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Guest: Amanda McMahon – One Gear Short of Normal
My guest says she is “one gear short of normal.” In fact, that’s the title of her Substack and, after our conversation, I can see why she might think that.
Me? I can relate to so much of what she has to say that either I fall into the same category or we aren’t so abnormal after all.
Amanda McMahon loves the bicycle – everything about it. She loves riding it, racing it, talking and writing about it, and would be happy to quit her IT day job if she could “do bicycle” all day-every day.
What is so interesting about her though is that she’s very pragmatic about it all – she wanted to make certain that women have a prominent place in the bicycling world, not only on the roads but in the bike shop and beyond.
So, she asked some women if they’d be interested in riding – oh yeah, hands went up!
Now she’s a USA cycling coach, has a new club launching in 2027, and thinks of her work as a human cycling cooperative. Oh, and then there’s Chad… you need to know about him too.
To find out more, get on the list for her “human cycling cooperative” project, and meet her imaginary friend Chad, log on to onegearshortofnormal.com. Follow her Substack and check out her FB posts.
Next time on TOC, we take a look at a super successful campaign in Europe and Australia that shows regular folks – doctors, engineers, first responders, and more – in both civilian clothes and cycling apparel – as a way to bring more focus on giving riders some road respect. The campaign is called MTAC – More Than A Cyclist and my guest is spokesperson Rob Anderson.

This week’s “safety” episode is focused in Ohio but has broad implications about the laws around bikes on the road.
language that changed the whole AFRAP rule.