Teresa and I have had some great moments riding our tandem through the countryside together. We love having the wind at our backs (hopefully), the warmth of the sun on our faces, and sensing our legs pumping together in perfect rhythm. Almost every time that we pass someone out in their yard while on a ride they will shout out to me, "Hey, she's not pedaling!" Of course, I know that she's pedaling. I made sure of that by buying her shoes that clip into the pedals! She doesn't have a choice! If I'm pedaling then she's pedaling! Pedaling is something that we both do together on the tandem. Steering, braking, and shifting, however, are another matter entirely.
Teresa has tried steering from the rear before! It didn't turn out well! We almost ended up going on two different sides of a big wooden pole! That's not something that you want to try on a Tandem! Neither is arguing over who is in charge! Especially if you are several miles from home! Trust me. I found that one out the hard way!
Veteran tandem riders refer to the person seated up front as 'The Captain' and the person seated in the rear as 'The Stoker.' Teresa isn't very stoked about being called 'The Stoker' so I have taken up calling her 'The Rear Admiral.' She likes that! I may be the captain of the vessel, but she gets to tell me where to go and determine just how fast that we're going to get there. If I try to go faster than she wants, she just eases up the pressure on her set of pedals. A few times I have made the mistake of questioning her as to whether or not she is putting in any effort. She tends to respond by saying, "OK buddy, you want to feel what it's like when I'm not helping, try this on for size!" Immediately I'm aware of her efforts and beg her to come back to my aid; especially if we're a long way from home!
So, we both have pedals. We both have a seat. And, we both have a set of handle bars. But, only one of us has brake levers and gear shifters. Those are in the hands of 'The Captain'. But a good captain, a smart captain, a captain that doesn't want to feel the pressure on the rear pedals ease up, let's the 'Rear Admiral' give the orders. I strive to be a good captain.
Most times Teresa is calling for more speed than I can give her. There have been a few occasions where we have hit 45 mph going downhill. At those moments my rear admiral either shouts out with a childlike 'weeee' or cries out for some brakes! It's hard to tell which is which with the wind blowing in my ears at 45 mph so I usually just ask her what she said when we get to the bottom of the hill! If it was 'brakes!' then I'm in trouble! But, for the most part, she doesn't ask me to hit the brakes very often. She has learned to trust me and I have learned what she is comfortable with.
When it comes to shifting gears there is a little bit more teamwork involved. Teresa doesn't like pedaling at a high cadence. She prefers a higher gear and less revolutions. I like to 'spin it to win it!' Sometimes we have to make a compromise. On occasion she has called for a higher gear when there were no gears left to shift into. She likes to go fast, but she doesn't like to pedal fast! I find that a lot of people are like that.
Shifting to higher gears on a tandem is easy. I can do that without even letting Teresa know that I'm going to shift ahead of time. Downshifting is another matter; especially when pulling up a tough hill. Whenever we are straining to get up a long steep hill we have to let one another know how we are feeling at each step along the way. If one of us is needing an easier gear, then the timing of the shift has to be coordinated. It involves me loudly announcing to her that I am going to shift a split second before I actually apply pressure to the shifter levers. This has to be done to relieve stress on the chain of the bike. When I call out "shift," we both ease off the pedals ever so slightly before the downward stroke of our right foot and I make the shift occur. When we do this by signaling ahead of time what is about to take place everything goes smoothly. When we don't, we run the risk of the chain coming off. That has happened a couple of times going up a steep hill. Trust me; that isn't fun; especially when you are clipped into the pedals and have almost no forward momentum. It can lead to a crash!
Are there people around you trying to signal to you that you might need to shift gears? Are you listening to their voice? You may be comfortable with the cadence and the speed, but if those that you are linked together with in life aren't 'feeling it' in the same way that you are, there is a good chance that it won't end very well. Relationships might burn out or crash! Perhaps it's time to kick it into a higher gear. Or, maybe, it's time to ease up the pressure for a moment and downshift a gear or maybe even two. There is plenty of time to get where you need to go and the journey will be much more enjoyable if you listen to those that are on the journey with you. Don't go it alone! Find a rhythm and a force that works best for those that are with you on the ride. If you do, then you will find yourself farther down the road than you ever dreamed possible, and you will have the joy of having brought others along for the ride.
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