Adrienne has a great post about women and families and getting more of them on bikes. (Thanks for the tip, Val). This is a subject I love to talk about.
Stereotype or not, women, with their concerns about safety and protecting the children, need to feel safe if they are going to embrace cycling as their primary mode of transportation.
I do have hope. Continue reading
I just read this article about women and everyday cycling that Xtracycle posted on their Facebook page. It’s a subject we love to talk about and one we’ve covered before.
The article (and some of the commenters) point to a lack of cycling infrastructure in most American cities as a reason women feel unsafe on the road. They also mention that household and child rearing responsibilities make it more difficult for women to go by bike.
What do you think? We’d love a lively discussion in the comments. Are safety concerns keeping women off bikes? Lack of showers at work? Too many kid juggling duties?
Tim and I talk about this a lot in our household. Unfortunately we don’t have any major new insights. All we can think to do about it is to keep encouraging people to ride and to raise our own kids who we hope will grow up thinking going by bike is normal.
What about you? Any thoughts on the not-enough-chicks-on-bikes issue? We’re all ears.
– Anne and Tim
Posted in bigger than here, bikes
Tagged cycling, cycling gender gap, everyday cycling, women
photo by Beth Hamon via BikePortland
According to BikePortland, Xtracycles are taking over. Have you experienced the phenomenon in your part of the country? I love the shot of the gaggle of Xtracycles all lined up. Awesome.
Can’t wait to see a similar shot in Seattle. Seattle definitely has more Xtracycles cruising the mean streets than a year ago.
If the seven Xtracycles in the photo do in fact all belong to women, there’s something to be said for women being the key to a successful bike culture. What an excellent shot and powerful statement about the success of Portland’s bike culture.
– Anne
Posted in bigger than here, bikes, longbikes, sustainability, xtracycle
Tagged bike culture, bikes, women, xtracycle
This morning I was reading Copenhagen Cycle Chic’s report on the véloculture in Paris. It’s so wonderful to read about the success of the Vélib program. Since the program was introduced last summer, biking has exploded in the city of Paris.
When I lived in Paris many years ago, transportation options were limited to
Biking around Paris would have been so great!
Tim and I were there last July and we missed the installation of the Vélib bikes by one week. We saw the stations all over town, but they were all bikeless. We walked and took the Metro – but would have prefered cruising around Paris on bikes. I guess we’ll have to go back and give Vélib a try.
While Copenhagen Cycle Chic’s post was about biking culture in Paris – my key take away was this quote:
The key to any successful bike culture is to get women onto bikes. They are the group that is most likely to ride and yet least likely to actually do it, especially in urban settings. Continue reading
Posted in alternative transportation, bigger than here, bikes, Human Powered Politics
Tagged bike culture, cycling, Paris, Velib, women
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Anne & Tim
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