What’s stopping women cycling?

[derrick]

You don't want to think about the issue but wish you knew the answer? You hope that something will change but don't want to talk about what you think needs to change, why, and how that could be done?

If i did not want to speak about the issue i would not be on here. Just cant stand the bullshit like this. Why dont you grow up.

 

[Julia9054]

I'm just back from Park Run, proof that men and women of all ages and abilities can participate in equal numbers in a positive, supportive, egalitarian environment.
#thereishope

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-women-took-over-the-world-of-running-1463415987
Some figures from this US article. In 2016 women made up 57% of long distance race finishers up from 32% in 1984. 44% of marathon finishers and 61% of half marathon finishers today are women. Were people saying women just don't want to run in 1984?
In the article, only 15% of members of USA Cycling are women.
This looks only at competitive running and cycling and we all know there is more to both than competing but what did running organisations do that cycling organisations could be doing?

 

[derrick]

Here's an idea, stop the personal stuff and discuss the issue which, to remind you, is why is it that women do not cycle as much as they could. Alternatively, if you don't want to participate in consideration of that issue, why not just leave it?

You are the one who always wants to make it personal, i am trying to understand, and find the underlying problem some people on here have with the OPs question.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Mod note:

Coming in to catch up with this thread, the last few pages seem to have mostly involved personal bickering or silly comments intended to get a negative reaction/disrupt the thread.

Enough now and back on topic. I'm quite happy to lock anyone who can't discuss the subject sensibly out of the thread after this point.

Thanks.

 

[MontyVeda]

[QUOTE 5130328, member: 10119"]...
I actually know a quite a lot of women who rides bikes - possibly because I live in fairly cycling-friendly pan-flat bit of the world and know a lot of green-leaning hippy-ish types.
...[/QUOTE]
You could be onto something there... out of my circle of friends the m/f split of regular cycling types is pretty much even and we tend to be a bit green leaning and a tad hippy-ish.

 

[Inertia]

[QUOTE 5130828, member: 9609"]I doubt chauvinism plays any bigger role in low numbers in women cycling than it does it in the low numbers of men riding horses[/QUOTE]
What makes you think that?

 

[User10119]

I'll have to see if I can find the article I was reading t'other day that was talking about the different types of riding generally indulged in by horsey people. Apparently blokes tend more towards the polo/hunting/eventing type riding and women tend more towards the dancing ponies/hacking kind of thing and if you account for all the horsey-type 'sporting' activities together there's a more even mix of genders than one might at first think. There are very marked disparities in the particpation levels of people from different social classes and financial situations. I only know a couple of horsey women; both also ride a bike, and do most of their horsing about off road. Of course you don't see many people at all, of any gender, commuting by horse, shopping by horse, doing the school run by horse, riding their horses through town centres, or locking their horses up outside the library/cafe etc. I'm not at all sure it is much more relevant to the discussion of cycling than a discussion of predominantly female hobbies such as bingo or ballroom dancing or knitting would be.

 

[Julia9054]

[QUOTE 5130936, member: 10119"]I'll have to see if I can find the article I was reading t'other day that was talking about the different types of riding generally indulged in by horsey people. Apparently blokes tend more towards the polo/hunting/eventing type riding and women tend more towards the dancing ponies/hacking kind of thing and if you account for all the horsey-type 'sporting' activities together there's a more even mix of genders than one might at first think. There are very marked disparities in the particpation levels of people from different social classes and financial situations. I only know a couple of horsey women; both also ride a bike, and do most of their horsing about off road. Of course you don't see many people at all, of any gender, commuting by horse, shopping by horse, doing the school run by horse, riding their horses through town centres, or locking their horses up outside the library/cafe etc. I'm not at all sure it is much more relevant to the discussion of cycling than a discussion of predominantly female hobbies such as bingo or ballroom dancing or knitting would be.[/QUOTE]
My horsey workmate says if i can have the cycle to work scheme that she should have horse to work and work should provide her with somewhere to keep it!

 

[MontyVeda]

Please let's not start discussing men riding horses.

what about cavemen riding horses?

 

[Racing roadkill]

They tend to think it’s all ‘smashy smashy HDAU’ the majority of women cyclists I come across want to talk, and stop, and stuff. Most blokes want to smash stuff and be the ball, and rahhhhhhhh. That’s where the disconnect happens.

 

[Slick]

Any chance anyone can translate this into coherent English?

Not all of it, but I know the "be the ball" is an aggressive golf shout that originated across the pond. So my guess would be, the girls want to stop and chat whilst the boys are all aggressive American wannabes.

Could be wrong.

 

[Slick]

I must admit, this thread has made me wonder, mostly about the topic at hand, but also about some of the other stuff.

Two events that struck me today made me wonder if it's an age thing? I attended a junior cycle event for all age categories up to 16. The split seemed to be around 50/50 between the sexes. I went to my BIL birthday bash tonight where someone had brought him the local rag from the old home town, and I noticed another friends twin girls were on the back page for athletics in the under 9 category. A year or two back, I was captain of the golf club, and as such was responsible for improving the flagging membership. We had lots of adult members, lots of juniors who played with their parents, but once they hit 16 we seemed to lose them, and we never really did pin down why.

I realise that my personal example includes the loss in equal measure to both sexes but I still wondered if it's a factor where returning cyclists is where the real difference becomes noticeable?

 

[Alan O]

Not all of it, but I know the "be the ball" is an aggressive golf shout that originated across the pond. So my guess would be, the girls want to stop and chat whilst the boys are all aggressive American wannabes.

Could be wrong.

If that's what it means, then it's not even close to an accurate description of the many people, male or female, that I've ridden with over the years.

 

[Blue Hills]

[QUOTE 5130282, member: 9609"]

can we now have a thread that explores why very few men ride horses[/QUOTE]

I couldn't possibly repeat the theory on this a member of this forum gave me for this on a ride a few years ago.

But back to the thread.

 

[vickster]

If that's what it means, then it's not even close to an accurate description of the many people, male or female, that I've ridden with over the years.

Given who posted the nonsense, that’s not entirely surprising