Evergreen Tandem Club

Frequently Asked Questions
Why ride a tandem?
What do you mean by style of ride in your ride listings?
Can single bike riders participate?
Do I have to be a member to ride with ETC?
Why am I having trouble logging into the member area?
What is the importance of single bikes asking if it’s OK to draft?
I’ve heard about Winter Workshops. What are they?
What is your vision for tandeming in the coming years? Do you see the sport growing?

Q: Why ride a tandem?
A: If you were to ask club members why they like to ride a tandem, you would receive many different answers. The following list is not all inclusive:

Riding a tandem is a shared experience, and we enjoy the sense of team work that it affords.

Riding a tandem allows two partners of unequal strength to ride together.

Tandems have some aerodynamic advantages. While you have the effort of two people, the frontal profile is only that of a single person. So usually, a team's speed on a tandem is slightly faster than their average speed on individual bikes.

All of these reasons are in addition to the usual benefits of bicycling -- exercise, fresh air, and just plain fun.

Santana, a tandem manufacturer, has written a comprehensive response to this question on their website.

Q: What do you mean by “style” of ride in your ride listings?
A: We list rides as a certain “style” of ride, in addition to its pace. Our intention is for this to help you choose your rides more accurately.
Fast = Fast, few breaks, paceline
Steady = Steady, but not racing; short breaks, possible paceline
Moderate = Moderate pace, longer breaks more often, no paceline
Social = Social ride, Kid friendly, destination-oriented

Q: Can single bike riders participate?
A: Yes! Whether you are considering a tandem bicycle or just interested in tandems, you are welcome at our rides.

Q: Do I have to be a member to ride with ETC?
A: No you don’t. But we hope you’ll want to join us to support the growth of the tandem community. Read about membership benefits & join.

Q: Why am I having trouble logging into the member area?
A: Assuming you’ve been notified of your membership number, be sure you’re including all eight digits in lowercase and all eight digits of your password without any punctuation. If you’re still having problems please email membership@EvergreenTandemClub.org to verify your numbers.

Q: What is the importance of single bikes asking if it’s OK to draft?
A: If a single bike comes up behind a tandem and doesn't announce itself by saying out loud "do you mind if I draft?" then the tandem won't know someone is there. This can cause hazards, if for instance, the tandem makes a sudden turn or stop, the drafting bike could end up in trouble. Also, not all who draft have experience doing so. If they come too close and the wheels touch both bikes could go down. Besides...it's only polite! Most tandems don't mind pulling a single bike or two but not many want to find themselves alone at the head of a 10 bike paceline. When single bikes do a paceline they each take a turn at the front. But singles really can't pull a tandem so we end up doing all the work.

Q: I’ve heard about Winter Workshops. What are they?
A: We know from our initial marketing survey there's a lot of interest in learning about training, repair, traveling with a tandem, etc. So we've planned educational workshops during the winter months. They’re offered free for members only and are designed to meet the needs of all levels of particpants. They are taught by local experts and members. Based on a club-poll they're usually on Wednesday evenings or Saturdays. You can see photos from past workshops here.

Q: What is your vision for tandeming in the coming years? Do you see the sport growing?
A: We don’t have stats but clearly tandeming IS popular, especially in the NW where we have so many great tandem builders. With the huge response to ETC I can't help but see tandeming growing in the greater Puget Sound region. We're already in the early planning stages to make a bid on hosting the NW Tandem Rally in the year 2004.

PO Box 23105 . Seattle, WA 98102 . 206.789.8722
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Site Last Updated Aug 04, 2002