A while back, I learned to ride a unicycle, and unicyclists get it worse than tandemeers. I think the issue is that people aren't used to seeing either, they feel obligated to say something, but don't really have anything to say, either, so they open their mouths and something stupid pops out, and should generally be disregarded. With unicycles, half the comments are something about having a wheel missing.

You can expect the "not pedaling" comments more on a bike with independent coasting, I suppose.

I've told a couple of people that we had a deal worked out: She pedals up the hills and I pedal down them.

When it's all said and done, I don't suppose there is any reason why the riders SHOULD be working exactly as hard, but if you get too concerned about that kind of thing, it's time to do something different.