Riding The Divide For The Stories

Some of my best memories from my bicycle tours are the conversations and other interactions I had with local people.  

I'm thinking now of the old couple living by the point where the Garonne bends and begins its opening to the sea.  They took great pride in knowing the exact moments, twice a day, when the tide rolled in.  I'm also recalling my ride with You Sert, a PURE guide, that took us to Cambodian farms where one woman practiced traditional healing and her kids and their cat played with me, and another where a woman guided me through weaving grass for a roof.  

These encounters might be different from the ones that await Nate Hegyi. I feel confident, however, that whomever he meets and whatever he shares with them will be interesting.

A Public Radio-affiliated reporter in Boise, Idaho, Hegyi is embarking on a 900-mile bicycle trip along the Continental Divide.  He plans to visit eastern Idaho's ranching towns; Missoula, Montana; Wyoming's oil and gas areas and  the mountainous country of northern Colorado before ending his trip in Greeley.

Along the way he plans to file radio stories, post to an online blog and, in late October, release a podcast he will produce.  

"It's been a tumultuous year," Hegyi said.  "A pandemic grips the region and the economy is in freefall. But the voices of folks in the Mountain West's small towns and rural communities are often unheard in regional and national media outlets."  One purpose of the trip, he explained, is to "learn more about the area's residents and hear their stories."  

I am sure that whatever stories he hears aren't the ones one can hear from a car, tour bus or resort hotel!

Tandem Role Reversals?

As I have mentioned in other posts, I've ridden tandems only a couple of times in my life.  It's something I would do again if the opportunity presented itself.  Of course, for such an opportunity to present itself, I'd need a tandem partner--and, of course, a tandem bicycle.  About the latter:  Not many of us who live in NYC apartments own them.

Anyway, my experience as a transgender woman has led me to notice some of the male biases in cycling I hadn't noticed when I was still riding and living as male.  

While I was of average height for a male, I am taller than most women.  That means it's still relatively easy for me to get a diamond frame that fits well (though I've still opted for custom bikes, for various reasons) and if I look and wait, I can get a women's or mixte frame that suits me.  On the other hand, it's more difficult for me to buy cycle clothing, as some of my body proportions have changed, in part from my gender transition as well as aging.  So, while it used to be easy for me to buy clothing--all I had to know was my waist and chest (or shirt) size--now clothes that are the "right" size might be too loose or tight in the hips, bust or other areas--or sleeves, pants, tights and shorts (!) might be too short. 

All of that, I believe, is a result of not considering the full range of measurements possible for a woman.  There seems to be an assumption that female cyclists will be young and built like fashion models.  Also, I have too often seen a built-in inferiority complex when it comes to stuff made for women:  It's, as often as not, just less-well-designed or lower-quality versions of stuff made for men.

Oh, there's another bias I've noticed:

The vast majority of high-quality tandems I've seen have "diamond" or "men's" frames in both the front and rear.  In a lot of ways, that makes sense because tandems have such long wheelbases and "diamond" frames are usually stiffer and more stable, than dropped top-tube frames with otherwise similar design and materials.

That itself isn't quite as much a reflection of bias as this:

Just about every tandem I've seen that combines men's and women's designs has the men's or "diamond" frame on the front and the dropped top tube on the rear.  The assumption is that the man will be the "captain" and  the woman will be the "stoker."  I guess it's still that way for most couples who ride tandems, but over the years, I've encountered a slowly but steadily increasing number of couples in which the woman is the stronger or more dedicated rider.  

For such couples, a tandem might look more like this:

unless, of course--to use a somewhat dated metaphor--the woman "wears the pants" in the couple.

Whatever their riding roles and styles, they will surely turn heads if they ride this: