'We just love riding together': 40 years in tandem

With tandem cycling getting fresh attention this week thanks to an eight-day Comic Relief challenge by BBC Radio 1's Greg James, one Lincolnshire couple know better than most what keeps two people pedalling in sync.

Cycling enthusiast Barry Wilson had imagined carefree rides with his wife Janet when they first met in the early 1980s - but their very different paces quickly left them frustrated and often far apart on the road.

He says riding bikes together had "seemed a natural thing to do" given his interest in the sport and they had each bought a solo bike.

Barry would charge up the hill at 20mph, while Janet, who was a novice, was following far behind.

"There was a complete mismatch," Barry, 78, told BBC Radio Lincolnshire. "I was frustrated, she was frustrated. She was sweating and puffing and panting and I was cold."

Refusing to give up on their shared dream of cycling together, they went out and bought a tandem bike.

"It was fantastic," he says. "I can pedal as hard as I want, she can pedal as hard as she wants and we both get there together."

Forty years later, Barry says: "We've certainly got the hang of it and we're reasonably skillful."

He adds: "There's 10 seconds of wobble when you set off and after that it's just like riding a conventional bicycle."

The couple from Saxilby take the tandem bike out weekly, often riding 50 or 60 miles.

Most of their trips consist of riding to a cafe, getting a cup of tea and a piece of cake, before riding back home.

"We have a routine on the bike," Barry explains. "I do the steering, the gears and the brakes - Janet's the tour guide... it works really well."

Barry and Janet are part of The Tandem Club, a nationwide group for "all tandemists and would-be tandemists".

It has about 3,500 members and hosts day or weekend rides, as well as three rallies a year - two in the UK and one international rally.

Barry runs the Lincolnshire branch, which has 20 to 30 members.

But he says, because Lincolnshire is a large county, it is rare - even with their 50-mile bike rides - that they meet up with other members of the local group.

There is a national tandem rally taking place over Easter weekend at Ashbourne Park Campsite in Derbyshire that the couple are looking forward to.

The gathering features multiple days of rides with a fleet of tandems all on the same route.

Barry and Janet have recently upgraded to an electric tandem bike to make things a little easier for their cycling trips.

"I suppose I'm very lucky," Barry says. "We just love riding together."

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