Olympic Tandem Cycling?

I am a bike riding enthusiast. I am not a cyclist; that is just way too lofty a title to claim. But in a time long ago when triathlon fired my training spirit, there was born a love of cycling and running. Swimming is something that should be left for fish! We are land creatures and I for one have embraced my landlubber feet. Despite that I still love triathlon and am in awe of competitive swimmers. Cycling, like swimming, is quite a sexy sport right now. Lance Armstrong's visit to SA this past week is a dream for many a cyclist. Whether it is the image of the lone cyclist fighting the internal struggle or perhaps it is the selfless work of the team which propels the top rider to glory which has made cycling a hot sport, I don't know. What I do know is that tandem cycling isn't sexy!

Sorry, all you tandem cyclists out there, really I am sorry. But all I see are The Goodies on a three-seater chasing Kitten Kong through the streets of London. No lycra! No cleats! No on-board speed and cadence reader! Gadget maniacs amongst us should breathe NOW. It is seriously hard to believe that tandem cycling was once an Olympic sport but, I have proof.

Pictured above are NZ versus Czech in the 2000m race in 1956 in Melbourne and right are Ian Browne and Tony Marchant of Australia competing in the 2000m Tandem race in the same Olympics. The official English Olympic website explains that "Cycling is one of the few sports that has been on the programme of every Olympic Games. The programme has varied but now consists of road races, track races, and mountain biking. Track racing has been held at all Olympic Games except for 1912 in Stockholm, when only a road race event was held. The programme has varied a great deal, especially in the early years and recently. The Olympic track cycling programme underwent little change from 1924 to 1992, with the programme consisting basically of a match sprint event, a 1-kilometre time trial, a tandem match sprint, and a team pursuit race. In 1964, an individual pursuit race was added, and the tandem match sprint was eliminated after 1972. In 1984, women were admitted to Olympic cycling with a single road race. In 1988 a sprint race on the track for women was also held and in 1992, the women contested an individual pursuit track race. During the Sydney 2000 Games, several new track events were introduced. Women competed in a 500-metre time trial, similar to the kilometre time trial contested by men. Men competed in the Madison, Olympic sprint and Keirin races."

Cycling is good for our bodies and good for the environment! New cyclists in our midst at Revive include Mary and Sallie, who have both recently taken to two wheels. You go grrrls.