I've been riding audax this season with a partner who is of broadly similar ability to me, maybe a bit less but not dramatically so. We have been far slower than I am riding solo. Also it's clear from my heart rate data that I'm not riding as hard as I normally do in a solo. That's not a conscious decision, so why is it?
When riding a bike I don't necessarily think about how hard I am going to pedal. The level of power I ride at is a function of my objective and how fresh I'm feeling, and I just pedal at what I think I can sustain to achieve my goal, whether that is to cover x distance in y time, or poottle asking admiring the scenery, or anything in between.
On a solo, how fast I go is directly related to my level of power. On a tandem there is obviously another factor: how hard the other guy pedals. I've been wondering if this affects the unconscious calculation that a tandem rider makes that dictates how hard they pedal? If so, how?
The closest analogy I can think of is if you are riding with a partner who is pedalling hard, it's a bit like riding slightly downhill, and with a soft pedalling partner, it's a bit like riding slightly uphill.
Aleksdad's post below at being slower with his son than either of them solo also made me wonder if there was unconscious softpedalling going on there, and if it's a common thing.
I've not seen anything at all written on this. Anyone have any views?