Why won't women cycle?

12:29pm Sunday 3rd March 2013 in News

Keeping fit: women cyclists Keeping fit: women cyclists

In Britain women account for just one in four cyclists.

Funny creatures us women – we’ll drive to the gym and get on a treadmill, while blotting out the boredom with music.

We love cakes and chocolate then diet and worry about shape.

We hate queuing in traffic, but willingly join it.

My teenage daughter would say cycling’s ‘out’ and no-one does it, but she complained she was dependent on others to get about, buses were expensive and walking took an age.

Dutch teenagers don’t see it this way – shapely chic young ladies, always smiling, glide past on their bikes to college – often with a pillion passenger! But, over there, everyone cycles everywhere.

What’s more unsightly than a young woman with flab bulging over jeans and a pastey face? Forget the makeup and get some fresh air to give you that glowing look. And did you know it takes just 20mins to cycle four miles and burn 100 calories ?

There’s a simple solution that independent minded women have discovered. You don’t have to behave like a hamster, you can eat what you fancy while keeping in shape, you can time your journey to the minute and be independent about when and where you travel . . . and all for free (apart from the cake and chocolate fuel of course!) If you aren’t confident cycling or can’t yet cycle, then get the training like you would for driving, except this is paid for under Southampton Council’s Cycle Training Scheme.

If you want to look FAB, shift the flab and join us on Saturday, March 9, for the ‘My Simply FABULOUS Mum’ ladies Breeze ride – for more information, visit goskyride.com

 

By Dilys Gartside, cycling instructor

Comments(10)

weebee says...
2:01pm Sun 3 Mar 13

What makes cycling unfeminine is not the connection to exercise but the amount of aggression one must display to avoid collisions on areas which are shared with cars and pedestrians. It is easy to appeal to the shallow value of sexual attraction (What’s more unsightly than a young woman with flab bulging over jeans and a pastey face?) rather than questioning Southampton’s lack of city planning in regard to cycle lanes (how on earth is the pathway running up the inner avenue meant to be shared between groups of gossiping school children and cyclists on their way to work?). Cycling is not an issue of gender; it is one of frustration with other space users, stole bikes, road accidents, hills and British weather. It is easy to paint illogical lines on pavements and roads but this is a far cry from how cycling routs are planned and constructed in the Netherlands.

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J.P.M says...
2:06pm Sun 3 Mar 13

weebee wrote:
What makes cycling unfeminine is not the connection to exercise but the amount of aggression one must display to avoid collisions on areas which are shared with cars and pedestrians. It is easy to appeal to the shallow value of sexual attraction (What’s more unsightly than a young woman with flab bulging over jeans and a pastey face?) rather than questioning Southampton’s lack of city planning in regard to cycle lanes (how on earth is the pathway running up the inner avenue meant to be shared between groups of gossiping school children and cyclists on their way to work?). Cycling is not an issue of gender; it is one of frustration with other space users, stole bikes, road accidents, hills and British weather. It is easy to paint illogical lines on pavements and roads but this is a far cry from how cycling routs are planned and constructed in the Netherlands.
Yawnnnn...
I suppose you have tattoos?

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For pity sake says...
2:16pm Sun 3 Mar 13

They cause enough havoc in cars - just think what they could do if let loose on bikes too.... oh - on second thoughts...

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ohec says...
4:34pm Sun 3 Mar 13

All the cyclist keep bringing up is the issue of how things are done in the Netherlands maybe if they put their hands in their pockets they to could have the same facilities as the Netherlands, but no the biggest attraction to cycling is the fact that any idiot can jump on a bike ignore the law of the land and go where they like. The amount of cyclist i see on a busy main road at night with no lights and dark clothing, they won't even spend a few quid for their own safety but if they get knocked of its not their fault.

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downfader says...
5:29pm Sun 3 Mar 13

ohec wrote:
All the cyclist keep bringing up is the issue of how things are done in the Netherlands maybe if they put their hands in their pockets they to could have the same facilities as the Netherlands, but no the biggest attraction to cycling is the fact that any idiot can jump on a bike ignore the law of the land and go where they like. The amount of cyclist i see on a busy main road at night with no lights and dark clothing, they won't even spend a few quid for their own safety but if they get knocked of its not their fault.
We HAVE put our hands in our pockets and had nothing in return for it. Learn how taxes work, mate.

No one has ever said "ride a bike, break a law" - the article says "get trained" so why with the usual anti-cycling claptrap?

People like yourself are the reason why women wont cycle. It is an aggressive, condescending tone of blame.

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downfader says...
5:40pm Sun 3 Mar 13

On the plus side - Southampton has increased its percentage of cyclists a small amount in the past 2 years. A third more cyclists iirc - but most are men.

In 2009 I surveyed the roads and found that 16% rode without lights. This winter its more like 5% - this is due to the a) prices coming down and b) better information from the Police, cycle groups and media (eg the Echo)

The last council (yes, the Tories) fixed a LOT of the roads making it far more comfortable than it had been the years before. This council is overhauling and improving the Eastern corridor over the next 3 years - to almost Dutch standards.

We just need cooperation - from the Councils, from drivers that share the roads (eg stay out of the cycle lanes on the Itchen bridge for a start), cooperation from pedestrians on the off-road routes

There may be negative aspects to cycling but the positives make it worthwhile. I do an hour's cycling a day, 5 days a week. 30 minutes to get to work 6 miles away, often do it in 23 if I push it - and all legal riding.

I've held my weight at 14-15 stone over the past 10 years. I have a 37 inch waist. It doesnt take long to build up muscle. But even a sedate ride will burn calories.

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weebee says...
6:45pm Sun 3 Mar 13

Do I have tattoos? –no, but I can’t quiet see how that has anything to do with cycling. And the reason I mentioned the Netherlands is, one, because the article mentioned it, and, two, I've happily cycled around while living there. The cycle path on Archers road is a great example of what’s wrong–it comes off the road to the pavement and then through the Dell housing estate. It is the same level as the pedestrian space, in green material –mums and school children walk over the route twice a day and will block most people who are using their own legs or cycles. Most cyclists I've seen just stay on the road. Whoever planned that route didn't spend much time watch how people use that space, or think about what space/visual markers were required to change how people used it. I suspect the housing developer got brownie points for putting in a cycling path…The article implies that the values which women hold are problematic when it comes to cycling –they think it un-slightly. My argument is that (1) cycling outside is confrontational, unlike cycling in the gym and (2) it is the way space is configured that makes it confrontational–I found in the year before my bike was stolen that I would regularly have to get people to move off the cycle route, put up with cars in places they shouldn’t be as well as other cyclists cycling furiously in and out of people on shared pathways.
Change the space into a useable state, and then you can ask why people don’t use it.

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Urbane Forager says...
9:11am Mon 4 Mar 13

I have been to Copenhagen and Odense in Denmark and the mindset as well as the road layout is biased toward cyclists. Most people seem more polite and you do not get so many impatient drivers. The Danes do moan that the tax on cars and petrol is very high, but I would argue that this should be the case in the UK too. Driving a car should be seen as a luxury, not a right. They should be used only when they are needed and to be fair, they often are.
You do not need to sexualise cycling nor look too deeply into gender stereotypes, the benefits are the same for men and women, young and old. I am pleased to see an increase of people, regardless of gender and age on their bikes.
The dangers are also the same for all – too many cars, aggressive drivers, not enough quality cycle paths, bike lock up stations etc. The solutions are fairly obvious but many people are too blinkered or lazy to look beyond their steering wheels.
http://theurbanefora
ger.blogspot.co.uk/

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ottred says...
4:53pm Mon 4 Mar 13

women will not ride bicycles, mainly because its a vanity thing. The thought of getting a little bit sweaty & their hair getting blown about a bit is too much to bear the poor lambs.

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Huffter says...
7:58pm Mon 4 Mar 13

They'd best stick to the Menstrual Cycle.

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