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What Will Encourage More Women To Bike?

28K views 234 replies 63 participants last post by  sooshee 
#1 ·
#35 ·
Let's compare riding bikes and knitting:

1. both activities go better if you learn from a good teacher

2. both involve initially intimidating shop experiences - one that is traditionally male, and one that is traditionally female oriented.

3. both start out with super boring "first projects" - fire roads or scarves, pick your dull-a$$ poison. Woe to the newb that tries lace or Slickrock on the first go.

4. both have a surprising cost of entry. Have you ever purchased enough merino wool for an adult-sized sweater? eff.

5. both require painful experiences to get to the truly rewarding parts. Ever faced undoing 2 months of work? Not any less painful than a flat pedal to the shin IMO.

6. both have had a recent renaissance, becoming significantly more accessible in the last 10 years to newbs. Stitch and B*tch is the WSD of the yarn world.

7. they both result in super useless skills that apply nowhere else in life. yeah, you can ride over a log or make a sweet alpaca hoodie, but neither one will get you a job unless you turn pro and there are faster ways to get fit and stay warm.

So, maybe instead of asking why don't more women ride, we could ask, what does it take to get a human being involved in a high cost, low payoff activity that bores their non-knitting/cycling friends to tears when they talk about it?

Or, maybe we can just celebrate the fact that while there aren't a ton of us, those that are around truly appreciate the subtle beauty of a perfect pedal kick and the complexity of the brioche stitch and we don't need others around to tell us it is cool.

molteni2
 
#19 ·
I know plenty of women who bike, just not many that mountain bike. Lots of road bikers. I see lots of women out there cycling on the roads, too.

As for finding ways to recruit more women mountain bike riders... why? The trails are crowded enough around here already. If I see another woman out riding I am always happy to say "hi", but if they aren't motivated to get themselves out there I don't feel like I need to encourage them.
 
#7 ·
There has to be a place in between a) bad ass "ballsy" men and b) "safe, communal and inclusive."

There are plenty of women who are attracted to doing things that are not safe, communal, or inclusive, but who aren't as ballsy or bad ass as some men (and yet still enjoy community with follow bad ass girls).

I feel talked down to almost when I read stuff like this that assumes that women want to play safe sports, sit in a circle and feel included. But I'm not always as gnarly as most men. I want to kick ass and do cool things, but I want to do them carefully, and I enjoy seeing inspiring images of women like me succeeding at a high level.

I think showing inspiring images of sexy, attractive women (everyone loves pretty girls, even girls) playing and competing with skill. Having fun. Showing that they can be accomplished, skilled, competitive, and feminine.

Lots of movies from the past fifteen years are starting to show ass kicking hot women...many women are still hung up on not being able to do things that are not considered feminine. It sucks...

Just my two cents...
 
#47 ·
I think showing inspiring images of sexy, attractive women (everyone loves pretty girls, even girls) playing and competing with skill. Having fun. Showing that they can be accomplished, skilled, competitive, and feminine.

Lots of movies from the past fifteen years are starting to show ass kicking hot women...many women are still hung up on not being able to do things that are not considered feminine. It sucks...
But see, this is still inherently sexist and unwelcoming. There is a lot of discourse about this in the scholarly circles that focus on pop-culture. I happen to have a friend who is one of the foremost Buffy the Vampire Slayer experts (crazy job, huh?) - her take on the sexism women force upon themselves via approved representations is pretty interesting.

If a woman has to be attractive to bring women into the sport, what does that say to women who aren't conventionally attractive? The women who aren't the color depicted in the poster? Dudes don't have to be hot to be admired.

When I work with my athletes, one of the things I specifically tell the women is that being friendly and good at your job will ensure a long career and a transition to a desk job when you retire. Taking hot-girl pin up pics works for about 5-10 years and no one will remember your athletic accomplishments when you have reached a stage where you don't want to do pin-ups anymore. There is nothing wrong with asserting your sexuality, but it does change what people remember about you.

May

I have always found this entertaining:
Women Fighters In Reasonable Armor

And this:


Female Armor Sucks - CollegeHumor Video

If you are interested in a more academic take:
 
#36 ·
In January 2010, a group of women met for an organised skills day. At the end of it, all 12 of us were immediate friends. Six months later we were still exchanging emails and flooding our inboxs with suggestions of rides and races we wanted to try.

From that grew a website where we could plan our lives a little easier.

These days, when we turn up to a race, there is generally 40-60 women from the one group, some fly across the country, some join in from overseas. The female participation rate at a recent 24hr race was 14% (which is average for our area, and its generally lower at club level XC races).

What stopped us from riding prior to this? We didn't know anyone to ride with. We didn't want to 'hold up' our partners when we went riding with them. We needed to find someone else that understood 'how' we rode. That we needed to stop and gossip occasionally - put us in a race and there's no stopping for chats though.

We are capable of riding technical terrains, long distances, night rides, and weekends away. We enjoy our riding exactly the same as the men, we generally turn up better organised or with morning tea to share.

So, what worked for us? Finding someone in the same boat and sharing the ride.
 
#41 ·
In January 2010, a group of women met for an organised skills day. At the end of it, all 12 of us were immediate friends. Six months later we were still exchanging emails and flooding our inboxs with suggestions of rides and races we wanted to try.

From that grew a website where we could plan our lives a little easier.

These days, when we turn up to a race, there is generally 40-60 women from the one group, some fly across the country, some join in from overseas. The female participation rate at a recent 24hr race was 14% (which is average for our area, and its generally lower at club level XC races).

What stopped us from riding prior to this? We didn't know anyone to ride with. We didn't want to 'hold up' our partners when we went riding with them. We needed to find someone else that understood 'how' we rode. That we needed to stop and gossip occasionally - put us in a race and there's no stopping for chats though.

We are capable of riding technical terrains, long distances, night rides, and weekends away. We enjoy our riding exactly the same as the men, we generally turn up better organised or with morning tea to share.

So, what worked for us? Finding someone in the same boat and sharing the ride.
I have been invited on a couple women only rides, they are so different from the more competitive mixed and men's rides. They tend to be more skills oriented (as opposed to speed), friendlier and more social. I much prefer the format and style of the chick rides.

Sent from my LG-C900 using Board Express
 
#56 ·
So which comes first, the confidence or the practice? :) Knowing you can do something is the denotative definition of confidence.

1. a : a feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances <had perfect confidence in her ability to succeed> <met the risk with brash confidence>

b : faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way <have confidence in a leader>

2 : the quality or state of being certain : certitude <they had every confidence of success>​

On a side note, gonna be interesting to see how many negative reps I get for these posts, heh. Sometimes I miss Irie.
 
#60 ·
On a side note, gonna be interesting to see how many negative reps I get for these posts, heh. Sometimes I miss Irie.
Ha! I never know what will warrant a neg. repping. I've had photo/video posts get negative rep! Just brush it off, I suppose.
 
#70 · (Edited)
I love this discussion.

I've been riding alone for a few years because I'm fearful of being too old, too slow, too timid, not athletic enough. But I love riding so much, and I want to find others who love it too. My homemade strategy has been to ask around work (healthcare field, not engineering) the other females who might like to ride with the idea of creating a local community like Kris described, on a smaller basis. I joined the local mountain bike association so I can try out the group rides (first one tomorrow!). I have dreams of getting a group going, but maybe my best bet would be to move back West and join the fun in progress.

I think it is hard to be a stereotypical delicate female with the dirt, bruises and scars that come with mountain biking (at least if you wreck as often as I do...maybe that's a bad thing?). For myself, the "delicate flower" stereotype is not an image I value, so it's easy to shrug off another shin gash or arm scratch.

There is the added element of being interested in mechanical stuff, including how it functions and how to fix it. I'm addressing my own lack of education in this area by asking a lot of questions at my LBS, watching videos at the Park Tools website, and looking at bike repair books. I plan to take a bike mechanic adult ed course if one is offered nearby. My perception of stereotypical femininity doesn't include grease or mechanical stuff.

To answer the original question of how to encourage more women bikers, I think starting with kids or teenagers would be an excellent start. Speaking from my own 47 year old experience, non-competitive local group rides and clinics with a community of like-minded active outdoor-lovers would be the ideal way to introduce new people to the sport.

But to return to the knitting metaphor, there has to be a basic desire to do it for the intrinsic value of the activity. I think women need to possess a combination of character traits including nonconformity, tolerance of minor injuries, a love of the outdoors, and tolerance for dirt, sweat, and messed up hair before mountain biking even sounds fun. Then there are the barriers of appropriate level trails, gear, and riding partners who want to teach, as well as fellow beginners to share the process of learning.

There my metaphor breaks down. I'm not sure what character traits are needed for knitting. :). Perseverance? Manual dexterity, for sure...
 
#74 ·
I have dreams of getting a group going, but maybe my best bet would be to move back West and join the fun in progress.
Don't give up your dream. I had a similar dream 5 years ago, after I took a women's mtb clinic 5 hours away. I thought, wouldn't it be great to have a group like this to ride with in my hometown so I didn't have to drive 5 hours to do something like this? Anything that was local to me was very poorly organized and/or under the radar. It took a few years, but by working through the local bike clubs, I have been leading well-publicized weekly "social" rides for about 3 years. We've organized a couple skills clinics, too. Now the local mtb scene has experienced a major resuscitation.We finally got organized this past year, and we became an IMBA chapter a couple weeks ago. We have a pretty large core group of riders now, working together to help other mtbers become better riders, and making our local trail systems better places to ride. So don't give up!
 
#77 ·
Not sure about the "beauty" thing.

I find athletes beautiful but I am a photographer, coach, father. Pro athletes are magnificently beautiful, not just in their static presence, but in the way they move and the attitudes they express by their motion. (I have absolutely no interest in anything "close-up and personal" with pro athletes.)

For the evolving athlete beauty is something that emerges over time. Sometimes it is a thing discovered or uncovered or simply a thing finally manifest with maturity. I see it in the women's ride group we have developed in our local trails council. Clearly few women have that commercial hourglass body sold as beauty but all of our women are beautiful; you hear it in their voices and see it in their eyes. Even in the newer riders you know that vitality and hope are at issue and see the beauty of the aspiration.

Skirts? I think that has little to do with being attractive and more to do with old stereotypes for women's attire, now masked by arguments of tradition. The sheer practicality of sports gear will soon relegate skirts to the past.
 
#78 ·
I think clinics geared for women are an excellent way to get women to ride. In an environment that's low pressure and upbeat, a woman can feel better about trying things that are scary or intimidating. I went to Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park for the women's weekend and had a ball. There were so many obstacles, ramps, skinnies, and teeter totters... stuff I never would have tried if I was on a group ride with a bunch of guys. When encourage and support each other to try new challenges. I think there's a healthy sort of competition. Not like, "I'm better than her," but more like "Wow, she can do that? Well, then I think I can do that too!" I think if bike shops sponsored women's only rides, it would help increase the number of women in cycling.
 
#87 ·
Unless a person (male or female) is on the high end of the "hardy" scale, mountain biking may not be the right sport for them anyway, and I'm careful about encouraging women friends to come out if they don't do anything else requiring grit. EVERYONE in my riding group has had their share of injuries...clavicle fractures, AC separations, concussions, broken ankle, broken femur, broken pelvis, broken ribs, dislocated fingers in the past 7-8 years. And we are an older group of relatively capable but cautious, non-radical riders ! We do ride in San Diego which is home of the rocky and rolly, steep up and steep down....and the percent of female riders here is low compared to Colorado and Utah. I did notice though that Fruita and Crested Butte had tons of female riders while Gooseberry and Little Creek did not...not sure why that is.
I remember riding in a group with a relatively new-to-the-sport woman (wearing no armor) who fell so hard and so often on a difficult trail I couldn't believe she was still going at it 2 hours later. Turns out she was a champion female boxer...yep...that girl could take a punch !
 
#99 ·
Ut. EVERYONE in my riding group has had their share of injuries...clavicle fractures, AC separations, concussions, broken ankle, broken femur, broken pelvis, broken ribs, dislocated fingers in the past 7-8 years.
This is no longer necessary and can change but athletes have to be willing to change the way they enter the sport. The learn-by-trial-and-error paradigm was the only way to get into mtb, just as entering the sport through male influence has been the predominant way to enter the sport.

Independent of gender issues the sport is evolving. Experience is evolving into understanding principles. The tight and exclusive cabal of riding buds is reforming into community. The accumulated knowledge is being passed down to the next generation of riders: kids and adults who defy the old stereotypes who once defined the sport.

The breadth of understanding appreciates a gradual nature of acquiring ability as opposed to riding until you crash or trying so hard to keep up with the group or SO. It unearths a truth that injury is not a necessary element of learning but that preparation and structured growth is essential. The broken collarbone, once a marque of honor, can now be seen as something quite different; no longer a random "that happens" or "that is a part of learning the sport." It can be seen as something which reveals a lack of understanding what an individual is capable of in a particular setting, poor stamina, poor nutrition/hydration, poorly maintained bikes, inattentive coaching, unrealistic expectations, desperation, and such.

Look; we are all a bunch of pretty bright people and it doesn't take a genius to see that all this mtb stuff can be pulled together in a pile, organized, understood and transmitted for a much better experience. Where we really stumble is through some individualistic resistance to being trained unless we hit a wall or are just so confounded that we finally decide that we need something. All of this really begs a a respect for the sport which is often lacking.

On one hand training programs which build from the ground up are almost unheard of. These are the most successful at training riders for power, speed, and safety. What they demand, however, is dedication and discipline over time and appreciating one's limits. What you get are very well-rounded athletes who make a group ride a joy both as comrades and assets.

On the other hand you have "skills programs" created by very skilled and hard working people which do their best to embrace riders to rehearse them through certain iconic challenges. These challenges are often defined by the applicants themselves who perceive that they have a problem with this feature or that feature. This is similar to someone with a medical problem going to a doctor with a diagnosis based upon who knows what. As such the problem is most likely something quite different and more fundamental.

These programs never can really mitigate gaps in fundamental ability, skills, or athletic development. As an aside I just got off the phone with a friend who took up mtb 5 years ago. He just learned, last Saturday, about cross-chaining.:eek: As such, it is not the programs which are at fault but a simple circumstance of having to try and manage the enormous range of chaotically built riders with ego complexities. (Keep in mind that the best professional athletic programs, when they run into problems, go back to the basics. Great athletes understand this.) That said, even those programs are relatively rare. Hats off to all who do this work.

So:

What Will Encourage More Women To Bike?

Why would anyone want to get into a sport where "clavicle fractures, AC separations, concussions, broken ankle, broken femur, broken pelvis, broken ribs, dislocated fingers" is in many ways simply seen as part of the learning curve?

The answer is understanding our roles in learning and teaching.
 

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#90 ·
^^"...fear of humiliation if they fail..." Yes a BIG reason why eople do not allow themselves to go outside their comfort zone and learn a new skill or sport. I know men and women who will not try something new simply because they are afraid of being incompetent, or of being a beginner.
Also, a lot of people simply do not like outdoor sports.
 
#97 ·
I know men and women who will not try something new simply because they are afraid of being incompetent, or of being a beginner.
This is why I decided not to learn to golf or snowboard.
It takes WAY too long to stop being a beginner at golfing.
And after 20 years of skiing, I wasn't ready to go back to being a beginner long enough to learn to snowboard. Besides, falling down so much HURT.
Guess I am getting inflexible in me later years...
 
#93 ·
I have to think a lack of beginner trails contributes. Even when beginner trails get built, it is apparent that mots trail builders haven't ridden with a beginner in a loooong time. My wife rides a little bit (likes the horses more - that's cool) and we went riding last year with another couple on a beginner trail in our area. The women were both off the bikes and walking on quite a few switchback turns (I'm not talking about exposed Aspen, CO switchbacks, just mild gentle turns that were a little tighter than they could handle. My friends' wife tipped over in one of the last turns in sight of the lodge and broke her ankle. SO much for beginner trail, and we probably won't see her on a bike again.

I also rode last year with a former collegiate ski racer. It turns out that this woman who likes going 60 mph on ice is terrified of going 6 mph on dirt. We are planning to go and ride some lift-served dirt with her and my daughter this summer. The thinking being that if a 9 year-old can do it, she probably can too.

Now of course, the funny thing is that men seem to be able to learn how to mountain bike and like it without the benefit of really perfect beginner trails. Explain that.
 
#100 ·
Well, I don't even have a bike yet, so I can speak with a little bit of what's going through our minds ;)
As a stay at home mother of two with a recently paved(yes, I'd start out riding on a paved trail, they're all over place in my town) trail literally 20 feet outside my back door on the other side of the fence, I really really WANT to ride. I want to crochet a little holder for my phone so I can listen to mp3s as I go, and leave the kids with either my husband when he's home, or their grandparents when he's on the road for work, and go for a bike ride. I want to lose some weight and move into dirt trails, but at the same time, I need to be able to do leisure rides with my kids as well as quick errands around town. I have no source of information about bikes for bigger ladies. The LBS is owned by a man who doesn't open when he doesn't want to, and he told my husband to go buy some liposuction before even thinking about building a bike for his almost 7 foot tall 400 lb frame before looking at me and hmphing and walking away. Support. Women with kids have usually pushed live human beings out through their pelvis, so not just moral support, but physical as well. I know when I do find a bike to start out on within my (super cheap) budget, it's going to hurt. I'm going to be sore for a while. The skinny little college kids and teenagers are going to point and laugh, my thigh will chap. I'll be sweaty and smelly. I can't freaking wait! And when I can get out of clydesdale status, I'll be able to look at some of the better trails winding their way through the allegheny forest here. A way to learn, and serious answers to stupid questions other than "Google!" or "Go to LBS!". And to make it affordable(that's an industry thing though). I have 2 kids, and need to manage my bills and not break the bank building a bike. As it stands now, if I can't find something straight out of the box that I can purchase at a low price to get me started, I won't be able to get into it. But if I can find something I can afford, then I can start to experience what I like, and figure out what I need, which would lead to some more expensive purchases in the future.
 
#105 ·
If you don't have any luck on craigslist or garage sales, another option for inexpensive bikes that are in good shape is a bike co-op. They take in old bikes, fix them up and get them rolling again in the community. Try googling (sorry) bike coop and your state or nearby cities.

Any tubes/tires that hold air will work for you as long as you don't let them get too low (they slowly lose some air over time). For comfort, the fatter the tire the better, so you don't have to hold out for a hybrid - a mtn bike could work for you too, you can always switch to slick tires later.
 
#106 ·
Hello, laydeez! I am so excited I felt a need to report on our progress in starting a local women's ride. I found a fellow MTB enthusiast and we announced a weekly Monday night ride last week. NINE women showed up to ride. Many of them are outdoorsy athletic women who have never ridden or only ridden a few times but want to ride more. Several have a partner who rides, so they want to join in the fun.

We had a great time, made some new friends, and made Mondays a whole lot better!:thumbsup:
 
#171 ·
Oh god, the word clipless got mentioned... there goes the thread, LOL.

Rapists are the least of my worries when I ride. I ride alone 98% of the time, both road and mountain bike. I'm far more worried about getting hit by a car or wrecking and being unconscious out in the woods. To think back, the last couple of times I went mountain biking I only saw other female riders out and about... which I did think was odd (usually there's a few guys), but also awesome! A few years ago people acted so strange when they'd see me out alone, so I'm loving the fact other women are out riding alone as well.

And pain, ha! I've been an orthopedic nurse for two years, let me tell you about young to middle aged men and their pain thresholds...

I will say, I can see how scratches, bruises, broken stuff could scare off women (and men) from mountain biking. I know some women who go out and get lots of padded gear, and then end up liking mountain biking more because they're not getting so beat up. There's solutions for those who don't dig scars!
 
#222 ·
Just a fe anecdotes from an old mountain biker.

The first time I noticed a lot of women on the trails was in Fernie, BC, 9-10 years ago. I was there fore a few days and was out solo with the local map when a group of 7 invited to show me the trails. What was unusual about this group was that it comprised 5 women and 2 men. I met a lot of riders on the trail there and women were in the majority. Probably not representative, but it showed a strong women's riding community.

2nd place is where I live now in Cumberland, BC. Still more men than women, but a lot of women ride here. There is a huge Wednesday night crew that we run into constantly and compete with for space at the local pizzeria. Some are local legends.

3rd was an eye opener for me. My friends and I entered a nearby enduro race and were soundly thrashed by a 12 year old girl. She looked small for 12, and although I learned not to judge a book by it's cover years ago, I was pretty surprised at her time.
 
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#224 ·
2nd place is where I live now in Cumberland, BC. Still more men than women, but a lot of women ride here. There is a huge Wednesday night crew that we run into constantly and compete with for space at the local pizzeria. Some are local legends.
Ha, pizza is the key to getting more women (and men for that matter) on the trails. Last night was raining, very wet, and muddy. Our ride was small, just 3 die hards, and by the time we showed up for pizza the shop was pretty full of women mtbers, with more showing up. To quote and anonymous female rider "pretty dirty out there, but it's a good dirty". I hope that's not offensive, her words not mine.
 
#2 ·
i think in "general", men are a bit more ballsy. most women i know have a fear of getting hurt....so do i, but i find a way to still enjoy myself, yet be cautious. I think most women would enjoy riding fire roads as a start. you dont have to shred hardcore and break bones in order to be a real mountain biker!
 
#6 · (Edited)
Calories burned while cycling knowledge

Show a list of calorie burned counts for various sports for 30 minut- s and 1 hour of play. When they see how many more cycling is many more women will pick up a bike. Many would rather ride trails then ride roads. Data from Nutrition Data.com Daily Needs calculator found at, as I don't have 10 posts they won't let me post links but that is where I took my data from the numbers below, I didn't pull them out of my hat. I happen to use that site to monitor my diet.
60 minutes slow (under 10mph) - 267 Walking - 250
60 minutes MTB - 669
60 minutes leisure (10 mph) - 447
60 minutes leisure to moderate effort - 625 calories
60 minutes running (5mph) - 625 calories
60 minutes high impact aerobics - 536 calories

What would you rather do? Cycling in any form is a great calorie burn for the effort put in and so much fun to boot that I never feel like I'm just out getting a work out and being on a real bike is more calories then similar efforts on a stationary. Check out the numbers.
 
#10 ·
Along the lines of what Christieland And Nicole said, I found another girl who is just about as bad/good as I am, and riding together is so much fun! We are probably semi-wussy to medium on the wussy---> ballsy scale. We can walk scary parts without shame and come up with areas of the trail we want to tackle (even in an embarrassing amount of gear) over and over till we get it...or get sick of falling over. It's not a race and we chat and have fun in the woods. I love riding w my husband too, but I have more/different fun w my bike buddy.

Oh and wine. Wine is yummy too : )
 
#11 ·
I am glad a conversation started here, because honesty, I don't understand how something so fun and challenging and flexible (bike alone, bike with a dog, bike with a friend, bike with a bunch of friends, bike with a group of strangers, bike fast, bike slow, bike in the street, bike in the woods, etc.!) can be so under-represented by women. I think there is a conspiracy afoot!
 
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