350htrr

There you go, it's different priorities that determine who tours not whether one is male or female... JMO as I understand it... Just like some peoples priority is 100% pedaling the whole trip or some people doing the trip "anyway they can", but pedaling as much as possible for them...

Doug64

I agree with you. I also agree with most of mom's post.

I've just worked with and know a lot of women that have a different view of the world than the one she portrayed.

I worked with the women who told off LLBean, and got them to change their catalogs from describing Ladies' gear to using the term "Women's."

Doug64

Yeah,

It is a special time. However, it is embarrasing sometimes to ride with a group that has a bunch of sports bras flapping in the wind while drying on top of their rear racks

Happy Feet

Or when they have one too many and want to hang it off yours.

elcruxio

Just out of interest, why it it embarrassing?

Caretaker

I'd say a very good way to get more females touring on bicycles is to put out the word that they need a motor to keep up with men. That will be a huge 'motorvator'.

Doug64

The part about the bras is true, but the embarrasing part was just a weak attempt at humor.

Caretaker

I've taken photos of every Warmshower guest that's stayed with me and 12 were female from a total of 32 which I make 37.5% female and 62.5% male. None were on Ebikes.

350htrr

That's your experience. My experience is about 10% here in northern B C Canada, most people going to, or coming from Alaska... Must be different type of touring people... A more "manly" crowd. And yes I too have NEVER seen any E-Bike touring people, except the wife and me... I have seen a few people riding their E-Bikes around town like mopeds and never actually pedaling so... Yes, there's the slippery slope that even I don't like...

350htrr

I suspect it would depend on the location/facilities as to how many women there are touring in certain area's, in the world... Up here in N. America it's rather Spartan for "civilized" accommodation... Don't really know what it's like around your area but around here it's rather sparse... I/we can go for 200Kms and never see anther person or go through a town that actually appears on a map, and guess what? There's 10 houses and a gas station, and that's it... for another 200Kms.... I suspect most women just aren't into that kind of traveling these days... JMO. So, yes all I see is about 10% female to 90% male around here... And most of them are doing the type of "touring" most people are dreaming about, like traveling about 40,000 Km for the last 3 years, and that is all they did in the last 3 years... That is the type of touring the people, who come through my door through warm showers are doing...


And not 1, ever disparaged me, or the wife about doing E-Bike touring... ALL, have said good for you, do what you can,

shipwreck

Yah. For that you have to comb the larger barrel of the internet. And while I have not really read any direct disparagement, the generalized disapproval can be taken personally for those who use E-bike assist.

No one is ever going to up your cookie ration just because you pedal a damn pedal bike from here to there. Nor is that same no one ever going to take a cookie away from you if you use electric assistance. Nor will they care much if you use the assist to the exclusion of any actual effort.

Because all those no ones know, is that you are on their damn road.

I think the definition of bicycling should be if anyone has ever yelled at you, thrown something at you, or given you an unsolicited opinion that they didn't think bicycles should be allowed on the road.
Rednecks can roll coal on an e-bike just as easily as they can on a regular bike. They may in fact relish it more.
You can be hit just as easily on an e-bike by someone texting while driving. Or close passed, or turned left in front of while on a downhill, or right hooked. Your life is just as in the hands of the Meth addled psychopath on an e-bike as it is on your non e-bike.

alan s 

For the record, the place I camped last night had four female and two male bicycle tourists. Zero electric motor bike tourists. Also several couples traveling by car with bikes. I think e-bikes are not really present in Switzerland for touring. It really makes more sense, if you are not riding under your own power, to throw the bikes on a rack on the back of your car and drive. You can carry much more, pile it all in the back of your car in the morning, and be off.

E-bikes, like cars, don't require much planning, other than your next fill up. You can haul a ton of gear without the least concern for weight. So in addition to not having to do the physical work of pedaling a bike, you don't really need to do much logistical planning. Very different activity than real bike touring.

BigAura

I'm starting to feel you're on the right track here. My guess is the Ebikers will tend to gravitate toward more & more lazy travel modes and quickly dropout of the bicycle touring world. Their inherent laziness will resolve the issue by itself.

Doug64

I think both you guys are on the wrong track. I saw hundreds of e-bikes in Denmark, Germany, France, The Netherlands, and Belgium. Most had at least one pannier hanging on them. Granted, we did not see many e-bikes in Switzerland, but that was 5 years ago. We saw a dramatic increase in e-bikes last year.

IMHO e-bikes will attract people for a number of reasons. They may have no interest in touring on a conventional bike, but an e-bike will get them into touring. I also believe that the reasons will have nothing to do with being lazy.

Caretaker

Everyone has experiences and we can all throw them into the 'experiential hotpot' for people to make what they like of it.

The only person I ever refused outright to host was a guy who wasn't cycling but said he had a dream to go cycle touring and could he stay and 'discuss his dream with me and get my advice' but my reply was essentially 'I don't host dreamers, I host doers'. Heartless I know but one has to draw the line somewhere.

Happy Feet

Calling people you don't know lazy says more about your character than theirs.

The guy you call lazy for riding an e bike might move furniture for a living. The guy doing a one week bike tour might sit behind a desk.

Playing that game is just an excuse for ego stroking by running others down.

Caretaker

Yeah, someone should have a word with that woman touring on an Ebike in Switzerland #224.

BigAura

I apologize if I hurt your feelings.

The definition of lazy to clarify my point:

: not liking to work hard or to be active
: not having much activity : causing people to feel that they do not want to be active


source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lazy

IMO: Bicycle touring is not suited as an activity for lazy people.

elcruxio

That's strange. When we crossed the alps we saw a e-bike tourist every single day, sometimes several a day. Now that we're in italy we haven't seen any but then again we've only seen one bike tourist after lake Garda overall so that's not all that surprising.

Mind you, I still think e-bike touring is real bicycle touring.

fietsbob

Many stops Close enough to not run out of battery capacity will Have to be part of your Trip Planning..

Happy Feet

Hurt my feeling? Don't be silly, of course you didn't. I considered the source.

Pretty sad when an adult has the freedom to go away on a holiday of their own choosing in a manner of their own choosing and the only thing they bring back afterward to offer others is to call complete strangers lazy for doing the very same thing. Clarifying what you meant by lazy doesn't help with that.

If you are not careful you may become one of those crazy people who stand on street corners and yell at stokers for not steering their own bicycles! Look, look, bus riders not steering! Hotel guests not washing their towels! A restaurant diner that did not cook their own meal... it's a crazy mixed up world that way but most people make peace with it by the time they are twelve

350htrr

One can pedal more to go farther per charge, or one can get bigger batteries, one can have an extra battery, one can have a folding solar panel, and yes one can plan every day to plug in somewhere... There's many choices to make E-Bike Touring workable...

BigAura

Motorized definition:

: to equip with a motor

source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/motorize

350htrr

A legal E-Assist bike is not considered a motorized vehicle so it could be ridden down any trail, even with a sign that says no motor vehicles ... You obviously fail to understand what an legal E-Assist bicycle really is...

alan s 

I've seen plenty of electric motor bikes here, but only one that appeared to be touring. The rest seemed like people just out for a ride, some with a pannier or two, and others just blasting along. I have no problem with anyone using them for whatever reason they desire. Thankfully they are not present at any of the campgrounds I've stayed at. Maybe hotels are their thing. If you can't get up the energy to push pedals, sleeping in a tent is probably also not something you are willing to suffer through.