Ride as Stoker / Rear Admiral

Ruth’s Angel Seat

Ruth has been very willing, some may even say keen, to lend her Rear Admiral duties to anyone who wants to try out riding a tandem in the stoker seat, or as we are calling it on our tandem, Ruth’s Angel Seat. After riding for 4,358km Ruth has decided that for health reasons she will, reculantly, vacate the seath for the remaining 3,000 or so kilometres. So, anyone who is wanting a bit of adventure on an e-tandem, you are welcome to give it a try.

If you are going to be along the proposed route north on the same day as us and would like experience being a stoker on the Angel Tandem please get in contact with us. You could ride around the block, to the next town or complete a day or several days if it works for everyone. If you want to ride for several days you need to familiar with riding a bike and some level of fitness would be advisable. You would need a helmet and we would need to determine logistics if you plan on going a little further than around the block. The approximate itinerary can be viewed here and you can contact us via e-mail here. Include a little about yourself and a contact number and Ruth can contact you and chat about what would be involved.

We have a couple of ‘volunteers’ who have already put their hands up. Rod (85) spent four days on the bike including a bit of drama with a wind storm. Having not ridden a bike for over 50 years and not having spent much time on a bike prior to joining the team in Omarama, he survived to tell the tale of his adventures.

Howard (mid 70s) was my riding buddy through the central North Island and then in the South Island in 2022 so he has plenty of knowledge on what it entails on a single bike. The North Island was a bit of a ‘baptism by fire’ approach as we battled some of the toughest trails on the Tour Aotearoa, in atrocious weather. However, he has already clocked up 46km on the back and very quickly adapted to being a stoker. Howard has also signed up for over 250km from Fox Glacier to Greymouth..