Tandem Piloting 101

The lessons, and there have been many, of tandem piloting:

1. It's a team effort. One person cannot do it alone. I am the eyes of our bike and my stoker is 100% reliant upon my ability to put us in the right position to succeed. Our sum weight is over 320 pounds. Bike, gear, girls. That's a lot to love. Together, we spin up hills, putting in equal amounts of effort and blood sweat and tears. The reward: descents. Thank God what goes up, must come down.

2. It's a team effort. We must be in synch. I am learning to do everything with my stoker: meals, sleep, recovery, down time, off the bike time. Texting our honeys from afar. We do everything, together.

3. It's a team effort. We're learning one each others habits, our quirks, what makes us tick and what doesn't. Thank goodness my stoker is kind, patient and sweet. We compliment one another well, especially off the bike, which translates to on the bike effort. We're both learning from each other. For me, I'm taking in her I want to kill bitches! on the bike attitude. Sometimes you need more grrrrrr in your life to fuel that competitive fire.

4. It's a team effort. We have an uphill time trial in less than an hour. I just checked and our bike has a 39x28. For those who don't know cycling lingo, that's a mighty small gear for a 7 mile climb with a 5% average gradient. There will be suffering. There will be sweat. There will be tears. There will be sweet success when we get to the top. And we'll get to do it, together.

5. You have to be all in. There's no partial participation. You're either all in this, or your not. I'm in. (Ask me that question again after the hill, please.)