hill one at a time), and they finished only a minute or so in front of us. Bottom line: tandems are fast! Our time was 5:08 stop time, and under 5:30 elapsed, with very little drafting. I'm not sure I could do that solo.

And some pics

The weapon of choice.

Muahahahahaha!! Elements rule, your cars drool...

On the drive out. FUH2!

The lead group early in the day.

They don't call Vidalia, GA the sweet onion capital of the world for nothing....

And they got pecans, too!

On-the-bike smiles.

Objective met. Can we go home now?

And the happy tandemistas post-ride. Aren't we cute!

 

[MB1]

If the stoker is happy and smiling after 100....

...it is a good thing indeed.

So, how many wheel suckers/leeches did you have?

 

[wooglin]

...it is a good thing indeed.

First rule of tandeming: the stoker is always right.

So, how many wheel suckers/leeches did you have?

Amazingly, none. I think this is the smallest century I've ever done. Probably less than 30 people did the full loop, and after 20 miles it was already pretty well split up.

 

[bsdc]

Great report and pictures. I'm slowly working my girlfriend up to a century. She's willing, but I want to make sure she's in good shape and has fun. It looks like you two had a great time. Congradulations!

 

[bigrider]

I always dream of getting my wife into biking and riding on country roads on a tandem until the whole dream is shattered by

DID YOU EMPTY THE DISHWASHER?

 

[nate]

I always dream of getting my wife into biking and riding on country roads on a tandem until the whole dream is shattered by

DID YOU EMPTY THE DISHWASHER?

LOL!

My wife decide on her own to buy a bike recently. She hadn't ridden a road bike since she was a teenager and even her mtb has gotten little use in the past few years.

I helped her choose some bikes to test ride and gave her advice when asked, but all the decisions were up to her. She got a bike a few weeks ago. After MB1 posted the possible dates for the fixed century, I asked my wife if she could take off work on the day it happens. She said, "Sure, but I don't know if I'm ready for a century yet!"

She was kidding because the most she has done so far is 20 miles, but I'm still impressed with how much fun she is having. I'm glad I never pushed her into it.

 

[nate]

Nice pictures, wooglin. It sounds like it was a fun day.

 

[jh_on_the_cape]

I always dream of getting my wife into biking and riding on country roads on a tandem until the whole dream is shattered by

DID YOU EMPTY THE DISHWASHER?

Ha!
My wife used to bike before the kiddo. We borrowed a tandem for a while and didnt like it. We had more fun on separate bikes and I just made sure to hang back with her. Especially on downhills. A fixed gear took care of that.

Honestly, I would not want to be a stoker. So I cant blame her.

 

[KendleFox]

Thanks for the post

Although I dont have a tandem, I look foward to the day my daughter and I can do our first century on one. Thanks for the inspiration!!!

 

[wooglin]

This was my sweetie's third century. Her first was 2 years ago and all of 2 months after getting a road bike. Unitl then she'd just been toodling around on her old mtb, running errands and the like. I think competitive swimming as a girl and then 12 years of serious yoga must've paid off for her because she is seriously strong. Saturday when we were being chased the only reason we didn't get caught sooner is because she was able to embrace the pain and then push right through it. I honestly didn't know she had it in her.

Now all she wants to do is the next century. Faster. W00t!