The Tandem Decision

The problem

Marco and I have been cycling together since 2020, and it’s given us some of our happiest shared moments. We’ve had epic long rides, beautiful new places, ridiculous weather, the occasional route choice that probably made sense in a parallel universe 😉 and the kind of unhinged jokes and conversations that only happen when you’re suffering side by side on a bicycle.

But over the past few months, I began to notice an uncomfortable pattern: I was getting more and more frustrated whenever we cycled together. The breaking point came during a 200 km (125 miles) ride through very hilly terrain. I got dropped again and again, eventually so far behind that even our Sena helmets disconnected. By the end, I’d lost my patience. I’d spent months doing interval training on the Kickr, hoping I’d finally get strong enough to keep up.

We talked about it afterward, and it turns out the ride wasn’t exactly enjoyable for him either. It was 4°C (39F), and riding below his natural pace while waiting for me at every hilltop meant he spent most of the day freezing, and, understandably, a little bored.

I felt genuinely disheartened. We love cycling together; the shared adventure, teamwork, the sense of being a team, and for the first time since 2020, I started to question whether this pastime still worked for us as a pair.

The reason

Everything became clear after we did an FTP test a while later. Turns out there’s about a 1 W/kg difference between us. And while I’m above average for my gender, closing that gap would require me to hit domestic or international pro numbers, not exactly realistic for someone who has a job, a basic need for sleep, and interests that extend beyond living in Lycra.

Most of this difference is simply biology and physiology. Marco has higher hemoglobin, more blood volume, greater cardiac output, more muscle mass, a testosterone advantage, and a lifetime of athletic background behind him.

The FTP test took away a lot of my frustration. It made me realize I hadn’t failed at training; this was a physiological gap, one no realistic training plan was going to close.

The insomnia

After that 200 km ride, I couldn’t sleep. I woke up around 3 a.m. with a mind that refused to slow down, and since counting wheel spokes clearly wasn’t helping, I decided to make the most of my insomnia and start looking for solutions.

It turns out many couples deal with the same issue, but most of the suggestions I found were short-term fixes; adding weight to his bike, having him loop back to me, or keeping our shared rides indoors. And then I found something unexpected: tandems.

My first reaction? Absolutely not. In my head, tandems were heavy, clunky contraptions; awkward, unwieldy, and mildly terrifying. But the more I read, the more I realized they might actually be what we were looking for: a way to genuinely ride together. And to my surprise, the tandems I found online looked nothing like the monsters I had imagined.

Suddenly the idea clicked, and 3-a.m. me couldn’t stop thinking: Why did we never consider this? Would it work? And how on earth do I convince Marco?

The tandem

A tandem is a bicycle built for two (or more) riders. The drivetrains are linked, meaning both riders share the same cadence (and, frankly, destiny 😅). The person in front (the captain) is responsible for steering, braking, and all road decisions. The person in back (the stoker) can’t steer, can’t brake, and often can’t see what’s coming, so they have to trust the captain completely. Because a tandem is bigger and heavier, steering takes more strength, and any movement (grabbing a water bottle, adjusting kit, scratching your ear, doing a victory dance) has to be communicated, because even tiny shifts can destabilize the whole operation.

On a tandem, you are essentially one being. You start together, pedal together, stop together, and move like a vaguely coordinated two-person organism.

Tandems demand more effort, communication, and coordination, but the benefits were exactly what we needed. Two riders, one bike, one combined power output. We can both cruise at around 80% FTP without anyone getting dropped. We share the same climbs, the same rhythm, the same exhaustion. No more Sena helmets disconnecting in defeat, and no more lonely summits. With two wheels instead of four, we even have slightly less rolling resistance, and the stoker sits fully in the captain’s draft, making us more aero than we ever were on separate bikes.

It didn’t take long to realize that a tandem gave us back the cohesion we’d been missing, without either of us needing to become a professional athlete.

The conclusion

After weeks of careful deliberation, we decided to give tandeming a try. After a few test rides, we decided in tandem… to buy a tandem! We picked the Santana Journey, which we lovingly dubbed ‘The Limousine’