What’s stopping women cycling?

[Fab Foodie]

Women outnumber men in the pool I swim at by about 5 to 1.

Which pool is that :-)

 

[vickster]

Women outnumber men in the pool I swim at by about 5 to 1.

Which has what to do with women cycling? Unless they all cycle there

 

[Dave 123]

Tbf I don’t usually have a point and when I do, it’s tired and predictable.

There's nothing wrong with sticking to your strengths.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I've seen the ladies in the article out and about a few times cycling.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Which has what to do with women cycling? Unless they all cycle there

I think the suggestion is that more women may be found doing other forms of exercise. So the OP's question remains, of course.

 

[Slick]

Never going to be great, mostly men discussing why it's tough for women.

 

[BoldonLad]

Mrs Dave commutes alone from time to time but doesn't like the idea of a leisure ride alone for fear of mechanicals. Not sure why as I'm no bloody help!

But, if you are there, she has someone to blame! Do keep up!

 

[Heltor Chasca]

The freewheeling day-trip group I ride with is 50-50 (exactly on the outbound yesterday, but two men lived near the destination so didn't ride the return). Why is 20-80 good for an audax club, rather than a long way shy of where it should be?

You are absolutely right. But it is a very progressive club and things can only get better. It would be nice to see more women than 20%. I for one don’t see a lot of them other than at the départ or the occasional control. They usually outclass me by a long shot.

My observations of the lower female percentages are based anecdotally on my casual observations of the local road clubs so may not be truely representative. My figures based on the actual membership of my club are real.

 

[Pale Rider]

Going by a couple of remarks made by women members of my Sunday morning group, fear of unwanted male attention plays a part.

I've ridden just with one of our women members several times, and there's no doubt a significant number of other male road users gawp at her.

If I notice, she must, and it must be off putting.

Then there's the inevitable fear of some really nasty male attention if cycling solo.

In our group, a woman member is less inclined to come out if she thinks she will be the only woman.

The men just turn up irrespective, but I've noticed the women tend to have a pre-ride online conversation to establish if any other women are riding the next Sunday.

Wanting the company of another woman on the ride is reasonable, but it's bound to limit participation when only one of the handful of women in the group want to come out.

Another factor I've noticed is some women lack confidence in their ability.

"I couldn't manage that ride," when I know fine well they could having seen them do similar rides in the past.

If there was a cycling fitness league table of our group, two or three of the women would be close to the top.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I think the suggestion is that more women may be found doing other forms of exercise. So the OP's question remains, of course.

Yep. I see more women jogging/running than men.
So plenty of women are sportzing, and increasingly more are cycling. At what point we have enough women cycling I don’t know....

 

[Fab Foodie]

Going by a couple of remarks made by women members of my Sunday morning group, fear of unwanted male attention plays a part.

I've ridden just with one of our women members several times, and there's no doubt a significant number of other male road users gawp at her.

If I notice, she must, and it must be off putting.

Then there's the inevitable fear of some really nasty male attention if cycling solo.

.

I don’t disagree, but isn’t you first paragraph true of other sports clubs, running, tri, swimming, gym bunnies etc? It cannot be unique to cycling.

 

[gavroche]

When I did the Tour de Mon last August, there were many women participating and quite a few of them could ride uphill faster than me!

 

[Fab Foodie]

Going by a couple of remarks made by women members of my Sunday morning group, fear of unwanted male attention plays a part.

I've ridden just with one of our women members several times, and there's no doubt a significant number of other male road users gawp at her.



.

I give you the Tri Talk forum....
http://www.tritalk.co.uk/forums/vie...rt=10665&sid=b5e2714e99f7304c002a9b7a7562748d

 

[Julia9054]

I don’t disagree, but isn’t you first paragraph true of other sports clubs, running, tri, swimming, gym bunnies etc? It cannot be unique to cycling.

It's outdoor exercising where you are encountering men not also exercising so my runner friends also encounter it. As somebody upthread said, we all encounter abuse simply by being on a bike but on the rare occasions it happens to me, the abuse is because i am on a bike, the words chosen are because i am female.
I also get the occasional shouted comment about my body which happens when i am alone or with other women and never when i am in a mixed group.
As an experienced cyclist, i feel less frightened when this happens on a bike as i am more confident of my ability to get away than if i was running.

 

[Drago]

I've had a female comment about my body while I was in my Lycra (and fortunately riding the bike). While the language was rather coarse, I believe the tone was intended as complimentary. Nevertheless, it was unsolicited and impolite at best.

People who utter such tosh to cyclists, whatever the sex, would be probably inclined to do much the same wherever they encounter you.