One-time Buffalo resident Marc Kreidler laughs when asked if there’s any analogy to be drawn from riding a bicycle built for two through the Buffalo Pride parade.

“I don’t think so, but I have been told it’s good to communicate when you’re turning so that the person in the back is prepared,” he says.

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It’s good advice for any number of tandem situations, from the personal to the political.

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The web developer for Q.Digital – LGBTQ Nation’s parent company – moved to Buffalo in 2013 and got involved with a bicycle advocacy non-profit that had a community workshop. That’s where he honed his bicycle mechanic skills.

“If I was between projects, I fixed up donated bikes for the community shop to sell,” Kreidler tells LGBTQ Nation. “I found a tandem bicycle on Craigslist in July 2013 and gave it the paint job myself, bought new wheels and seats, the whole nine yards.”

“When you own a tandem bicycle with a custom rainbow paint job, how can you not slow roll through the Pride parade every year?” he asks.

“Somehow, I often had a hard time recruiting a second for my annual Pride ride,” Kreidler recalls.

Some years, he enlisted girlfriends or “people I was considering dating. One Pride parade, I rode the bike solo (you can do that) and posted a sign on the back seat that read, ‘Seeking Partner.'”

But in 2018, “One of my best friends, Seth Girod, was excited to volunteer and even provided the Trans and Genderqueer flags so we could fully represent ourselves and the community.”

The friends met through a queer arts space/venue in Buffalo called Dreamland. “Seth lived there and helped run events, and I was the treasurer for a time. Seth was also the catalyst for me meeting my partner since I tagged along with them on a trip to visit NYC.”

That’s where Kreidler ended up with his partner a few years later, but he still misses “the big-small town vibe of Buffalo’s Pride every summer.”

“I think I just miss how chill Pride in Buffalo is,” he says. “You didn’t have to make a whole game plan, you knew you would probably find a spot along the route to watch easily, and you’d certainly run into people you know throughout the day.”

“And because Pride weekend in Buffalo was always the first weekend in June, I always loved that the Pride flags would line Elmwood Avenue early. No time to hang American flags for Memorial Day — Pride flags only.”

As for his bike, “I did drive it over here and got it up to my apartment, but after checking out the logistics of the bike storage room in this building, I decided it would be better off if I sold it. I sold it to a friend of a friend in Buffalo.”

Asked if he has any tips on riding tandem, Kreidler says, “The trick is all in the start. Once you have some momentum, you’re fine, but the start can be shaky if you don’t confidently push off. The person in front steers the bike and the person in back pedals in sync with the person in front. If both riders are putting in effort, you can really pick up some speed.”

Pride in Pictures is LGBTQ Nation’s annual series celebrating Pride across the country. We asked our readers to send in their pictures and stories of Pride and we got so many rainbows. Keep an eye out for more heartwarming stories to get you ready for Pride Month 2025.

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