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Your Role is Important: How to Find Value in What You Do
One of the most common things we hear while riding our tandem is “She’s not pedaling.” I realize it’s meant to be funny, but really? Can’t anyone think of a more original thing to say when passing a tandem? I will say we’ve also heard some good ones, like: “Look a double rainbow!” or “Go Tandem!” My favorite has to be one we heard as we were pushing up a huge mountain pass: “You two look equally yoked.”
A yoke is a wooden bar that joins two oxen to each other as they work to pull their load. An unequally yoked team has a stronger and a weaker ox. When oxen are unequally yoked together, they are ineffective and unable to perform their task. Instead of working together, they are at odds with each other.
On our tandem, we each have a different yet specific purpose or role. To a bystander, it may seem the stoker (the one in back) isn’t pulling their weight. The reality is, if someone isn’t doing their job, the other one knows about it. The team becomes ineffective in getting where they need to go.
