Responses to the ‘she’s not pedalling’ comment!

[PhilP]

Hi all,
We are receiving our second tandem shortly, and so we are likely to start hearing the ‘she’s not pedalling’ comment made by pedestrians, solo riders etc, who have a delusion about their wittiness.  For me, this is the most irritating thing about tandem riding, it really bores me. My lady wife stoker is even less impressed.
Please can you advise how you cope with hearing this comment, and what response, if any, you make, either verbal or sign language?
Thanks & happy riding!

[Tim Hall]

On a visit to Yorkshire with the Tandem Club when the TdF came to town, one of my tandem riding friends from Linolnshire observed that:

"If I had a pound for every fucking time I was told she's not pedalling I wouldn't have to fucking pedal"

And I though she was a cultured lady.

[T42]

Put her in front. After all, conventional wisdom has it that the stronger rider should stoke.

[Kim]

"Neither are you!"

[Polar Bear]

Tell them to swivel.

[Kim]

Anyway, since the lockdown, most of the comments are about doing wheelies.  (This is from a recumbent, rather than tandem, perspective, but it's displaced the usual 'lying down on the job' and so on.)

[freeflow]

She did the first half.....

[The French Tandem]

For me, this is the most irritating thing about tandem riding, it really bores me.

With time, or experience, or call it ageing if you prefer, you will soon realize that there is absolutely no reason to get irritated by a comment from someone who doesn't have even a remote idea of what it's like to ride a tandem. I (captain) never reply, and leave that job to my beloved stoker. S has a range of replies, depending on the context. Most of the time, a cheerful wave is enough to defuse any aggressivity. Sometimes, a "He's not pedalling either" will do the job. Sometimes we just ignore the offender. Only once in ten years of tandem we had to push the retaliations to a firm "f**k off".

Keep in mind that the people who shout "she's not pedalling..." probably imagine that they are the first in the world to make such a "joke".

A

[Lightning Phil]

This isn’t a tandem

[Cudzoziemiec]

"She's doing the steering."

Keep in mind that the people who shout "she's not pedalling..." probably imagine that they are the first in the world to make such a "joke".

A

I'd say the opposite, they say it because they think it's the funny thing you're supposed to say when you see a tandem.

[quixoticgeek]

Hi all,
We are receiving our second tandem shortly, and so we are likely to start hearing the ‘she’s not pedalling’ comment made by pedestrians, solo riders etc, who have a delusion about their wittiness.  For me, this is the most irritating thing about tandem riding, it really bores me. My lady wife stoker is even less impressed.
Please can you advise how you cope with hearing this comment, and what response, if any, you make, either verbal or sign language?
Thanks & happy riding!

Maybe arm her with a catapult and a bag of suitable ammunition? If she's not pedalling, maybe she has the time and aim to return fire?

J

[Kim]

Maybe arm her with a catapult and a bag of suitable ammunition? If she's not pedalling, maybe she has the time and aim to return fire?

Bit difficult to do all that while you're banging two half coconuts together...

[drossall]

I suppose you could just reply, "Well I don't know who is then!" Probably more useful though to treat it with disinterested contempt, and very obviously share a private joke with your wife instead.

Not really a useful answer, but a late clubmate of mine used to wear a t-shirt that said on the back, "If you're reading this, then my wife has fallen off."

[Davef]

“Thank goodness, I don’t want her overtaking me again”

[Rod Marton]

I came across an e-tandem yesterday where it was possible for the pilot to freewheel whilst the stoker continued pedalling. That would be the ultimate answer!

[drossall]

“Thank goodness, I don’t want her overtaking me again”

[tatanab]

We old ones remember the days of the Typhoo tea advertisements featuring chimpanzees and the cries of "can yer ride tandem lass?".

Drossall will probably agree with me when  I say we tricyclists haven't heard "can't you ride a two wheeler mister?" for some years, probably decades.  It used to be common with witty youths.

Those who ride seemingly odd machines have to grow a thick skin and ignore such comments from the public, but it is down right infuriating when so other riders come out with them.

[Chris S]

Our favourite from LEL 2013: "He's brought the girl..." from some random farmer as we passed by.

Mostly, people love to see tandems, and that "She's not pedalling" never gets old. Never.

[PhilP]

What a wonderful array of responses!
Thank you! Really looking forward to getting the tandem in a few weeks.
I am considering training my lady wife for a 200m sprint, which we will unleash upon hearing the comment - I'll let you know how we get on with that!

[Nick H.]

I've only ridden a tandem in France.  Quite a few people shouted "Bon Courage!"  That was it.

[drossall]

It's well-known that that is French for "She's not pedalling!"

[Wowbagger]

When I'm riding on my own, I gets loads of "Merry Christmas" comments, which is incredibly tedious. When we are on the tandem, of course, we get the "She's not pedalling at the back!" or, in a really bad northern accent, "Can yer ride tandem?"

The only thing to do is simply ignore them. Don't descend to their level.

Edit: if you ever buy a Circe Helios with electric assist, then "He's not pedalling at the front!" becomes a real issue.

[Wowbagger]

It's a shame that Butterfly and NSTN seem to be unaware of this thread. They were on a tandem together some while ago and the cry of "Lesbians!" was heard. It remains, in my view, the most amusing comment ever shouted at cyclists, albeit unwittingly.

[Butterfly]

It's a shame that Butterfly and NSTN seem to be unaware of this thread. They were on a tandem together some while ago and the cry of "Lesbians!" was heard. It remains, in my view, the most amusing comment ever shouted at cyclists, albeit unwittingly.

Definitely! I have been riding with my enby relative stoking recently and they have been bemused by all the comments and people coming up to talk to us! Although that is partly culture shock from living in Yorkshire, having grown up mostly in London.

[Kim]

I have some experience of people shouting "Lesbians!" at me.  It almost never happens when I'm cycling, and bizarrely, seems to happen less when I'm in the presence of a same-sex partner.  It's not usually^[1] funny.


_{[1] https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1629.msg2285756#msg2285756}