It didn’t take long for me to log my first observation of the new academic year. I was out taking a bike ride and all of a sudden a 2 seated bicycle and its passengers passed me going the other way. I’ve seen many of these bikes over the years, but today for some reason I noticed something different. Those of you who’ve been reading this blog might find this ironic, but today I noticed that when 2 people ride a 2-seater….the woman is ALWAYS riding behind the man (see picture). When I noticed this today, I shuffled back through past bikers and thought…I don’t recall ever seeing the woman riding first, and a man riding behind. I’ve seen 2 women, 2 men, an adult/child…but when the twosome is man/woman, the woman is always riding second. Is there some kind of physics, momentum, safety, or scientific explanation that I’m not aware of, that dictates why the woman rides in the second seat? Please enlighten me, I’ve never ridden one of these bikes, so perhaps I’m missing something? It appears to me as another inane example of outdated, status quo gender roles which place men in the forefront and women following behind and not in charge of steering their own destinies. The analogies and metaphors are endless…..

View Original Post at onesportvoice.wordpress.com

• Filed Under:  
• Cycling, Sports, SportsPLUS, Discrimination/Title IX

• Tags:
• women
• cycling
• women & girls in sport
• inequality
• marginalization

There are 15 comments on this post. Join the discussion!

velogirl

Not every sports convention is an act of discrimination. If you've ever ridden a tandem bicycle, you would understand why the LARGER rider sits in front of the SMALLER rider. I happen to know a couple where that larger rider (aka the captain) is a woman and the smaller rider (aka the stoker) is a man. The captain on a tandem really needs to have a lot of physical strength, not only to steer the bike, but also to support the bike when stopped. The weight of a one-person bicycle = bike weight rider weight. The weight of a two-person bicycle = bike weight rider weight rider weight. Yet only one rider is responsible for supporting all of that additional weight. Riding a tandem essentially doubles the weight that one individual rider (the captain) must support. If you don't believe me, I would challenge you to grab your favorite guy-pal, borrow a tandem, and see just how challenging it would be for you to captain the bike.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 12:25am EDT

heidiswift	Well put, VeloGirl. There is a lot of sexism in cycling, but not much of it has to do with tandems. To put it simply... Yes, there are a lot of physics, momentum, safety, and scientific explanations that the writer of this post is not aware of.
	Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 12:36am EDT

Jim J.

Hi, As a male tandem captain, let me assure you the positioning has very little to do with pure physical strength and a lot more to do with cycling strength. I've seen a number of female captains and some of them were smaller than their male stokers. Many tandem teams form because one of them is stronger cyclist than the other and they decide that they would actually like to ride together rather than in the general proximity of each other. Put it this way. The stronger rider, being stronger and faster ends up ahead and is always trying to slow down to enable the partner to keep up. The slower partner feels guilty about slowing the faster partner down. There's this double guilt thing going on and neither of them is having as much fun as they could be. The tandem is the great equalizer. The stronger rider can put as much as they like into their riding but the team stays together. The other thing worth knowing is that the most important component in any tandem team is a stoker who is comfortable riding in that position and surrendering control to the captain. In many cases this is because the stoker is not as strong a rider or as experienced and the partner. And yes, it often is the female half of the team that finds herself in this position. However, it really isn't about sexism but rather a new activity that a couple can do together that is both healthy and rewarding. Jim J.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 1:17am EDT

velogirl	Jim, your comments are right on and reminded me of that age-old tandem adage: "Whichever direction your relationship is going, it'll get there faster on a tandem!"
	Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 1:41am EDT

wombatgrrl

Gotta agree with Jim J - I'm a female captain and I'm not huge (5' 9", 130 lbs). I've captained for many people, men and women, all sizes. My biggest stoker was my Uncle at 210. We rode 300 miles in 3 days on an AIDS ride one year. It's more about handling ability and the ability of the team to work together. No matter who is the captain, the stoker needs to work with them (for example, leaning into turns) in order for the bike to be handled without crashing. Holding up the bike at a stop is not about pure strength - you just use your one leg as a kickstand of sorts and the bike leans on it. So why are the guys usually in front? IMHO, it's mostly the economy of mass production. It's easier to build and mass produce the standard frame that fits a taller person in front and guys are usually taller. A tandem for a shorter smaller person in front can be built, but it's more complicated and has to be custom made (expensive). And what guy in a couple is going to agree to that? Add the submission factor, and there you have it!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 8:27am EDT

Claire

I have both captained and stoked tandems. My experience as a captain is that it takes a fair bit of upper body strength to hold the bike up. After riding a century as a captain, the only part of my body that would be sore would be my shoulders. It makes sense to me that my husband, who has greater upper body strength, act as the captain for our tandem team. We're an unusual team in that I ride about 5000 miles a year, my husband rides maybe 1500 miles a year. About 1250 of our miles are together on the tandem. Since I have more experience cycling in general, the usual "captain decides everything" is not the way we operate. Look, tandeming amplifies power issues. If you already have some power/control issues with your spouse, they can get much worse on the tandem. Yes, the captain steers the bike and sets the speed and the pace - but a stoker can be passive-aggressive and make life miserable for him if he's ignoring her needs and desires. In our team, we divide up duties. Example 1: I am in charge of scanning the road from the middle of the bike back; he looks ahead. He has to trust me when I say that no one is approaching us as much as I have to trust him that he's going to use the information I'm giving him safely. Example 2: while my husband might be in front, and has control of the handlebars, he has little sense of direction. Since I better know where we're going, and can have my hands free to handle maps, I'm the one to call out the turns. Riding tandem has strengthened our sense of teamwork as a couple, and strengthened our mutual trust, and overall, strengthen our relationship.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 10:48am EDT

ROMP

I've taken vision impaired vets out on my tandem. They have been up to 350 lbs, so probably getting close to twice my weight. I think it is really a cycling experience thing and a bit of strength as well. I have avoided a crash or two on the tandem by muscling the handlebars back in the direction we want to go. There is one simple rule to remember while tandeming - "The Stoker makes no mistakes." http://www.gtgtandems.com/tech/propmethod.html

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 3:03pm EDT

ROMP	"A couple of respondents believe The Proper Technique was developed to overcome stoker ineptitude. Others may think it's a plot to feed a captain's insatiable hunger for control. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Proper Technique was developed by all-male go-fast tandem teams as a competitive strategy to beat racers on single bikes."
	Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 3:04pm EDT

Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi

Thank you to everyone who weighed in and educated me about tandem cycling! I've learned a lot from your posts. As I stated, I admittedly knew very little about tandem biking. I was making my observation purely from a gendered lens, in which I've only seen men captains and women stokers riding together. I appreciate everyone commenting as that is how I learn. My research brain is thinking it would be fun to design a research experiment--given equal biking experience and equal weight/body size of both the male and female riders, one could then examine who would end up as the captain and how was it negotiated? -nml

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 10:22pm EDT

ROBTEMPLIN

Here's my observation ... based on 30-plus years of tandem fun/racing. It's pretty clear that the blog writer isn't really familiar with tandems and how they 'work'. The larger, heavier person almost always rides the front (captain) position - no matter what the skill level; while the lighter, smaller person (male or female) rides the rear. It's a combination of aerodynamics AND being able to control the tandem that makes this decision not what sex you are. I usually ride the stoker (rear) position because I'm smaller/lighter than most of my fellow tandem riders. It's very difficult to control the tandem when the larger/heavier person is on the rear. For example, the times when I've had to captain a tandem with a large/heavy (blind) stoker - of either sex - have been extemely challenging; even when the stoker is an experienced rider. This isn't a case of being sexist, just what makes riding sense for most folks.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 12:31am EDT

Jim J.

Regarding the Proper Method. It's not about power or speed, it's about making starting and stopping easier. What this method does is eliminate the need for timing between captain and stoker. I've certainly seen teams who have mastered each putting feet down and lifting them up at precisely the right time but I've also seen far more who struggle with it. The Proper Method eliminates all that and makes for very smooth starts and stops which is pretty important, especially in heavy traffic.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 1:06am EDT

Bikedude

I am 6'5" and about 190, also male. My wife is 4'10 and about 100. I commute to work 34 miules round trip nearly daily and my wife rides about once a week on her single. The tandem is a custom to accommodate our size differences. I am not sure that a custom could have been made for me as a stoker (Rear admiral) that she could control. We have about 6,000 miles together on the tandem over about 7 years.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 5:34am EDT

wombatgrrl

The point I want to make about upper body strength is this - if you've got it, you use it. If you don't, you find another way. For example - rock climbing. Men have upper body strength, so they use it to climb. Women don't generally have this strength, so instead they use their brains (which tends to be a stronger muscle in women) and their legs. As a result, you'll find women at the top of the ranks in the world of rock climbing.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 8:35am EDT

msrw

Dear Dr. LaVoi, It's understandable that you might draw a hypothesis related to gender in having seen a bunch of tandem teams with the man in front and the woman in the back. However, I've been riding tandem bicycles for a number of years, and I can assure you that gender has absolutely nothing to do with rider positioning--Rob and others above provided very accurate info on the actual considerations. In other sports, like tandem kayaks or canoes, the positions of male/female teams can be completely reversed. The lighter weight paddler tends to do best in the front, so when a woman and a man kayak or canoe together, the woman is usually in front. Again, there is NOTHING sexist about this at all. It's just body mass. I think anthropologists have the challenge and the burden NOT to try to fit all social interactions into theoretical stereotypes that given even a modicum of actual knowledge, would not have been drawn. So it's great that you asked the question before drawing a definitive--but incorrect--conclusion.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 5:02pm EDT

Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi	Again...thanks to everyone for educating me about this sport and my observations. For everyone who noted I "must not know anything about tandem bicycling" (which I stated in the original blog) that is true! But no more! Great conversation everyone. I still think my research experiment I noted in my comment above is interesting food for thought. -nml
	Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 5:17pm EDT