Calling all cycling ladies!

[Cathy]

Arch - see above! Also - three types of bike - hmmm, what am I missing. Recumbent? Tandem? TANDEM????

 

[Arch]

Arch - see above! Also - three types of bike - hmmm, what am I missing. Recumbent? Tandem? TANDEM????

recumbent, tourer and yes tandem, although I don't have one of those, be a bit daft, me being single....

Also, I'm a rather ungirly girl, so I probably throw the stats out a bit....

 

[wafflycat]

I am a writer who is researching the viability of some resources for women who cycle. The information should be interesting to all which is why I am prepared to share it with people - there is not much point in collating information about cycling habits and keeping it to myself. I cannot see any sinister undertones or privacy issues in knowing how often 'Sarah from London' or indeed 'Wafflycat' cycles and whether she owns a WSD or a man's bike. However, if you feel your privacy will be compromised by the survey, by all means do not complete it.

It's about being open about who you are, what you are doing, why and for what purpose when you are asking for third parties to share information on their personal habits with you... it's not an unreasonable thing to expect from you as you're the one asking for others to give their information. Why are you researching the subject? For what purpose? What do you mean by 'viability'? Are you writing this off your own bat, or are you researching it for a book? a company? marketing? a qualification? looking to sell us something?

 

[Cathy]

Right, I have fiddled with the opening question a tad so hopefully it should be a little more inviting and slightly less spam-tastic.

 

[Arch]

Waffles! Down girl...

Cathy, somewhere in Cafe, a while back, there was a thread all about ladies who cycle, might be worth searching for it.... Although it did turn out to be a lot about clothes and anyone who knows me will know that that's not a subject I major in. I mean I wear clothes, but only because I have to....

 

[Cathy]

It's about being open about who you are, what you are doing, why and for what purpose when you are asking for third parties to share information on their personal habits with you... it's not an unreasonable thing to expect from you as you're the one asking for others to give their information. Why are you researching the subject? For what purpose? What do you mean by 'viability'? Are you writing this off your own bat, or are you researching it for a book? a company? marketing? a qualification? looking to sell us something?

I don't want to give away exactly what I am working on as I do not want other people thinking 'aha, that's a good idea, maybe I'll do that!'. But I can confirm I am not researching for a company, for marketing purposes nor am I trying to sell you anything. I can also confirm I am late for football and must dash but I will check in later and anyone is free to contact me at cathywallace@hotmail.co.uk with any further question/concerns/privacy issues.

 

[Cathy]

Waffles! Down girl...

Cathy, somewhere in Cafe, a while back, there was a thread all about ladies who cycle, might be worth searching for it.... Although it did turn out to be a lot about clothes and anyone who knows me will know that that's not a subject I major in. I mean I wear clothes, but only because I have to....

My friend Weenie posted that thread. She and I have long rumbled that cycling is too male-dominated and there's not enough information, resources, signposting etc for women. Obviously everyone's different but I do feel the cycling world is very male-led and I wonder if it puts some women off.

Huge kudos for the tandem. I'm hoping to try one out soon (with Weenie actually) just for giggles.

 

[wafflycat]

Waffles! Down girl...

Cathy, somewhere in Cafe, a while back, there was a thread all about ladies who cycle, might be worth searching for it.... Although it did turn out to be a lot about clothes and anyone who knows me will know that that's not a subject I major in. I mean I wear clothes, but only because I have to....

Sorry Arch - I won't. This is something that should be obvious to do as a matter of courtesy, openness and showing good faith if someone who is a total stranger wanting information. There's so much out there that is dodgy that you *have* to be careful about who you're giving information to in the form of 'surveys'.

 

[Cathy]

Sorry Arch - I won't. This is something that should be obvious to do as a matter of courtesy, openness and showing good faith if someone who is a total stranger wanting information. There's so much out there that is dodgy that you *have* to be careful about who you're giving information to in the form of 'surveys'.

OK, I will not be holding my breath for input from Wafflycat.

However I would be grateful if anyone who is not convinced that I will use such information as 'how many times a week do you cycle?' and 'what made you start cycling in the first place?' against them in a devious manner that will involve the clearing out of their bank accounts, would be good enough to fill out the survey and ask any other female cyclists to take a look and fill it out too.

I think it will be interesting to have some solid facts and figures on womens' cycling habits as there doesn't seem to be much decent research in this field so far.

Will also try the 'beginners' forum as I assume this one tends to be populated by experienced cyclists and it would be good to get a range of perspectives.

 

[Baggy]

Will also try the 'beginners' forum as I assume this one tends to be populated by experienced cyclists and it would be good to get a range of perspectives.

Well, I started filling it out, but it kicked me out on page 4..!

There's a real mix in cafe, beginners will probably skew the survey unless you're going to analyse the "how long have you been cycling" qualitative question and weight the results accordingly.

 

[Aperitif]

Hello Cathy, good luck with your research. I guess it is all a bit of a steep learning curve - particularly in today's ultra observant (and often rightly so) society.
I know of your friend wheeledweenie - she is skiving off the next FNRttC in order to watch her husband bulge out of some lycra overalls I believe - lifting furniture as an excuse apparently.
Luckily, all those in the vicinity of her exploding lights and accessories on the last ride (well, I htink it was her...) have made a complete recovery and are expected to attend.
It is a good idea to ask in Beginners / Welcome Mat as there maybe people less experienced in cycling perhaps, but who hold similar views to yours and would like to help.

 

[Baggy]

Just an observation...I know it can be difficult to put together questionnaires (used to do it for a living) and can't second guess what you're trying to do with the info, but to get meaningful stats surely you'll want to analyse age/against experience/against for example things that put you off - but if people don't put a ballpark age in the first question you've lost some useful data.

Could you edit to add age-bands?

 

[Cathy]

Just an observation...I know it can be difficult to put together questionnaires (used to do it for a living) and can't second guess what you're trying to do with the info, but to get meaningful stats surely you'll want to analyse age/against experience/against for example things that put you off - but if people don't put a ballpark age in the first question you've lost some useful data.

Could you edit to add age-bands?

I am not sure how much age will add at this stage. I am also limited to ten questions - as you probably guessed at by the way they're all crammed together at the end - and currently age is not a priority. I agree it would be useful but I am more interested in other factors - eg location, how often you cycle, barriers to cycling in general.
The 'barriers to cycling' is also a difficult one as obviously everyone on this forum cycles! I would like to also get some findings from non-cyclists on why they don't cycle. Sustrans have done a bit of research on this but I think there's scope for a lot more.

 

[Cathy]

Hello Cathy, good luck with your research. I guess it is all a bit of a steep learning curve - particularly in today's ultra observant (and often rightly so) society.
I know of your friend wheeledweenie - she is skiving off the next FNRttC in order to watch her husband bulge out of some lycra overalls I believe - lifting furniture as an excuse apparently.
Luckily, all those in the vicinity of her exploding lights and accessories on the last ride (well, I htink it was her...) have made a complete recovery and are expected to attend.
It is a good idea to ask in Beginners / Welcome Mat as there maybe people less experienced in cycling perhaps, but who hold similar views to yours and would like to help.

Oooh dear yes I recall WW telling me about her fall. Bless her. I did the first FNRttC with her, was great fun!

 

[Baggy]

I would like to also get some findings from non-cyclists on why they don't cycle. Sustrans have done a bit of research on this but I think there's scope for a lot more.

The Cycling Demonstration Towns have also done a lot of work on this, but am not sure whether much of it is made public.