We’ve Moved

We’ve moved the Tandem in Armidale blog to tandemarmidale.com

Feeling The Heat

I thought I’d take a moment to wish our readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The Things You Hear

I understand that riding a tandem is much more common in other countries than it is in Australia. Seeing a tandem is such a novelty for some people they feel they just have to say something. I though I’d give a list here of the most common things heard while riding a tandem. Some of this is funny, some of it isn’t, but I suspect you’ll be able to work out where I’m being serious.

February’s Challenge

Through January and February 2014 Katherine, Natalie and Patricia will be riding around New South Wales to raise funds for Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.

I’ve known Katherine for a few years now, she rides with Exsight Tandems in Sydney and Wollongong, and even took my place on the Management Committee when I moved back to Armidale.

Learning to Climb

OK, so not the most honest title on this blog so far, but I couldn’t think of anything better. And it makes me think of Tom Petty’s Learning to Fly.

Everything you know is wrong

When I first started riding tandem with my two kids, before we even took off I read this screed: Captain Training.

The Intentional Stoker

How did I become a stoker? In contrast to Dave’s experience, unsurprisingly, my becoming a stoker was fairly intentional.

I’d tried some tandem cycling in my mid 20’s, and indeed got to buying my own tandem (a basic Apollo) in my mid to late 20s. My issue at the time (I was living in Armidale then too) was finding people to captain.

The Accidental Captain

I haven’t always been a tandem captain, but if you’re wondering exactly what the process is to becoming one, you probably shouldn’t do it like me.

So Why Tandem?

Given this is a restart of an old Blog, now lost to the death of Posterous, I thought I’d start with a basic question. Why do I ride a tandem?

On one level the answer is quite simple: because I’m blind, I can’t ride by myself, so if I want to ride a tandem is my only option. But really, this isn’t a very satisfactory answer, at least for some people. If I can’t see, what do I get out of jumping on a bike behind someone and peddling?