I can tell you why my wife isn't interested. She'll sometimes go on an easy 60-70 mile ride, but thinks that overall, cycling is dominated by overly competitive macho sh*theads. I think I may agree, but that doesn't reduce my enjoyment.

My wife also thinks cycling is a masochistic sport and cannot understand why my buddies and I intentionally push each other to the point that we're in considerable pain. Frankly, it drives me crazy if I'm not in at least a little pain. For me, that's part of the difference between riding a bicycle and cycling. I prefer cycling.

However, my wife will come along for an occasional easy ride. She actually maintains a very respectable pace, especially considering that she doesn't ride that much and insists on riding a POS bike I picked up off a student 10 years ago and fixed up.