Tandem Trekkers:  Double the wheels and shared journeys on the Trans Pennine Trail

If you are out and about in the Mirfield area and beyond on a Saturday morning, it’s quite possible that you may have seen a number of tandems riding the local roads and cycle paths. No doubt you have thought to yourself “I haven’t seen one of those in years and now I’ve seen 10 of them! I wonder who they are and what they’re doing.” Well let me enlighten you.  The group of tandems in question belongs to Tandem Trekkers, a Mirfield based charity which provides cycling opportunities for blind and partially sighted rear riders (stokers). 

Tandem Trekkers (TT) was initially founded in 2013 by an enthusiastic group of visually impaired people who wanted to get out and enjoy the freedom of cycling on the open roads instead of having to rely on static indoor exercise bikes. Trekkers started life with just three donated second-hand tandems and has gradually expanded to our present day fleet of 20 predominantly new ones.  Having achieved charity status in 2016 and from just a handful of founder members, Trekkers now has a membership of close to 100 equally split between volunteer pilots and stokers. As well as receiving grants and donations from the National lottery, British cycling, local businesses and other charitable groups we also hold our own fundraising events. 

Based in Mirfield we ride out every Saturday from March to November (weather permitting!). All routes are ridden and risk assessed prior to the group rides and we carry out all our own maintenance thanks to our team of dedicated volunteers.  Some rides are straight from the Mirfield base and others require the tandems to be transported by specially adapted trailers to routes as far afield as Hull in the east to Morecambe in the west. Traffic free routes on greenways are perfect for us and we regularly ride the Trans Pennine Trail and the Spen Valley Greenway. We have even had a spin round Manchester velodrome.  We also have an annual residential trip for an entire weekend of cycling and this year we are visiting Shropshire.  

The first Saturday ride of every month is reserved for an induction/taster session which takes place on an off-road track. First time stokers and pilots attend one of these sessions in order to ensure that they are both comfortable and safe when riding a tandem. They are given a full induction and instruction by one of our team of experienced pilots. We use a few different tracks including one at Wyke community sports village, Brooksbank cycle track, The Brownlee Centre and BKCAT circuit in Wakefield. Although the majority of members live in the Kirklees area we have members from Leeds, York and South Yorkshire. 

As with any self-respecting cycle club, TT rides always include a café stop, an essential part of the day out and a really good opportunity for everybody involved to get together, catch up with the latest news and generally have a very nice time. Although our primary function is to provide cycling opportunities for visually impaired riders TT also provides a very strong social aspect for members. We are a very open, welcoming and inclusive club and are very happy to accept new members, either visually impaired stokers or sighted pilots.   

Anyone who would like to get involved with TT and have a go at riding a tandem should contact the club via email, hello@tandemtrekkers.org.uk and find out more via our website. 

Louise Sugden – Tandem Trekkers
hello@tandemtrekkers.org.uk

Date: 1st August, 2025