I have a great Co-Motion tandem from about 30 years ago. Softride stoker position, SAchs New Success drivetrain, etc. Barely ridden it in all these years (long story, don’t ask 
)
My buddy and I still talk about one day bringing it out for the weekday GTE rides and just throwing down…we’d join the ride from a side street once they passed, get up to speed and just go blowing past them unannounced. 
I’m feeling humbled to the ground. What a lazy sod I’m sometimes.
Maybe people on your club look at cycling as “me” time. You say the club have 300 members, but do they all show in all rides? I’ll bet you most will pop in once in a while.
I’m guessing most folks have busy lives and use the club to steam out. It sounds selfish I know, but others might use the club to balance the head, and being selfish sometimes is a necessity.
I’m proud solo rider (and headphones is for boring/weak people 
), so you kinda see my mindset.
But to give you some perspective on other humans, as requested in the OP, I would be happy to incorporate a tandem century ride a month in my plan - that is actually my goal. My conditions would be that i need to be home no later than 10:30am (by the dot) and our personalities would have to click, so not as simple as to jump on a bike. Oh and sometimes the ride needs to be shortened last minute because I have a toddler (not)sleeping next room and leave home at 6am is not realistic.
A community (common unity) is held by a common goal/belief/interest. You being the only one with a tandem and looking for a partner, you are not sharing the common unity of the group. I think that you might have more luck in the other club as others have suggested.
Maybe a club closer to Randonneuring were people enjoy long days on the sadle and somehow I see a tandem being more frequent (at least in my mind) might be worth to have a look too.
You want to be in a position where the pilot have something to gain too - we are humans and relationships need to be balanced if you want a long term buddy.
Good luck on your search!
My buddy and I cycled a century a couple years ago on my Co-Motion and it was simultaneously an amazing experience and absolute hell. But we’d for sure do it again. My wife, OTOH, refuses to ride it. Go figure
Hell, if I were in Brian’s area, I’d volunteer. Though I’m not particularly fast or fit. I just enjoy any excuse to ride.
LOL…well, that was the story I didn’t share. I got it as a 1st Anniversary present, thinking it would be something we could do together.
“You got me a BIKE?!?!?!” was when I knew I had made a massive mistake. 
I think people have also had poor tandem experiences that put them off tandems in general, rather than riding with you in particular. My husband and I got a tandem once and did the Camel Valley Rail Trail - I still remember the horror of having to negotiate two mini roundabouts in quick succession, during the summer, in some busy Cornish town.
And while it doesn’t help you, I’m adding my voice to the chorus of those saying I’d ride with you - at least around a parking lot to see if it’s something I’d brave on the road and that I wouldn’t hold you back too much! (I am coming to France this summer but will be closer to Paris so probably not practical for a a meetup.)
I think it would be cool but I’m in the wrong country! But I’m also not the fittest dude, someone would be on the struggle-bus pushing my big butt around (I’m getting better though).
Ah nice one, and the fact you’re on this group, part of TR, you’re definitely on track in the right direction. For the tandem, its totally team work, and as a stoker I can feel / balance the pilots ability and accommodate to whatever is needed to keep up, keep going, whatever. Its just about getting out, enjoying the ride!
Thanks
Bri
Ahr, thanks, and I do meet so many where husband/wife tried it and hated it. As a blind stoker, I’ve the advantage of no need to debate/discuss handing over all ‘controls’ to the captain / pilot, and just relax in to concentrating on cycling and keeping a nice smooth action on the pedals, even power in tune with the pilots ability.
A tandem with 2 keen cyclists on board can certainly accomplish some great speeds / distances, with conversation / banter all the way making it a fun team effort or a serious workout, holding a high average speed etc.
Thanks for your time in replying!
Bri
That is so funny, and a brave 1st anniversary gift choice! Hopefully you made up for it with your 2nd anniversary, buying her a tandem parachute experience day perhaps 
Bri
Yep, I do totally get your point, and certainly, any cycling is ‘me time’ for sure for most, not just a miniroty, even on a club ride, it is your time to participate, test how your training is going, be free of normal day to day responsibilities, so a tandem goes against that. I’m just surprised that I can’t even get an offer of 1 ride in 12 months off 12 from our club. Yes, the club has 300+, and each Thurs eve, Fri morning, Sat & Sunday mornings there are groups of between 8 and 48 going out in mini-groups separated by preferred speed.
So, ample of keen cyclists, and all wanting more ‘me time’ to consider just one ride a month or a year to offer their eyes/abilities up to allow me to ride.
And I’m keen to say how I’m happy to ride any distance / route / time, so an 11pm night ride is an option if it fits in with someone’s work schedyule / home life!
As someone else said in this thread, lots of clubs find it hard to get anyone to step out and volunteer to help out with anything, and the same minority in a club keep the whole thing going.
I’ll persist, and if nothing comes of it, then clearly, my club, one of the biggest in the area just isn’t for me.
Many thanks for your time replying!!
Bri
Exactly, and I’ve lead out several sprints on the tandem, and dropped a group on a climb with some pilots with me, both of us making the most of an effort, but on repeat hill climbs, the tandem is inevitably beaten by gravity, which no one can ultimately beat with the 20Kg frame weight compared to the 8kg av carbon boys
We’ve enjoyed drafting 2 / 3 solo riders on our wheels plenty of times, so the group dynamic can work great, and with a more nervous pilot, we linger 5 or 20m off the rear of the group, giving us more space/distance to safely ride.
I always get asked by others what it is like, and always keen to pitch in, ‘give it a try sometime, I’m always looking for new pilots’. But don’t really hear much more.
Anyway, I’ll keep going ….
Bri
Yep, we can become a powerful beast on the roads and have had several double looks from the pinarello fast boys in aero helmets as we flew past them at our cruise speed.
All good fun!
Ha, yes, spot on, you’re right! There are always new members joining our club so I’ll persist and get organised, putting a ‘tandem’ experience session down on the club diary sometime I think.
Thanks
Bri
Yep, sounds amazing. Had plenty of those types of longer rides, where the pleasure all came once you were off the saddle
Bri
Maybe a niche here for a new app - tandr, anyone?
Having a Tandem and no stoker, I feel your pain.
I’ve reached out to the local blind and visually imaged group, but no takers.
Why resist? Have at it.
– In defense of others who are less than willing… With my schedule, I can’t even manage to catch a group ride let alone be depended on to navigate another to and from a ride.
I’m sympathetic, but also no where near local to you.
Maybe if you can convince a group of people to be your captain, on an availability basis, you could make more outdoor rides happen just by having lots of people commit to 2 rides per season… Might take multiple setups for captains, but also if you get 3-4 really solid regulars, it might be worth it even if their sizes range from XXL to SM.
I think this is akin to club coaching.
To explain. In the pre-WW1 days sports were all about community, everyone’s income was low and all the club roles were voluntary. But 100years on from those days, the idea of clubs being run by volunteers has changed significantly. The Boards/Committees continue as volunteer roles. But, the active daily roles have needed to become more professional, not least from members expectations, often the risk mgt needs, as well as the facility and finance mgt.
One of the stranger aspects is members expectations that coaches specifically should be available at all unsocial hours, highly professional, highly trained and knowledgeable, be the first to arrive and the last to leave, to always be enthusiastic, highly motivated and motivating. And if there are any special needs, be the person expected to fulfill them.
Yet members all too often, both formally in the club structure but also at the personal level expect them to do this all for free, and at the cost of their own training and participation.
What I am describing is actually an attitude of club members often built into club culture, that their performance expectations are totally reasonable, ie, selfishness when it comes to sporting performance is normal. So, why would those fellow members make a long term commitment to help you in such a culture, that’s what the unpaid coach should be doing.
IMO you are seeking a long term volunteer when the very idea of volunteerism is waning.
If my thoughts are near the mark. What needs to change.
As clubs and members expect professional level coaching, so the Club should employ the coaching team. If a club wants to foster a specific group that may have special needs, be that disability, encouraging youth, female, local low paid, seniors, etc, then the club should source and fund that. The culture becomes, that’s what we do here, this differentiates us from others, we the membership fund the club so it can do this on our collective part. These roles don’t fall onto the unpaid coach, the retired vollie etc. Not that it excludes such people, just it isn’t an unpaid expectation. That these roles become important to the club culture, they are respected and acknowledged.
So, in this case, your club would have a club tandem bike, and members would periodically experience riding blindfolded, because this is what our club does, in addition to the normal club events and training.
However, the converse of this, other clubs will market their club as providing everything for free. Where everything probably is a narrow range. So, such club culture change probably requires district/association level change.
I’ve made a similar point above, that people in clubs don’t want to help out anymore, but I’m uncomfortable with this underlying idea that going on a tandem ride with Brian is some sort of act of charity. Tandem riding is cool. People might want to ride on the tandem because its fast, because you can be the first to the cafe (as long as its flat). But at least for me, one of the appeals of bike riding is how independent you are - its just you and your bike, and all about your own decision. On a tandem, it becomes a joint decision, and maybe people are just not that keen on that joined experience.
Maybe its a bit similar to trying other disciplines of cycling. If you asked a road cycling club to commit to one track or MTB ride a month, you’d also only get a handful of takers. Other would say, that’s just not the cycling I like.
I think that is a valid comparison. You cannot participate with the tandem in a standard road cycling race.
So what type of cycling club are we talking about here? A sports club focused on racing, individually or as a group, with club kits or just a club of cyclists interested in riding together to get some exercise? For the latter the speeds are slower and you can really bring any type of bike as long as you are not the slowest.
At least in my club we do interval workouts or focus on group riding techniques in the official sessions. And then it does not make sense to bring a tandem bike.