4 Important Words

It takes a lot of communication to ride a tandem. Since we have a timing chain that connects us together, we have to do all motions together and not individually. This requires lots of communicating. There are 4 very important words we use while riding.

Pedal,
Coast,
Bump, and
Duck

Since things can happen quickly you can't spend a lot of time explaining or questioning these words. I especially have to trust what Clay tells me since I can't see what is coming. If he says duck I can't try to look ahead to see why he said that, I have to immediately duck. Clay and I have gotten pretty good at this since we have been riding tandem for 11 years.

Several times on this trip when Tom and Susan were drafting us, which means they were riding very close to Clay and I, I would hear Tom tell Susan to coast. A few times I actually stopped pedaling before realizing that it was Tom and not Clay that said coast. When this happened I had to use the 5th most important word, and that is "Sorry"!

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Statistics for Part II

504 miles
Averaged 14.5 miles per hour
11 out of the 12 riding days were 100 degrees F or higher
3 flat tires
1 rest day
176 pictures taken

 Clay & Kathy

Tom & Susan