On her bike : Why women won't ride

[Marx]

I didn’t want to say that women were essentially non-aggressive, more that providing cycling infrastructure which didn’t benefit an aggressive approach to cycling would be an incentive for women to ride.
Perhaps this isn’t possible everywhere, but maybe doable to key routes/locations, & this would then provide a kick-on influence for women to ride elsewhere later on as riding becomes a more frequent activity in their lives.

[Euan]

I didn’t want to say that women were essentially non-aggressive, more that providing cycling infrastructure which didn’t benefit an aggressive approach to cycling would be an incentive for women to ride.
Perhaps this isn’t possible everywhere, but maybe doable to key routes/locations, & this would then provide a kick-on influence for women to ride elsewhere later on as riding becomes a more frequent activity in their lives.

I reckon it's always possible, whether the political will is there though, that's a different thing entirely.

[cold_erin]

Could I hazard that the need to be assertive while cycling in Melbourne, would be a disincentive for women more so than men? Or am I being sexist?
Perhaps constructs like Copen lanes & off-the-road shared paths is a positive, as it presents the riders with an environment where larger more threatening users like cars & cement mixers aren’t to be contended with.

I didn’t want to say that women were essentially non-aggressive, more that providing cycling infrastructure which didn’t benefit an aggressive approach to cycling would be an incentive for women to ride.
Perhaps this isn’t possible everywhere, but maybe doable to key routes/locations, & this would then provide a kick-on influence for women to ride elsewhere later on as riding becomes a more frequent activity in their lives.

I believe that providing off-road/separated infrastructure for bikes would benefit everybody - male, female or other. I know that on these forums, I hear about vehicular cycling a lot and while this has some benefits, treating bicycles as the separate vehicle they are would increase cycling and cyclist confidence.
I don't think there's anything gender specific about cycling infrastructure (except if they're cobbled, of course, in which case female user smay be in the majority... )

[Euan]

Could I hazard that the need to be assertive while cycling in Melbourne, would be a disincentive for women more so than men? Or am I being sexist?
Perhaps constructs like Copen lanes & off-the-road shared paths is a positive, as it presents the riders with an environment where larger more threatening users like cars & cement mixers aren’t to be contended with.

I didn’t want to say that women were essentially non-aggressive, more that providing cycling infrastructure which didn’t benefit an aggressive approach to cycling would be an incentive for women to ride.
Perhaps this isn’t possible everywhere, but maybe doable to key routes/locations, & this would then provide a kick-on influence for women to ride elsewhere later on as riding becomes a more frequent activity in their lives.

I believe that providing off-road/separated infrastructure for bikes would benefit everybody - male, female or other. I know that on these forums, I hear about vehicular cycling a lot and while this has some benefits, treating bicycles as the separate vehicle they are would increase cycling and cyclist confidence.
I don't think there's anything gender specific about cycling infrastructure (except if they're cobbled, of course, in which case female user smay be in the majority... )

Nah, male majority there. Paris-Roubaix fantasies

Vehicular cycling is a treatment for poor cycling infrastructure, it ain't a cure for it.

[Percrime]

Had a girl tell me last night that she was the only masters 1 woman racing track at Blackburn. Masters 1 is like 32. Whats with that? Girls come and play on the track damnit.

[Keely]

Had a girl tell me last night that she was the only masters 1 woman racing track at Blackburn. Masters 1 is like 32. Whats with that? Girls come and play on the track damnit.

Maybe she needs to come play with Brunswick! We have a few WMAS trackies and I know of at least one who is WMAS1.

[Percrime]

Yeah but that wont help out Blackie. Maybe you need to send some over here But hey I think we need more not redistribution of the ones we have

[The Duckmeister]

Had a girl tell me last night that she was the only masters 1 woman racing track at Blackburn. Masters 1 is like 32. Whats with that? Girls come and play on the track damnit.

Maybe it's something about the term "Masters" implying getting old. And 30-something women generally are the most anxious about the perception of getting old.

[baudman]

Had a girl tell me last night that she was the only masters 1 woman racing track at Blackburn. Masters 1 is like 32. Whats with that? Girls come and play on the track damnit.

Maybe it's something about the term "Masters" implying getting old. And 30-something women generally are the most anxious about the perception of getting old.

Err... Mistresses?

[fixie]

+1. We need more mistresses.

[Percrime]

Yep +1

[GreenAlias]

Survey results From BV

[barefoot]

Maybe it's something about the term "Masters" implying getting old. And 30-something women generally are the most anxious about the perception of getting old.

I was a bit taken aback when I got my first license and it identified me as being in a "Masters" category. MMAS2, FWIW. I had to look up what that code meant.

Having never raced and only overheard passing discussion of classes, I always thought "Masters" was a euphemism for really really old.

I reckon "Senior" would be less offensive than being called a "Master". You know, "Senior" as opposed to "Junior".

Of course, some letter codes on my license didn't make a scrap of difference to my likelihood of racing. If I was willing to cough up several hundred bucks for a license and turn up at the track to race against whoever else turned up, that was me locked in.

As it turned out, there were only two of us over ~16 years old bothering to turn up for a race. That's no big deal for racing - the faster kids were more than a match for me. But it kind of limits the social side of the sport when there's just a bunch of school kids to chat with between races (then they were a bit disorganised getting started at the beginning of the next season, I started racing MTB instead, and I haven't had a CA license since).

Anyway, I'm not a woman so I'm irrelevant to the thread... except for making the point that it's hard to get people enthusiastic about joining in the sport unless there's a peer group for them to slot in to. Being the odd guy (or girl) out gets tired pretty quick.

tim

[Marx]

I thought the day I got old enough to enter 'Masters' was my first real opportunity to take something home for the pool-room. That was right up until I lined up next to Phil Anderson (at the Wombat 100 in 2009) who also mentioned he was in Masters.....


(my only 'racing in Masters' anecdote I have)

[GreenAlias]

A good chance to promote women's cycling HERE