The Proper Method (TPM) is a technique for getting started and stopped on a tandem bicycle. To my knowledge, Bill McCready of Santana Cycles is responsible for describing and popularizing this techinque. The word "Proper" in the title has inspired some debate over whether this is indeed the proper way to get a tandem going. Certainly people have many different ways of getting their tandem started and stopped. I look at it as simply the name of the technique. Whether it is proper or not is up to you.

People new to tandeming often struggle to get started and stopped smoothly and safely. A textual description of the The Proper Method is often suggested to help them get going but sometimes it's a bit hard to visualize all the steps. To try to help, I've put together a video that illustrates the steps with real people (me and my wife). Note that this is my interpretation of TPM. This is not sanctioned or endorsed by Bill McCready in any way and any errors or deviations from what he intended are soley my fault.

Unfortunately, I probably also have to say that I am not responsible for anything that happens to you if you follow the descriptions in this video. If you happen to try this (and I'm not saying you should), practice in a safe area away from traffic and hard objects.

The video file is .wmv and is about 3.5 MB.