agent pombero

Nice Good to see the ladies on their bicycles.

Rollfast

Around here ladies like trucks...and it grew after I had to sell my car too.

They're not really any safer than anything but they like being higher in traffic.

Rollfast

That's a rather absurd statement. You seem to think that bikes will solve everything yet you seem to ignore the persons on the economy's fringe who are reliant on transportation of vital needs, not Walmart DVD players but food, medicine, getting to care and food help, searching for jobs...

Nobody is going to make friends with bicycles if they don't take care of the real needs of everyone and I for one am not enthusiastic about this when my mother is now alone (widowed and her mother passed at 94 1 1/2 mos ago) and all of my family members are now between 40-95 and fading...

I don't care about going to shopping malls! I want to be able to afford a 70 mpg 250cc scooter to go bury my kin! It's a bit selfish if you cannot offer help, only gloating.

Angio Graham

I coach high school cross country, track and field and also tennis.

I know ALOT of female runners and alot of great female athletes. I have tried for many years to get them into cycling and I think in 17 years I have gotten 1 girl on a bike.

Girls just dont like to ride bikes.

kmv2

I don't know if its by way of being male, but I notice a lot of females on bike in my city and in roughly equal proportions to males.
Attire varies from full kit / roadbike to dress and heels "beautiful godzilla". I've seen females ride in the winter too. I have to say, that's quite attractive also (female all year commuter).

No way to quantify my response though, so it is just an observation at best.

rica rica

wow. i've seen it in sitcoms before but i have never myself choked on my coffee while reading a computer screen until now

kookaburra1701

You just don't know how to communicate all of the advantages to ladies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_MFrXptbOM (possibly NSFW)

Rollfast

I believe that was a BIANCHI...well, THAT much was TMI but I've seen that clip a few times.



(Oh MAN, do I feel a small cloud forming o'er me)

rekmeyata

Me too!!! That was hysterical!

Drv1913

Whenever I am asked, "why don't more [demographic of which I am a member] do [whatever activity the asker doesn't appear to see enough of said demographic doing (or perhaps, not doing it to his frequency or liking)*]?", I always suggest that the person make a list of all of the factors that make it possible for that person to engage in the activity himself. If the person is honest and thorough, the list should provide several helpful and thought-provoking answers. In the case of cycling, it seems pretty obvious to me why I seldom see other people who look like me (african american women) riding bikes for transportation in my city.

Just for kicks, here is a partial list of the factors that enable me to use a bicycle for transportation (in no particular order):

• I am completely unencumbered at the moment - no spouse, children, pets, aging parents, or other responsibilities. My time, money, and tangible and intagible resources are entirely my own to command at my own discretion.
• I can afford to buy the bike products and accessories that I need and/or want.
• I am willing to look stupid sometimes (often) and to make mistakes.
• Cycling is a positive choice for me. I do it because I want to, not because I have to.
• I have plenty of time - time to explore new routes to favorite destinations, time tp practice and gain new cycling skills, time to spend getting home by bike vs. by car, etc.
• I am independent by nature.
• I have nerves of steel. For example, it doesn't bother me when people in cars pass closely in the same lane. As long as they don't actually hit me, I'm good.
• I am used to being different. Many things that I do that seem utterly unremarkable to me are apparently noteworthy to just about everyone else around me.
• For the most part, I do not internalize/carry the burden of fear that many women are socialized to have.
• I perceive the neighborhoods that I ride through to be relatively safe (although others do not necessarily perceive them that way).
• I have experience in doing adventurous/risky things.
• I have always been at least a little physically active.
• I am privileged enough to be able to view the world at large as a fairly benign entity.
• My hair and makeup hold up pretty well under typical bicycle trips.

I could go on, but this is enough to illustrate my point. I think that the current emphasis on additional bike infrastructure to get more women on bikes is a well-meaning start but only a small part of the total equation.

*In case it's not clear, I always find the question to be supremely annoying, although I recognize that the person asking it is usually sincere and means well.