communication gear Tandem

Posted by: Kallie

Life has been full of changes for Andrew and I over the past few months. Andrew graduated from seminary, we got married and moved in together- just in time to move all of our stuff into storage and head out on this bike trip!

But perhaps one of the biggest adjustments so far has been to our new tandem, that people tend to refer to as “le Autobus.” Not only are we riding a tandem, we are also pulling a single-wheel trailer (who we refer to as “Bob”) making our rig even more of a spectacle.

The first day our tandem felt more like a bucking bronco than a bicycle- twisting, turning, skipping and slamming as if it were trying to get us off of its back. The load was heavy and the front end nervously wobbled. In the back seat I clenched onto the handlebars, gritted my teeth, winced at near misses, and prayed all day that we would survive to see our first campsite.

Over the last three weeks of biking we have improved our load and our communication skills- which has made our experience much more enjoyable!

Tandem 101
The person up front, Andrew, is referred to as the “captain.” The person in back, myself, is referred to as the “stoker.”

Captain’s responsibilities:
Steer, brake, shift
Call out potholes, bumps, etc
Keep the stoker happy ***VERY IMPORTANT 😉

Stoker’s responsibilities:
Check for cars
Look for street signs/bike routes
Make sure the group is in sight
Provide extra power (which we refer to as the “bunta boost”)
Daydream and take pictures/video!

One of essentials of riding a tandem is communication. Andrew says EVERYTHING he is doing out loud to me: “Shifting!” “Stopping!” “Coasting!” “Slowing!” “BUMP!” “Getting up on the sidewalk…”

I’ve compared riding in the back of a tandem to “riding blind.” For example, when you normally ride a bike, you subconsciously prepare yourself when you see a pothole. First, you stop pedaling, you bend your knees, raise yourself off of your saddle, loosen your grip, and absorb the pothole. If a pothole/bump isn’t called out on the back of a tandem, all of the above are neglected and the shock that follows rattles throughout the entire body and seems to be amplified tenfold… and is usually accompanied by an, “Owwww! Andrewwwww!”

There are a few advantages to the tandem that convinced us to take it on the trip (as opposed to our single bikes):
1) The ability to converse. Andrew has been teaching me French the past few days and I put his recent degree to use by asking about church history. To pass the time, we also play a game we made up called “the gato game” where we get a point for each cat we see. The highest score so far was Kallie: 19, Andrew: 17.
2) The ability to take pictures/video. My goal is to make a short documentary of the trip- so being able to go “hands free” in the back has allowed me to take pictures and film while riding.
3) Flexibility with injury/sickness. Although the stoker is NOT a handicapped position, it can be in a crunch. If a group member is injured/sick and unable to ride/manage their load, we could put them on the back of the tandem and get them to the nearest town.

We have met several other tandems on the road and each couple we meet has their own advice and learning experiences. We have just put over 1,000 kilometers on our new tandem and I’m sure the more we put on, the more we’ll learn about the bike and each other!