What's going on? Why don't more U.S. women ride bikes?
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#252
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Technically, human children are not 'crapped out,' but it's understandable that you might have gotten that impression.
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#256
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They haz big butts, I cannot lie, u otha brothers can't deny, when a girl walks in with a itty bitty waist and a bicycle seat up her butt u go, "what, what?"
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Or could this be the answer: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...Cyclists-Union
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I'm going to say fear, fashion, social issues and family. I was terrified to get on a bike at first. Going fast was hard. Traffic was scary. Hills were hard. 6 weeks later I'm looking at some high end performance bikes. Depending on your "fear factor" everything adds up. My fear factor is a bad back. The thought of falling off and putting my back out for a year leaves me on the timid side.
Fashion:
I had to get over it. There are some women's clothing out there but most of it made me look like I was pretending to be skinny when I wasn't. I'm going to say that a lot of women are insecure with their bodies. Look at women's magazines and even something on the men's side of Sports Illustrated or Maxim. We can't compete with super models and we know it. If the world considers those women as a standard of beauty, we fall short. The same with women who are into sports. If we don't think we are athletic, we don't want to be laughed at while trying to be.
I don't know what the "average" woman size is but the industries are doing much better at fitting clothing to all sizes and even bike sizes. Most retail stores just don't carry them and have to be special ordered. Unless the guy says something, I don't think most women know there are bikes out there for them. I didn't. Had I know there was a women's 29er, I would have bought that first instead of my Hardrock.
I'll be honest..women like pretty things. If the bike is ugly, chances are she won't buy it. It sounds superficial, but it's true. There are some pretty ugly bikes out there and no woman wants a pastel colored bike when they go into a women's style bike. We aren't 10.
Social Issues:
Women are extremely social and we've been raised that going out alone is potentially dangerous. I do worry about traveling 5+ miles out of town by myself. If there aren't other women around to cycle with, chances are a woman won't.
If we show up to work completely drenched from a 5 mile ride, it takes time to get a shower, put make-up on (depending on how much) and look professional.
Family:
You can't carry 300 dollars worth of groceries on a bike. You can't take your kids to all the places they need to be on a bike. If your significant other doesn't ride, then it goes back to social issues.
Depending on the age of your kids, you can't just leave for a couple of hours. If your significant other isn't supportive than it's harder to get out and ride if he isn't willing to help.
We are the primary caretakers and are taking care of the needs of our families. It's not demeaning by any means, it just takes a lot of our time. I like being a Mom. I like staying home with my kids. I've found that cycling relieves a lot of the stress and I can come back refreshed and ready to handle teenagers. I don't think women realize how empowering a bike really can be.
The price of a bike falls under family. I'm guessing a lot of women see that money as bill money, groceries, clothes, and all the other financial needs that are there. Spending that kind of money on herself makes it hard not to feel selfish when she knows the needs of her family.
Hope that helps out some.
Fashion:
I had to get over it. There are some women's clothing out there but most of it made me look like I was pretending to be skinny when I wasn't. I'm going to say that a lot of women are insecure with their bodies. Look at women's magazines and even something on the men's side of Sports Illustrated or Maxim. We can't compete with super models and we know it. If the world considers those women as a standard of beauty, we fall short. The same with women who are into sports. If we don't think we are athletic, we don't want to be laughed at while trying to be.
I don't know what the "average" woman size is but the industries are doing much better at fitting clothing to all sizes and even bike sizes. Most retail stores just don't carry them and have to be special ordered. Unless the guy says something, I don't think most women know there are bikes out there for them. I didn't. Had I know there was a women's 29er, I would have bought that first instead of my Hardrock.
I'll be honest..women like pretty things. If the bike is ugly, chances are she won't buy it. It sounds superficial, but it's true. There are some pretty ugly bikes out there and no woman wants a pastel colored bike when they go into a women's style bike. We aren't 10.
Social Issues:
Women are extremely social and we've been raised that going out alone is potentially dangerous. I do worry about traveling 5+ miles out of town by myself. If there aren't other women around to cycle with, chances are a woman won't.
If we show up to work completely drenched from a 5 mile ride, it takes time to get a shower, put make-up on (depending on how much) and look professional.
Family:
You can't carry 300 dollars worth of groceries on a bike. You can't take your kids to all the places they need to be on a bike. If your significant other doesn't ride, then it goes back to social issues.
Depending on the age of your kids, you can't just leave for a couple of hours. If your significant other isn't supportive than it's harder to get out and ride if he isn't willing to help.
We are the primary caretakers and are taking care of the needs of our families. It's not demeaning by any means, it just takes a lot of our time. I like being a Mom. I like staying home with my kids. I've found that cycling relieves a lot of the stress and I can come back refreshed and ready to handle teenagers. I don't think women realize how empowering a bike really can be.
The price of a bike falls under family. I'm guessing a lot of women see that money as bill money, groceries, clothes, and all the other financial needs that are there. Spending that kind of money on herself makes it hard not to feel selfish when she knows the needs of her family.
Hope that helps out some.
I agree with most of these points. I actually just made an account, to reply to this forum.
It's such a problem finding female cyclist!
I commute a lot via bike and it's always been a problem with what I wear. On a daily basis I generally dress very girlie >> skirts, dresses, etc.
When I bike I have to give up on fashion, this is a personal issue for me in when commuting.
If I knew I was going to bike, I would have to dress accordingly (tee shirt, jeans).
Girls attract a lot of attention when riding a bike in general, when they dress a little more fashionable it comes out like an eyesore.
When I don't dress accordingly, it attracts an awkward amount of hollers and attention.
The amount of woman are bikes are so sparse that it strange to see woman on a bike.
Its the strangest and scariest thing when guys in the car next to my bike is start talking to me during red lights.
I'll be honest..women like pretty things. If the bike is ugly, chances are she won't buy it. It sounds superficial, but it's true. There are some pretty ugly bikes out there and no woman wants a pastel colored bike when they go into a women's style bike. We aren't 10.
All the petty things aside:
The biggest drawback for most of my female friends and I, is the actual safety on the road. If cars don't run over the bike lane 90% of the time, it might not be as scary.
The idea of a car not seeing me when I go around a double parked car is also certainly threatening.
I don't really have a point here, just adding on to the convo. I still commute a lot via bike cuz I absolutely love biking, but it doesn't necessarily mean I can always get my friends to join me.
Last edited by loveSarah; 05-13-13 at 06:42 PM.
#260
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what if the roads were made safer for cycling? a robust network of separated class infrastructure for bicyclists along main arterial routes into and out of centers of commerce and population centers?
#261
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Originally Posted by loveSarah
The biggest drawback for most of my female friends and I, is the actual safety on the road. If cars don't run over the bike lane 90% of the time, maybe as scary.
The idea of a car not seeing me when I go around a double parked car is also certainly threatening.
The idea of a car not seeing me when I go around a double parked car is also certainly threatening.
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My wife rides a bike because she wants to ride a bike. If she did not want to ride a bike she would not.
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I notice more women riding their bikes this year than in previous years. I enjoy riding my bike and I enjoy wearing bright colorful clothes so I am seen for a couple of reasons, safety and to encourage women to ride. On the few days I do not ride my bike I makes me feel sad because I should be out with the other women.
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I've been a car-free rider for over 8 years now, and a dedicated commuter on my bike longer then that -- and I've noticed something in my 'small city wanting to be a big one': women riding bikes for recreation -- numerous. Women riding bikes for transportation -- 2 (and 1 of them is my daughter!). We have improved things over the years; we have doubled the mileage of Greenway (MUP) in that 8 years, added (a very FEW) bike lanes, and improved bike-related traffic laws locally. That, I think, is the main reason for recreational increase; but the transportational side needs some more addressing, mostly in the form of driver education/awareness. WAY too many people still drive around like driving is a casual thing, something to do while you're enjoying that cell phone call or latte'.
I'd LOVE to see more women start riding.... To me, it would mean we've gotten over the alpha-male bullshat that seems to overly dominate society's acceptance of people's behavior.
I'd LOVE to see more women start riding.... To me, it would mean we've gotten over the alpha-male bullshat that seems to overly dominate society's acceptance of people's behavior.
#265
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This is BS. My girlfriend is 5'9 and a wonderful, curvy 205 pounds. She loves riding her bike every day (rt commute 10 miles). She also is riding a top notch bike, Brooks saddle, and was professionally fitted.
#266
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I get sick of all these excuses:- Why are cleanliness and appearance and comfort so important to women; it's because of social training. Right now women are focused on pay differences in isolation but they perhaps should look at the whole picture. What I'm saying is, don't just raise your daughter to expect equal pay, raise her to believe she is ok without wearing a covering of cosmetics on her face or perfume and deodorants under her arms. Raise her to believe that body hair is normal and farting is fun and then she'll be able to mix with men, ride bikes to work and do high paying jobs like operating a shearer in a coal mine 2 miles underground without fear her ladybits with fall off.
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About 50% of the cyclists in Portland are women I bet. No problems at all riding anywhere in the city and seeing thousands of ladies on bikes.
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Yeah, you get pretty much equal numbers in Germany and Denmark and Holland and other places that have made it a priority to make biking safe and approachable for people who are not elite athletes or self-proclaimed competent cyclists.
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Here's an article on a recent study on this phenomenon.
That said, I doubt that this is the main concern for most women who choose not to commute by bike. I suspect that more women don't commute by bike for the same reason my boyfriend doesn't--safety concerns. As many other commenters point out, in places where the infrastructure is strong, more women bike.
#270
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This is what you need to protest against. There is no reason a woman should have to look and smell like candy in order to be treated with respect.
#272
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Is it really such that men can show up to work looking like slobs and still get taken seriously?
I haven't seen many successful sweaty, slovenly male lawyers...or greasy-haired male physicians, or ketchup-stained policemen.
Where I live, both men and women are expected to be extremely neat, clean, and polished in all formal business settings. In more physical jobs, neatness is still expected, but obviously sweating is really not considered a big deal...I've seen very attractive, but very sweaty female construction workers around these parts, and no one seems to bat an eye...I don't, at least, and I don't know anyone who does.
I haven't seen many successful sweaty, slovenly male lawyers...or greasy-haired male physicians, or ketchup-stained policemen.
Where I live, both men and women are expected to be extremely neat, clean, and polished in all formal business settings. In more physical jobs, neatness is still expected, but obviously sweating is really not considered a big deal...I've seen very attractive, but very sweaty female construction workers around these parts, and no one seems to bat an eye...I don't, at least, and I don't know anyone who does.
#273
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Accommodating cyclists by providing changing rooms, participation by clothing designers, bike designers in new styles that are more bike commuter friendly make a difference. Over the years my wife has learned all kinds of ways of adapting to having to look professional and coiffed for work and riding a bike at the same time. This includes everything from leaving outfits and hair dryers at work to having skirts that she wears that she folds up somehow to allow her to wear them as she rides her bike.
And know that as cycle commuters despite our best efforts to look good it can sometimes just go wrong. My wife tells a great story of how one day she left the house all prepped to look terrific for a meeting that she would chair and what started as a beautiful spring morning turned into a thunderstorm that caught her unexpectedly. In her flurry to take refuge she threw her chain, which jammed, eventually she fixed the chain, and fearing she'd be late rode the last mile into the teeth of the storm. She did her best to pull herself together as she ran to the meeting, which she made it to in the nick of time, and, as she stood there wet, wiping the chain grease off her hands the room burst into spontaneous applause because they all knew she'd ridden her bike in once again.
I say this not because I disagree with your post, I just want to emphasize that cycle commuting has just as much appeal to those who wish to be "fashionable" as it does to those of us who, like me, could often care less how we look.
Last edited by buzzman; 05-13-13 at 01:01 PM.
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That said, I doubt that this is the main concern for most women who choose not to commute by bike. I suspect that more women don't commute by bike for the same reason my boyfriend doesn't--safety concerns. As many other commenters point out, in places where the infrastructure is strong, more women bike.
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I also think buzzman's correct in his assessment that companies providing changing rooms or showers etc. could get lots more people to commute on bikes. Again, I'm thinking of my boyfriend's concerns here. There's no way he would want to show up at work all sweaty and with "helmet head," so he would never bike (or run, in his case) commute without a shower waiting for him at work.
Maybe we should be less concerned with the gender ratio of the tiny percentage (as rekmeyata points out) of bike commuters, and just try to make changes that get more people on bikes. If the percentage of bike commuters rises, perhaps the gender discrepancy will even out a bit. It seems that people from places with strong bike cultures are reporting more women on bikes than the national average.