His, Hers & Ours - Epic Red Wing is an Endurance profile where you and your Tandem partner are leading a group of cyclists over the next 60 minutes. The two of you are committed to pulling your group at a fast, yet maintainable pace - with your primary objective being to demonstrate your fitness to those behind you. To do this you will want to keep your intensity at the level where you are challenged, yet confident, all the way to the end.
This video features yours truly and my faithful Stoker (it”™s not Stroker) Amy Macgowan riding our Tandem (we call it the Bus) along the Mississippi river, which is the east west boundary of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The title of this Audio PROfile; His, Hers & Ours, comes from how Amy and I have very different preferred cadences and yet our pedals are locked together, forcing us to pedal at the same speed. As a considerate Tandem Captain I will make continuously gearing changes in the attempt to satisfy both of us. In our case I switch between:
His — 80ish RPM 15 years as a cyclist has me preferring to spin a small gear in the high 80”™s.
Hers — 70ish RPM Amy is very strong and after 18 years as the Senior Group Fitness Instructor in our family she”™s very aerobically fit. She prefers to push a big gear at a cadence around 70 RPM.
Ours — 60ish RPM Riding a Tandem has you seated for long periods of time and a saddle break on level ground requires some additional coordination to smoothly get up and out. We”™ve found that a very big gear @ ~60 RPM will give us something to stand on and have us looking like we are the matched pair that we truly are when we come up and out.
The challenge of this ride is in maintaining a consistent ground speed - which is an indication of Power Output, while making the frequent changes to your cadence. If your pedal speed slows your load has to increase and visa versa.
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Originally posted 2011-12-01 18:09:03.
John is a member on the AFS (Association of Fitness Studios) Advisory Council.
Holding certifications from; Schwinn, Heart Zones, Team ICG and Life Time Fitness, John's held regularly scheduled cycling classes between 1998 and 2015 when he moved to Florida.
When the weather permits, you'll find him riding and leading outdoor groups by himself or with his Tandem partner (wife) Amy.
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Fabulous job describing our cadence preferences. And you are a considerate captain. That being said, your choice of pictures for the header on this post is pathetic. I hope I look nothing like her…really! 🙂
An OMG moment!……I feel like this audio profile is just for me. Love it!!.
Now, can you do an update where it becomes very obvious that, if *you* happen to be the one who’s the biggest dunderhead with gear changes, lack any real strength or stamina on a bike and are totally clueless when it comes to following map directions (oftentimes getting it wrong when your navigator yells “LEFT!!!”), you probably shouldn’t be “captain”??
I think maybe it might work for us if the title “stoker” was o-FISH-awlly changed to Rear Admiral.
I’ve actually ordered the epicRIDES “Red Wing” DVD for a stocking stuffer for “us”……
Thanks for this Amy and John
Vivienne