The amateurs prefer a movie and/or dinner date first? Probably most in the U.S don't wish to be taken to these venues riding doubled up on our lonely cyclist's bicycle, even if it costs $3000+

Nothing like a romantic bike ride to the movie or dinner place

It is better when someone who shares that opinion rides with the lonely cyclist on that romantic bike ride.

I sense that the there are a few BF posters having a problem finding someone of the opposite sex who shares their passion for bicycles and are trolling several lists looking for just such a mate.

I started bike commuting in 2005, much to the surprise of my husband. After 2 years, I think he got jealous so he finally gave it a try and loved it as much as I do. I don't ride in winter, more due to the darkness than the cold. I see a lot of women on my commutes, more each year but I have to say it is still more men than women. We have a lot of women bike commuters at work - in fact, we have a lot of bike commuters in general and need more bike racks. They are packed! And finally 2 years ago, my federal agency added bike showers in the garage, which has been great!

So what is it with this assumption, even in the friggin' COMMUTING forum, that people who get around by bike must be cheap and/or poor and/or uninterested in spending money on anything besides bicycles and basic subsistence? That may be a stereotype in some places, but ain't no reason we should be propagating it ourselves, right?

FWIW, I'm a 31-yr-old woman and have been a bike commuter since I was ten. I'm definitely a crusty bikaholic, but that doesn't mean I can't or won't spend money on the "finer things in life", like food and concerts and and vacations and whatever. Actually, not having to pay for a car is a good reason why I can afford things like that.

I'm fortunate to have always worked in casual work environments where I can dress however I want. I basically have an entire closet full of the same outfit.
But for those who work in more formal environments, I'd go so far as to say that in many cases, it may be easier for women to find outfits that are both reasonably functional for bicycle commuting and acceptable for work than for men, because women's dress codes have more options while men's are stricter. Basically, men must wear suits with button-down shirts. Women can wear various combinations of skirts, pants, tops, cardigans, etc, made of a wider variety of materials in a wider variety of materials. Granted, I don't know really anything about shopping for or wearing any of that stuff, but I gotta think that more flexibility in the expectations of what you wear has to help when you have to find something that works.

I saw one the other day and she won my heart because she was all set up. hard core, cold weather commuter, no exposed skin, hi vis jacket, fenders, rack, etc. the only thing she didn't have right was her lights. she had NONE front or rear!

I love the fact I can afford stuff now, cars are more expensive that you realize, ad I love cars, just hate being broke.

Agree, "We" shouldn't propagate that people who bike commute or get around by bike are cheapskates, or only doing it because "we" are broke, or would be going broke otherwise.

However, some posters take it upon themselves to propagate those attributes as their own reason for living car free and getting around by bike only. As has been pointed out this same topic was brought up in the living car free forum. You could take a look over there and it might provide an answer to your question about cheapskate/financially strapped/"loser" image propagation.

I am a female bike commuter, I have stopped commuting by bike for a while due to the early time it get dark in the evening and all the people on the road. The morning commute in darkness does not bother me as there are not many people on the road, and I also if it snows I will not be commuting by bike that day. I have commuted by bike in the cold (18f) so I am not put off by that. I was seeing a woman that was commuting home in the afternoons but due to not riding have not seen her lately.

As a follow-up to this thread I was counting the number of women riding in the morning, and there was a total of 4 out of probably 50-100 riders that I saw on my ride. It really did change, either with the weather or with the darkness. In the summer it is more like 60-40 men to women, so while not even, not that skewed towards men. On the way home I only saw one woman, and she was riding with somebody and didn't look like a commuter.

And as an aside, I was far and away the oldest commuter on the road at 57. Maybe someone was older, but I doubt it.

I saw a woman this morning who had been a summer regular. First time in a while.

From the summer to now, I'd say the number of bike commuters is down by about 1/3. In summer around 1/4 to 1/3 of the commuters were women, now I'd say 1/10 are. It is a bit harder to tell the genders apart with all the rain gear, but not impossible.

I'm glad the #s have dropped over the past month or so, and it's only gonna get better for me, I'm loving the empty streets jyi

Another female bike commuter here. We are a car-lite family, and my husband uses our car to get to work.

I take my son to preschool most weekdays on my bike. We're trying to work out a good solution for cycling in the winter rain. This is our first winter in the PNW and while we've been sucking it up for a while, the chill is getting to both of us (maybe more my conscience about having a toddler out on the bike in the rain?). I am getting a new bike soon (woo hoo!) and want to set up something like this for him to make the ride a bit more comfortable for him: https://youaintgotjack.blogspot.com/p...rotection.html

In any case, I still see a fair amount of commuters in the town where we live, but like someone else mentioned, it's hard to tell whether they are male or female a lot of times.

Just curious. What is he riding in now? I see a number of people pulling their kids in trailers on my commute. The one we have (a Burley) would be good for keeping a kid warm and dry in temps above 20 as long as they were wrapped up pretty well.

A trailer is not always convenient though and I wouldn't want to try to pull one through any snow.

I see hundreds of commuting ladies every week on Portland roads

Right now he's in a Yepp Mini up front. We have a Chariot trailer, too, but I've always hated it for many reasons - plus I have to hop on a bus, sometimes, so it's not a good option for us.

Another female arou.....wait

let me check something...



Ah!
Oh my ...!



...sorry i'm not.

Ditto! Most people here assume posters are male. I could spit out the same vitriolic garbage that some of the men on the 41 spew :-) I think the over the three years I've been here, the haters have either left or grown up. The commuting and hybrid forums are more friendly and helpful.

That looks cool. You should be able to work something up from a stroller rain cover, the frame from a stroller canopy - google those terms and you'll see lots of options - and some sturdy zip ties. We used to push our daughter around in a stroller with a rain cover, this was in London during the winter, she was perfectly toasty and dry,

*raises hand*

Yup.

Super-short commute, only about 2.4 miles each way, but hey, that's 25 miles most weeks that I wouldn't be riding otherwise.

meet you at hawthorne and grand at 8 am sharp. prepare to feel some muscle burn.