Serving As A Tandem Pilot Is A Constant Learning Experience For Mark-Anthony Sanchez

Mark-Anthony Sanchez and stoker Stanley Moore pose with their medals after competing at U.S. Paralympic Team Trials – Cycling. (Photo: Robin Sansom)

 

If Mark-Anthony Sanchez has learned one thing since becoming a tandem cycling pilot, it’s that communication is essential for making the partnership between him and his stoker work.

 

Sanchez was reminded of this at the Tennessee Para Cycling Open this fall. He was piloting for Chester Triplett, one of the U.S.’s top male tandem cyclists. In a breakaway during a track race, Sanchez wanted to back off and let the other bikers burn themselves out before hitting them hard in the final three laps. He failed to impart this to Triplett, who was unaware of what was happening.

 

“I don’t know what you’re doing, what your strategy is,” Triplett told him at one point during the race.

 

Realizing his oversight, Sanchez explained his plan. He and Triplett won both races during the event.

 

“I could tell he was getting frustrated,” recalled Sanchez, who was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but now lives in Reno, Nevada. “I think he was nervous that we were letting these guys get away. I didn’t express well enough that I’m doing a criterion technique where I’m letting them burn every single one of their matches.”

 

Sanchez recalled that memory during National Blind Sports Week, which began Oct. 25 and ends Saturdaywith the recognition of National Blind Sports Day.

 

That experience emphasizes the give-and-take required between the blind or visually impaired rider, called the stoker, and the sighted pilot. Tandem bikes are designed for two riders, one behind the other. A stoker sits in the back and controls the power, while the pilot sits in the front handling gears, navigation and assisting the stoker with powering forward.

 

Sanchez and Triplett connected almost instantly after being paired up. In their debut race together, they won the U.S. time trial championship in Boise, Idaho, this past summer. Their personalities were almost a perfect match, each with an intense desire to excel at the highest level. That similar mindset is another crucial element to a successful pairing.

 

“You have to have a chemistry, be on the same page, and you have to be consistent (in training),” Sanchez explained.

 

Sanchez grew up just down the street from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center and was first introduced to tandem cycling in 2019. He attended the United States Association of Blind Athletes tandem cycling development camp. At his first national championship race, he was paired with an 18-year-old stoker. It was an eye-opener for Sanchez.

 

“We got absolutely destroyed,” he said with a chuckle. “We were as a crew not prepared for that competition. But it was a great learning experience.”

 

Besides Triplett, Sanchez has worked with Stanley Moore, who at 67 became the oldest rider to race in the Para-cycling world cup. The two captured a handful of medals together.

 

Jen Armbruster shares many of the same philosophies as Sanchez. A seven-time Paralympian and four-time medalist with the U.S. women’s goalball team, Armbruster used cycling for cross-training until her retirement following the Rio Paralympic Games. But she’s always had an interest in the sport, and has owned a tandem bike since high school.

 

Armbruster has also trained with Sanchez, who calls her one of the most intense athletes he’s ever seen.

 

“Power for power pedal stroke, she matches me,” Sanchez said. “It’s incredible how strong a human being she is.”

 

Unlike Triplett, who has low vision, Armbruster is totally blind. She understands as well as anyone the importance of trusting a pilot.

 

“That’s probably the hardest thing, that trust piece,” Armbruster said. “You’re trusting them to fly around the corners and find the best angles. At the end of the day, they’re the ones that can read the situations that you’re not going to as a (totally blind person). I think in some ways, being total makes it easier to trust back there.”

 

The signals pilots and stokers use varies according to the individual. With Triplett, Sanchez uses verbal cues during a race. But the two also map out a strategy beforehand and give each other feedback afterward about what went well and what didn’t. Armbruster has that same communication with Sanchez when they train together.

 

“I take more input from him,” she explained. “He feels me respond. If he has a question, I’ll answer him. But for the most part, I follow his lead. A lot of it on the bike for us is by feel. If I feel like I’m dragging or I need to push him more, he feels it through the pedals before we talk.”

 

While the stoker’s main job is to pedal, they have other roles. Armbruster memorizes each course along with the pilot. This helps her be aware of turns coming up. She also makes sure to remind her pilot to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated during the race.

 

Pilots and stokers don’t always live in the same area, which can be challenging when it comes to training together. Sanchez makes sure to stay in constant touch with Triplett during those periods.

 

“We keep open communication on the training, how we’re feeling,” he explained. “If we’re both expecting to compete in an upcoming race six weeks out, where are we with our numbers? That’s probably the biggest thing I like about this current teammate. We’re sharing that constantly. We’re not hiding anything.”

 

When that perfect match is discovered, there’s no feeling like it.

 

“It’s poetry in motion when you’re there,” Armbruster said.

Stephen Kerr is a freelance journalist and newsletter publisher based in Austin, Texas. He is a contributor to USParaCycling.org onbehalf ofRed Line Editorial, Inc.