Pax

It's the only sporting event I've ever participated in (or attended for that matter) where we don't have to stand in line for the bathroom!

lil brown bat

I'm the only woman who bike commutes at my company, but it's a small company. I see a lot of women on my commute, though.

Buglady

Like Lil Brown Bat, I'm the only woman who bike commutes at my workplace (and we have about 70% female staff), but then I am also the only person of either gender who rides at my workplace

Informal survey of my friends finds the women are more willing to entertain the idea of riding, but most of the guys in the group are stereotypical computer geeks who would rather play a video game of a sport than the actual sport

Queen, I LOVE your sig quote; that's awesome

acroy

No women in Texas ride bikes.
"It would mess up mah HAY-r, bless YO-er heart!"

seriously, the only bike commuters I see going to jobs are men, and few of those. there's a fair number of college kids on bikes, prolly 60/40 men/women

Nicodemus

Those ladies need to get hangin' with some real men.
(with the exception of occasional GTA mayhem )

ItsJustMe

The funny thing to me is that, TO ME anyway, the hairstyles that can get messed up the most by a helmet or wind are the least attractive anyway. I'm not a fan of highly-styled hair (or makeup for that matter). I think a fit woman on a bike is about 100x more attractive than the vast majority of runway models, and maybe only 10x more attractive than the rest of them.

ItsJustMe

That's funny, I know the type. I actually have never been the least bit interested in any vicarious enjoyment of sport; can't stand to watch sports or play videogames of them, and I have no interest at all in really organized sports, but I do enjoy doing them on occasion, though I haven't had the opportunity to play football or soccer much since high school.

DataJunkie

+1000000

There is something to be said for a lady who cares about her health and works hard to maintain it.

acroy

+ 1x10^(zillion)

phays

I listened to NPR's quirky little report on Sunday morning...were you involved in getting the humble narrator to ride?

Where I work the bulk of the cyclists seem to be older 45+ men, though there is representation from other groups. I think more women are reluctant to bike because it will make them seem different from the crowd--and that can be scary.

Nachoman

On my little 6.5 mile ride to work I usually see about 5 or 6 other commuters, and one of them is female and an extremely strong rider.

grolby

There are a multitude of socialization issues involved in the commuter imbalance, I'm sure. I suspect that a big part of it is the perception of riding a bicycle as an athletic activity, rather than a transportation activity. Women are generally socialized to avoid athletic activities to a greater extent than men. After all, witness countries where people of all genders ride in equal proportions: you will almost certainly observe that the bicycle is primarily regarded as urban transportation.

There's also the perception of men as being skilled with machines, while women are perceived as not having these skills. Take for example the fact that most American men believe that they are good drivers, and that women don't drive as well/safely as men. My observation as both a passenger in motor vehicles and a cyclist in traffic belies this belief, but it persists. It doesn't help that these attitudes create and reinforce in women the belief that they are inferior operators of vehicles. Bicycles are another kind of transportation machine, and women are generally assumed not to know their way around bicycles (just as they are assumed not to know their way around machines in general). Why try something as belittling and demeaning as taking up a sport activity that is so centric around machines? It's very clear that women are not particularly welcome in American cycling. Things are a lot better, but the typical LBS is a pretty sexist, threatening place for a woman. There is nothing about women that makes them less likely to take up commuting by bicycle, but there is a lot about how women are socialized in a sexist society (AND a sexist subculture) that makes them less likely to get on a bike. Hey, there are higher proportions of women commuters in liberal, coastal-area cities. Coincidence? Hmmm.

I think that a change in attitude about cycling and in how we think about gender would both go a long way in getting more women on bikes.

By the way, I see lots of women riding bikes around here. It's a good area for that sort of thing. In Northampton, in particular, there are lots and lots of women on bicycles. It's very refreshing to be surrounded by positive people and attitudes! Some of the coolest local folks I know of make their living collecting trash by bicycle. Two of the three (four?) of them (including the person behind getting the business rolling) are women. So they are out there.

kdg357

May I ask why is your wife not interested?

K

mtn_chick

I'm surprised to hear the gender balance so lopsided. We have a TON of female riders up here, and many commuters. It's gotta be 50/50 I would think although I have done no formal analysis!

On my route I regularly see 2-3 women (oh, and that's a lot, I only see about 4-5 people on my ride in). And the women are the ones doing the LONG commutes!

In general though, being active is something most people around here do and we seem to become obsessed with riding once spring/summer hits. Being in the north, I think we're just so damned glad it's finally warm and bright out, that we'll do anything to stay outside longer!!

cgchambers

This thread got me thinking yesterday, so I counted male and female commuters.

Total Commuters seen on 8 mile route: 52
Total of Male Commuters: 29
Total of Female Commuters: 23

In the winter it is totally 50/50, there are only 2 of us out there with any regularity that I see during my commuting hours. Myself and one woman.

Nicodemus

Nicely summed up, grolby. That's exactly the case here - cycling is a form of transportation not a sport. Everyone rides.

Minicrank

In my office there are two regular bike commuters - both women. However I work in a relatively small safe city and perhaps that influences it.

Buglady

Meh, means we girls can go for group rides and camping trips that don't turn into races and/or peeing contests (... don't ask).

I was struck on the weekend by how many mountain bikes I had to dodge on the trail (I was hiking in Banff Park), how many vehicles in the parking lot had multiple bikes strapped on, and how I only saw ONE touring bike on the entire 150 km of road from Lake Minnewanka back to Calgary. Something's a bit off there.

Nicodemus

It's sad what's happening to the Kananaskis these days

knobster

Out of 900 people at my facility, two of us commute by bike. One is a female. That's 50% baby! My wife commutes also. So of the 3 commuters that I know (including me), 66% of them are women.

crtreedude 

Here in Costa Rica bikes are a very common form of transportation. There really isn't a difference between men and women on bikes that I can tell - or on horses for that matter. Of course, among the students, I tend to see the woman on a bike - with the guy pedaling!

Buglady

Yeah, and then I came home to find the neighBOOR's monster truck completely covered in mud You just know some ecosystem out there is reeling in shock. Poor frogs. Heck, I feel guilty because my hiking boots have a Vibram sole that probably is harder than it needs to be.

Monster trucks, ATVs, snowmobiles, and a fair number of mountain bikes (not all - I know that many MTBers are quite conscientious) SUCK.

caloso

What I want to know is, does Carl Kassel ride to work?

lima_bean

When i lived in Austin I knew a TON of women who bike commuted.

In dallas, however, I am the only person male or female I ever saw.

banerjek

I don't think that's it. In the places I've worked, the single able bodied women don't do any better than their counterparts with kids.

I think it is because even most feminists seem to regard women as fragile and vulnerable. No one thinks anything of letting some guy walk about at night (nor should they), but I can't tell you how many times I've been the token man on hand to make even small groups of women feel "safe". I'm a scrawny 140lbs, so I'd be able to do little more than delay real attackers by more than 2 seconds while I got pulped. When I drove delivery years ago, women drivers never wanted to go to "unsafe" areas or where they felt "uncomfortable," so they'd send me or one of the other guys.

We seem to be conditioned to believe that it's OK for guys to take risks, but not women. Also, when things really go wrong, there is an expectation that guys will somehow adjust, but that women should be emotionally traumatized for life.

It could also be that men just like cycling more than women. The ratio of men to women runners seems much closer than it is for cyclists. Walkers seem to be predominantly women.