Couples Therapy?

by Nick Hanson November 25, 2024

A trailside interview, for science

Intro

In a shorter form of commentary and reporting on all things cycling, I thought it would be interesting to
interview a couple who ride together to see if sharing the trail with a loved one is a positive experience. Being that my own spouse doesn't enjoy cycling like I do, maybe this Interaction would motivate me and others to get their significant others into the sport.

I caught up with locals Dane and Megan at Hall Ranch in Lyons Colorado to see just how they approach a common hobby or activity in a sport with differing skill level.

Q: How long have you two been riding together?

Megan: 2017 no 2016, wow eight years, yeah eight years.

Q: How did you both come to find you liked the sport?

Megan: Dane thought he would like mountain biking, and I thought that we should have a hobby in common. So, he started riding and I figured I should learn at the same time, and I hated it at first but I grew to love it.

Q: Is there a speed difference between you two? If so, does that impact the joy of the ride?

Dane: I feel like I'm way faster downhill, but we're not that far off climbing. It depends on the climb, though, if it's technical I'm a lot faster, but if it's smooth, she is just as strong.

Megan: I think we've agreed on a cadence over time of like if we're riding something where he's faster, we kind of know about how often we're gonna like stop and meet up. Or if we want to actually ride together, then I'll lead since I'm slower. And then we can have a conversation.

Dane: If it's a chill climb, I always follow her, but if it's technical where she may get hung up, then I'll lead and wait.

Megan: We will ride anything together. But every ride can look different. If we ride an easy cross country trail we will probably ride together, if we ride something more technical, it's more like we ride half an hour on our own and then we'll take a five minute break together and then keep going.

Q: What's the longest or most grueling ride you've been on together?

Megan: White Rim or San Juan hut tour. White Rim was 100 miles and like 18 hours.

Dane: The San Juan hut tour was closer to 200 miles. That was like 30 miles a day for 7 days.

Megan: I think we both like type two fun, haha. A ride doesn’t have to just be downhill for us to both have fun.

Q: Any tips for other couples who want to enjoy biking together?

Dane: Determine the aspects of riding that you both agree on or agree on liking.

Megan: Yeah, we definitely have different favorite rides, but we do ride the things that we agree on more often, since we both enjoy them. And also, don't give up riding together if it doesn't work right away, because it probably took me a whole season to decide that riding was fun and worth it.

Dane: We definitely ride a lot of stuff specifically because we'll both enjoy it. Like, she hates Left Hand, so I might go there with other people, but don't ever take her to Left Hand, but then we do tons of high alpine riding and stuff like that together.

My takeaway from hearing these two give their perspective on riding together is A; be patient and respect the skills of each other and B; yes, having a common hobby can be positive and add strength to a relationship.

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ABOUT THE RIDER/WRITER

NAME	AGE	HEIGHT	LOCATED
Nick Hanson	35	5'11"	Boulder, CO

Current Bikes: 2023 Specialized Stumpjumper

Bike Size: S4 (Large)

Favorite Trails: Hall Ranch, Trestle Bike Park, Free Lunch, Hangover Trail

About Me: Been riding bikes my whole life. But feel I've only been a true Mountain Biker since 2012. Currently trying to take my bike wherever I can ride in conjunction with car road trips. Engaged, and living in Boulder with our 2 dogs.