http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/9952702/Forget-road-safety-discover-the-real-reasons-normal-women-dont-cycle.html#disqus_thread

Some good points included along with a blatant book plug?

Is it only freaky women that cycle?

It’s just a uk issue in Europe women cycle as much as men

Men are far more likely to be involved in accidents than women.

Mmmmmmkay…,

Read the title and wanted to say “Oi!” …. Read the article and thought “that makes soooo much sense”. Thanks for that op – it’s all true!
Great post!

Normal women don’t cycle, only above-average ones.

Kuco – Member
Is it only freaky women that cycle?

Nup, just the hot ones… 🙂

The real reason for a lot of women…

They will be judged by their peers.

Glosses over this nicely:

Many of the fatalities involving cyclists happen in collisions with a heavy goods vehicle (HGV). This year, seven of the eight people killed by lorries in London have been women.
Considering that women make only 28% of the UK’s cycling journeys, this seems extremely high.

and focuses on the important issues like how to avoid helmet hair (not wearing a helmet obviously) and how to transport makeup. Swinging by the cliched “went to a bike shop with man and got ignored” shoulder chipper.

Because it’s either freezing cold or raining, and they don’t wish to be paraplegic or in an early grave.

It’s not rocket science is it?

I think a lot of women have a fear of sweating in public, I could be wrong though.

Normal women don’t cycle, only above-average ones.

How you doin’? 😉 😆

Read this today and it really annoyed me. Talking about getting involved with cycling organisations. If cycling is ordinary and commonplace you don’t need to get involved in an organisation. I used public transport today, I didn’t join a club first. I walked across town, I didn’t feel the need to join or consult the Ramblers to do that either, or to emulate the very successful British Athletics team. I didn’t even wear a funny hat or request that showers were provided at the far end. I managed the risk of death by cars and lorries by not attempting to share roadspace with them. I suspect this would work when cycling too.

Absolute shittte the real reason is it messes up their hair and makeup. Without these two things they are hideous creatures. Would your missus leave the House without makeup on? No way, mine wouldn’t.. they scare little kids.

michaelmcc – Member
I think a lot of women have a fear of sweating in public, I could be wrong though.

With the highest BMI in Europe, I don’t think it’s restricted to just sweating in public.

One female friend of mine who has taken up cycling recently just got her first podium placing in a road race this weekend, she’s only been doing it a year or so. But then one of her other hobbies is ninjutsu, so she’s not really a typical lass. I keep expecting to hear that she’s eviscerated a minicab driver for cutting her up or something…

Too many women are aphysical. I made this word up to mean they are against physical activity. Often I hear women say so and so is a lesbian because she does sports or has a physically active job. An idea that physical activity and prowess is masculine while inert beauty is feminine. Who created these ideas; who propagates them and who fights back? One remark I heard from a woman about Lizzie Armistead when she won Olympic silver was about how “pretty she looked even as she was straining to win”. I despair. Rise up women; rise up!

Bike shops really are, on the whole, unreconstructed 70s forgotten worlds.
Last year my SO wanted a new frame to upgrade. She phoned the bike shop, she spoke to a helpful lady who then spoke to the importers and ended up doing a pretty good deal on a current year top end frame with 1/3rd off because it was XS. We drove up to the shop and she spoke to one of the guys to say that she was up to collect her new frame. The bloke ignored everything she said and only spoke to me. I turned to him and said “she’s spending £1,600, it’s her money, her choice – why not speak to her because she’s the one that wants it and the one who’s going to tell all her friends to avoid your shop because you’re misogynists”. Strangely enough it went down quite badly.
We’re unlikely to go back there again.

Forgetting for a minute the huge steriotyping in the article (hair,makeup,looking good etc,etc ),I think the real reason may be this.

But many more don’t cycle because they don’t really see how it can fit into their everyday lives

I have been cycling for so long now that I have almost forgotton how much planning it takes to fit cycling in with a busy family life.

I have been cycling for so long now that I have almost forgotton how much planning it takes to fit cycling in with a busy family life.

Maybe this is part of the problem? I remember a time when I’d just hop on a bike and go. Nowadays it takes me an hour to get ready. We’ve made cycling far too complicated.

I have cycled lots all my life and it just fits, in fact if anything it makes my commute quicker.

But its an outside looking in thing, girls (and im sure some blokes too) imagine it to be far harder to take it up and do it proficiently.

As for the hair and beauty aspect you’d be surprised where you find showers. Public showers in Sheffield city center with hair driers are only 20p. Why this never gets promoted during bike week etc confuses me (and I have mentioned it to the organisers). I no longer use them as after some pestering we got some installed at work.

And we are included increasingly a society that has to have all the gear when they embark on a new hobby – and price the idea out of their reach before they’ve even tried it.

MrsBuoy isn’t normal by any stretch of the imagination and she won’t cycle in that Lunnon. She’s of the opinion that life’s too short to be squished by a truck. I think she’s missing out, but hey….

You don’t need showers, special clothing or anything fancy to cycle to work in the average city.

I lived in Copenhagen for 6 months, and while there were plenty of lycra clad riders enjoying the roads at the weekend, there were far more ordinary people just riding to work (or from the station to work, or to the station from home) in their normal day-to-day clothes.

The biggest difference (OK, so it is flat too) is that that cycling somewhere is *normal* and not just the preserve of the weird.

Hang on… What about the underlying assumption here that normal men cycle? As far as I can tell, only weirdos cycle.

No you dont have to wear cycling clothes but the reasons I do are; invariably the weather is in the wet side, I tend to wear tailored dresses and pencils skirts to work, and even if you wore jeans they do wear out quickly when you ride in them all the time. So I always opt for lycra.

As for the shower, I would have one in the morning anyway but im happy to get up get dressed brush my teeth and then shower when I get in – saves my heating cost too and when all 4 of my kids were at home it was far easier than waiting for the bathroom to be free. I always sweat loads on my ride in – obviously sheffield is not flat but also I do like to ride quickly. I wouldn’t be happy to sit in sweaty clothes all day

aP – Member

Bike shops really are, on the whole, unreconstructed

went with mrs antigee to buy a new road bike as she wanted to do some alpine summits with her friend who lives in france – this is what we told guy in shop – who started to pull out a range of hybrids – had also told guy had a commuter bike that was wsd so would prefer a wsd road bike – i said we should leave

this is a shop (co-op) that says in literature that they try to meet the need of the other 50% of the population – albeit with assumptions on what is good for them – i know shops vary depending on who you get but was a bit annoyed at assumption

Where are the showers in Sheffield centre?

My girlfriend rides but only for the fresh air and views, anything technical she prefers to avoid for fear she’ll hurt herself, which is a fair reasoning

When I lived in France I took a GF bouldering at Fontainbleau, it was the first time she had ever tried it and afterwards she confessed that some of the postures necessary for climbing were not the sort she was accustomed to adopting. She said it felt strangely liberating once she’d got used to the idea of using her limbs and her body.

I would guess that most of the women in my office would have similar inhibitions about getting astride a bike and certainly a huge problem with the getting dressed arrangements on arrival. Even I struggle if I ride the 21 miles to work; I have to drive in with the bike, ride home in the evening leaving the next day’s clothes in the car then ride back the next morning, dump bike securely in the car, grab clothes then walk to the factory shower, which is filthy, freezing and quite public, then get dressed with all the factory lads messing around all round me. So even after overcoming the impracticality of the showering and storage arrangements, my ride to work depends on the car anyway.

In a northern European city where it’s a flat couple of kms riding to work and everybody has step-through bikes with luggage racks or baskets it’s easy but in the UK where we live further from our place of work, our roads are congested and narrow and most bikes are sports models, it isn’t practical.

In the suburbs where I live,it is not quite mass-participation, but the bike racks in the High St often have bikes locked to them. Quite a few older women and younger men cycle, but it is rare to see a young woman on a bike.

The use of helmets puts off a lot of women.

In a northern European city where it’s a flat couple of kms riding to work

Many UK cities are also very flat and a lot of people commute from suburbs.

and everybody has step-through bikes with luggage racks or baskets….but in the UK…most bikes are sports models

Yes. In the UK image is everything and, outside of London where it is less class-based, cycling has an image problem. Poor people and eccentric middle-class men cycle to work.

but in the UK where we live further from our place of work, our roads are congested and narrow and most bikes are sports models, it isn’t practical.

Too few people understand what it is to cycle for transport and too few drivers make enough allowance for cyclists.

It doesn’t take a huge amount of intelligence to find quieter routes though.

The increasing price of fuel may see people living closer to their workplaces and, maybe, even cycling more.

My missus likes being out on the bike but she doesn’t like arriving somewhere sweaty, with helmet hair and having to fit her locks and repair stuff in her bag too. She sees it as a bit faffy and undignified.

I’m not sure I like the implication that I’m not normal. Although I can probably live with above average 😉

I’m not a particularly girlie girl. I rarely wear makeup and I have long hair mainly because it doesn’t require such regular trips to a hairdresser. But I wouldn’t cycle to work without showers, towels and hairdryers. I usually wear a skirt for work so I can’t cycle in work clothes unless I use a step through hybrid, and my hair is a mess even if I’ve not worked up that much of a sweat. Luckily for me I have had a gym membership for years and a few years ago my firm moved to the building next door to the gym. So I use the gym showers rather than the ones at work because they provide towels and hairdryers meaning I don’t need to carry them.

I originally come from a running background, and it’s interesting to see how many women *do* run. Not as many as men, but a good proportion, certainly when compared to spain where my parents live and where I’ve been known to win my category in races purely by virtue of being the only entrant. Race for life may not be an event for serious runners, but that sort of atmosphere is instrumental in getting a lot of women out there, as is the fact that you can get started with very little kit. I have several non sporty friends who have started running recently but still look at me like I have two heads for cycling to work.

I do notice differences between how I approach cycling and how my oh does though. I’m not interested in technical stuff or racing. I’m a bit more risk averse, and for me getting out for a long day out with cake stops and a pint at the end is the point not willy waving about speed or how much we’ve climbed. I’ve tried, but I’m still happiest on road, or the sort of off road which is basically a road with no cars. I tried cyclocross once and never intend to try again, not helped by the fact that although it was a “fun” race it was mainly men and I was way off the back. The local grass track league would involve riding with the men too, presumably due to lack of demand for separate races. I’ve never done it but looking at the results there are a handful of women who turn up occasionally, but not enough to squeeze specific races into the programme. Chicken and egg, how do you get the demand without the ladies only events?

And I don’t even treat sportives as races…

I don’t think it’s restricted to just sweating in public.

Yes. There’s the farting and arse-scratching too.

I don’t think that it needs to be about racing. Women (and men) in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Freiburg etc. aren’t racing, they’re just riding to the office, shops, pub, club etc. You don’t see many Brits riding home after a night out at the weekend -whether that’s a good thing or not….

I originally come from a running background, and it’s interesting to see how many women *do* run. Not as many as men, but a good proportion,

Around here I would suggest that more women than men run/jog. It certainly appears to be the case.

Just looked at my Roots & Rain race history. I have raced in 14 races now, mostly local grass roots racing.

So in 14 races I have raced against
1284 men
&
32 women

I was shocked when i worked that out.

I know is roots and rain so they are Gravity enduro and Mini DH events but is there women that want to race in entry level events? If so what’s holding them back?

These girls look like they are doing a good job:
http://divadescent.com/Diva_Descent_-_The_UKs_First_All_Girls_Downhill_Mountain_Bike_Race_-_Home.html

I think the answer to regular cycling for both sexes is the revival of the traditional upright British roadster.

Full mudguards, oilbath chaincase, hubgears. Problem is that they are simply not fashionable. (You can buy one secondhand with 50 odd years of use on it, and if it has had basic maintenance, it will run just as nicely as brandnew.) They are heavy, but a modern version could be much lighter.

These old British bikes are the ultimate green machines, built to last forever. (Not to be confused with the rubbish coming in from India). WIth a brake upgrade they are perfect.

I think some of the Dutch manufacturers make something similar still, but I have no experience with them, so can’t comment on quality.

I think the answer to regular cycling for both sexes is the revival of the traditional upright British roadster.

Full mudguards, oilbath chaincase, hubgears. Problem is that they are simply not fashionable. (You can buy one secondhand with 50 odd years of use on it, and if it has had basic maintenance, it will run just as nicely as brandnew.) They are heavy, but a modern version could be much lighter.

PASHLEY anyone? (Linky)

scottfitz – Member

I know is roots and rain so they are Gravity enduro and Mini DH events but is there women that want to race in entry level events? If so what’s holding them back?

my girlfriend *is* interested in entry level events, she’s on the ‘noballsbiking’ / womensheffieldcycling facebook/email groups.

the ‘fun’ xc race she was invited to enter had a choice of a 2hour or 4hour category.

the ‘early season leg loosener’ social road ride was a 60k hilly route.

she’s outdoorsy, she likes her bikes, she’s competitive, but she’s not mental.

People don’t tend to ride for transport in the UK because most towns & cities aren’t set up for cycling like those in Belgium or Germany for example. Too many cars going too fast.

IMHO many women don’t cycle for transport because they get too hot / cold and don’t get on with the whole messed up hair, perspiration etc. Getting ready to be presentable at the other end of a journey takes a lot longer than the journey itself in many cases. So the car is easy and more practical. Also it doesn’t rain inside a car.

Also it doesn’t rain inside a car.

Clearly you’ve never driven a Caterham or a Westfield…

johnellison – Member

PASHLEY anyone? (Linky)

Good point. That’s exactly what I’m talking about.

(I know about them, but had forgotten they now use decent brakes.)