fliphandywork

Is it just me or is it predominately males that commute to work by bicycle? I offer the idea to my wife and she is completely uninterested in the idea.

cradduck

When I worked at REI it was about 50/50 males and females commuting. At the hospital I now work at it is almost all males that commute by bike but I do see quite a few females along the way.

DataJunkie

In my limited experience winter commuters are 90% male and 10% women. When it warms up it is roughly 75% male and 25% female. I really wish more women would join up. Not for hormonal reasons but simply for the diversity.

kdg357

I am the only one that rides a bike to work and I am a female. I am very fortunate that I live less than a mile to work so it is an easy ride. There are at least 6 other women who also live less than a mile , some closer than me, and they all drive, one does walk sometimes. They all have excuses, I can't park my bike in my room, I don't have a decent bike, etc. I just wish they could see how easy and fun it is to ride. We do have a male staffer who will ride maybe 3 or 4 times a year, but he lives a lot farther away and has a very tough ride home.

K.

ItsJustMe

It seems like I hear a lot of comments about hair care problems from women who would otherwise commute.
In some areas, women are afraid of physical attack.

squeakywheel

My first thought was maybe its just guys who hang out on these internet forums. But now that I think about it, I've never seen a woman at the bike rack where I work. On the other hand, its about 90% men at my office. Hopefully that's not because of fear of physical attack.

mikepop

I'd say I see about an equal mix around here (Maine)

donnamb 

I've heard numbers like 25% women and 75% men in most cities. I understand Portland is estimated at about 40% women. In good weather, I think that's about on target.

vrkelley

25%, 40%? Wow those numbers seem high. More like 5% around here... Oh in the spring more ride for a few warm days...then back to the cars.

SDRider

I've seen the same woman commuting over the past year along my route. I've seen her and one other guy commuting regularly by bike. So, I guess that makes it 50/50 in my limited experience.

Counting only those who commute where I work it's 100% men who commute by bike. Me and one other guy...that's pretty much it. Quite a limited sampling I'm afraid. I don't think you could draw any conclusions from it...sorry 'bout that.

Flimflam

I work where the staff is about 80% female, I know of one female that rides in pretty much all year, I ride pretty much all year and another guy rides in mostly fair weather. There are a couple more of both sexes, but they're more sporadic/seasonal.

The female that rides a lot puts me to shame, in all honesty, but as the numbers go I'd say it's usually a 66/33 split for men, with an occasional 60/40 or 70/30 male split.

It's nice to know that others in the office do ride though, as small as the number is. Ever since I started bringing my bike into my office, it's been noticed and we're getting a bike rack in our new building, and some showers. Yay.

notenspeed

Interesting question. The university here (midwest) added dorms last year, so now we see a lot of bikes on campus, but I'd say 6 or 7 out of ten are men. I'm the only person I ever see commuting from off campus (6 miles, I'm female). Oops, take that back, I saw the guy from the LBS on campus, bet he commutes. I see people riding when I'm out, equal men and women, but they don't look like commuters. And really, there are very few. This city is very unfriendly for the bike commuter, though we have a great long path by the river, it doesn't usually help me go where I need to.

chephy

It varies with the area, obviously. In some areas, only the true hardcore and adventurous people dare to venture out on a bicycle - and among the highly hardcore and adventurous people the males generally constitute a higher proportion (even though there are females there as well, such as myself - although sometimes I'm not sure whether I should classify myself as hardcore or just foolish and crazy ). In areas where cycling is more accepted and is seen as a more safe and everyday thing more women join in.

In downtown Toronto, where cycling is fairly well accepted, I see a lot of women riding. Probably as many as men - in good weather. In bad weather (by that I mean winter with snow and subzero temps) all cyclists are so bundled up that I have a hard time determining their gender.

Another thing: I wonder how many people mistake me for a teenaged guy when I ride around. As some encounters lead me to believe, it could be surprisingly many.

soze

I'm a year-rounder woman. It's great because it pretty much eliminates any moron from trying to pull the "I'm a big strong man" chestbeating **** on me. Ooh, you're so tough in your heated couch on wheels, come ride in an ice storm with me some time, big guy. We'll see how strong you are then. After all, a *girl* can do it, why can't you? *lol*

I wonder if the lower numbers for women are in part because they tend to end up with more of the child care responsibilities in a relationship, hoofing kids around and whatnot.

nakedsushi

At my work, currently it's 2 guys and 1 girl (me). We used to have another girl who sometimes commuted, but now she's gone. So I guess 2:1 ratio here.

MikeR

I don't know about anyone else but I commute and I'm mostly male.

Nicodemus

Here in Holland you get everyone. That's because the infrastructure, lifestyle, and types of bicycles are conducive to all types of people, even the fragile girlies who want to wear nice clothes and look pretty. But at least nobody here leans on the old "my hair, my hair!" excuse. That's just sad.

The problem is that in countries like the US you really do have to be more wild and aggressive to ride a bicycle regularly. The environment is not conducive to women - at least in the context of most peoples' views that bicycle riding is for freds, freaks, and **** ups.

As a generalisation, women fuss over their delicate image too much and will happily use that as an excuse to not ride. In the end, it's all just excuses, ignorance, and unhealthy lifestyles.

edit: I do not think women are all "silly fragile girlies" - that was just a generalization which is IMO perfectly valid for a particular segment of the female population. And there are plenty of cretins and toolbags on the males side too, as we all know. A woman who's not afraid of getting dirty is a huge turn-on, but sadly rather rare.

Nicodemus

purplebike

This was my first "year-round" commute year and currently I'm the only person at the office (a huge goverment agency) that rides a bike to work. Granted, we're in the suburbs and I have to combine the subway with biking, but still. When I worked at a major university last year, two men commuted occasionally, but I was the only person who rode a bike no matter what.

I think women are less likely to for the appearance reason. It's hard in corporate situations to look decent after riding a bike to work. It can be done, and I know some women who do, but it's a difficult lifestyle choice to make.

Pax

I work at a university and the faculty/staff commuters break down to about 60% female and 40% male. The kids are mostly too lazy to ride and take the bus all of four blocks to get to class.

Relaxer

I work at NPR in Wash DC, so we have a pretty sizeable (and mixed) population of hipster 20-somethings. Which is why I'm always so surprised that all I ever see storing or retrieving a bike in the bike room are guys like me in their late 30s, 40s and 50s. There must be 50+ bikes tossed in the storage room, but I only see the same couple of guys every morning.

Nicodemus

yikes

Probably because the older generation have at least a memory of a life without SUVs *everywhere*, and we still think that taking a bus four blocks to get to class is deplorable.

katmu

At my office, it is mostly men. I actually don't think I have ever seen another woman at the bike rack. I usually see a few women when I pass by downtown. I would love to see more women commuters.

I do ride kind of a girly bike now (Breezer), but more due to my back injury than the fact that I want to look delicate. My commute is 14 miles one way, so I sometimes do the bike/bus combo. It's just sad becuase I know several women in my office who live much closer than me but wouldn't even consider riding.

squegeeboo

At my office it started out as just me. But since then a few others have started, but so far all guys. And on my commute I pass one woman now and again, and a bunch of guys.

SDRider

Ever do a century ride? I've done a couple and the majority of the riders have been men and I do mean the majority...like 75-80% I'd say.