Michael's advice is all good. In my case, both my wife and I have ridden horses, so we _always_ mount and dismount on the left side of the bike. Another helpful hint for the captain ... if you can sit in the top tube while straddling, and push back against the nose of the saddle, it helps stabilize the bike while the stoker mounts or dismounts. I always put both feet on the ground at full stops, and the stoker only takes feet off the pedals if I announce a dismount.
In the corners, the stoker should try to stay in line with the captain, trying not to lean in more than the captain or to resist the lean the captain initiates. This is one of those areas where the stoker really has to develop trust in the captain, and the captain has to earn that trust with smooth, safe riding and clear communication of the upcoming turn direction and severity. The stoker should give appropriate hand signals, and get both hands back on the bars prior to leaning into the corner. Finally, my better half would say the very most important thing for the captain is to announce bumps. An experienced single rider unweights the saddle without even thinking about it, and the tandem captain has 50+ inch chain stays to absorb the bumps. The stoker, on the other hand, can't see the bumps coming and has to deal with the inertia of the entire rig hitting her in the coccyx. So, call the bumps in time for both of you to stop pedaling and unweight the saddles. It'll spare your wheels some misery, too. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
