A tale of Two sync seats: touring first ever 100 kms

Whenever me and Sanat, are on a ride on tandem, people stop around, even the motor cyclist, auto walas, conductors in the bus, traffic police give an intense gaze, as if asking to themselves " WTH is this ??" Raising thumbs up, anxious looks from kids, appreciative waves, queries all these are common for tandem bikers. There seems to be something rather endearing about the look of a tandem
and people are intrigued. Whenever we came across the question "What its like two ride a bicycle built for two?", we exchange knowing looks and provide an oversimplified answer "It's fun". But, in reality its way beyond that, is what we keep on realising on each and every long ride on the tandem.

Sanat and me have started tandeming since past 4 months, and we are on our way to master the skills of tandem riding as well as know and harness our strength in effective riding. A couple of short distance (15kms) ride on a single speed gear, motivated me to take a plunge into the world of cyclists, me being an amateur cyclist (Sanat on the other hand is a passionate endurance cyclist), and then we ended up upgrading to a geared 3X6 Fantom Tandem. A smart choice indeed, we could easily figure it out on a 60 kms ride from JP Nagar to Hosur and back.

Tandem riding, we learnt, has unique challenges. The huge weight of the bicycle as well as the cumulative weight of the riders, in addition to its length, requires perfect coordination to balance and ride it smoothly. Stops, turns, acceleration, deceleration, everything needs to be done together. the stoker (person at the rear) has to trsut the person captaining the bike, and the captain has to rely on a stoker who maintains a steady position and responsive to choices the captain makes.

After having gained the basics of tandem, we though of giving a trial of for the first 100 kms ride from JP Nagar to Chikalapur and back (total 110 kms). As a record for the experiences we gained, and the lessons we learnt from the mistakes, I thought of penning down the entire trip.

For long distance biking, its always important to pack everything a day before the ride. Food including banana, dry fruits, dates (which we of course missed during this ride), ORS, salt capsules, puncture kit, pump, raincoats, water bottle is a must..Biking when it comes to tandem, special attention needs to be paid to lights both front and rear even during the day. Though we had a small bell at the front, tandem being eye catchy, its difficult to warn people to get off our way without a proper bell. 

30th Sept, at the early hours of morning (6:30 am), we kicked off the ride.
The details of the ride is summarised below:

18 km       18       1hr 4 min        (16.9)        20 mins (breakfast)

24 km       42       1hr 26 min      (16.7)        8 mins (photo, army headquarters) 

3.3 km      45.3    15 min            (13.2)        10 mins (coconut water)

9.8 km      55.1    44 min            (13.4)         38 mins (Nagarjuna college)
11 km       66.1    43 min            (15.3)         19 mins  (lunch)

7 km         73.1    22 min            (19.09)      10 mins (rest)

1.4 km      74.5    7 min              (12)            6 min (rest)

4.8 km      79.3    19 min            (15.1)         56 mins (decathlon) 

8 km         87.3    25 min            (19.2)         9 mins (lime soda)

9 km         96.3    37 min            (14.6)         19 mins (rest)

14 km      110.3   1 hr 10 min     (12)

Total duration 432 mins (7hrs 12 mins, 7.2 hrs)

Total distance 110.3 kms

Average speed 15.31 km/hr

Total break 195 mins (3.25 hrs, 3hrs 15 mins)

Speed including breaks (110.3 kms/10.45 hrs = 10.5 kmph)

If break of 1.25 hrs which is max for 13 hrs ride, then avg speed = 17 kmph

Couple of points worth mentioning here: The mistakes :
** We need to enhance our speed to 18 kmph. Tandems off course consume more time during traffic, signal crossing, ascent, descent, gear shifting, all of these needs to be accommodated with the higher speed during the ride. Break time minimisation, may be cut off the time for breakfast (probably start with breakfast before the ride). Pack things smartly. Dont drag yourself. Break of 2 mins every 30 mins. Charge yourself with dry fruits, dates and banana during the ride. This can be possible, if the stroker takes charge of the food supplements during the ride.

** There was severe difficulty riding in the scorching sun, precautions needs to be taken sun screen, arm sleeves. Of course adaptation to sun rays by performing frequent rides during afternoon hours.

** Riding in the uphill seems to be nightmare in tandem, due its higher weight, whereas downhill is an ultimate bliss as the wheels keep rolling owing to the higher momentum induced by the enhanced weight. Flat roads seems ok. In short, avg speed on tandem is great on a roller coaster ride, but it really sucks to drag the speed on a flat or uphill road. Need to focus more on increasing cadence on the flat roads (cadence meter could be of rescue, shall try it on next ride). Maintaining a cadence of 90 rpm could enhance the avg speed.

** Larger gear changes from the middle to the inner ring at the front requires communication as well as slowing down by the captain, to ease off the power before the shift and avoid the slipping of feet (of stroker) by the jolt as the resistance decreases. In short, gear shift consumes relatively more time in tandems in comparison to solo bikes. The grift shifter in our tandem was so strong that after 50 kms of ride, the thumb got injured (going for the thumb shifters to accommodate this!!)

** Soft wide saddle is a big NO NO. Had frequently heard about it from Sanat, but could experience it for real in this ride. (Shall replace it with a proper saddle)

** Applying moisturiser and anti fungal cream to avoid the fungal infection.

Summarising, though tandem riding is an unique and practice demanding ride, it could always be a fun ride, possible only by the riders carefully delineated roles. In tandem lingo, the person in front is the “pilot” and the person in back is the “stoker.” The pilot steers and is more or less in control. The stoker’s role is complex- she provides power, but also entertainment, motivation, emotional support and supplies. While the pilot directs the ride, the stoker keeps things going— she talks, offers words of encouragement, opens power bars and handles the water.

Above all, skills and perfection can only be acquired with practice, practice and more practice. Being restricted with time on weekdays, the plan is to ride 100+ rides on alternate weekends, clubbing it with a short 50+ ride in between.