Biking is not popular with women here



Corzhens

Well-Known Member
May 26, 2015
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You may be surprised with the reason why only few women are biking here. They don't want to get a tan. Yeah, it is the opposite here that in the US, you want a darker skin but over here, people want a fair skin hence the more they can avoid the sun, the better for their skin. And even if there is a sun block lotion, it is only for the beach but not commonly used when riding. But in fairness to those who avoid the sun, it is noticeable that most bikers ,the male species, have dark skin due to too much exposure to the sun.
 
Whenever I visit the rural areas for a reason or the other, I always see those that ride and the truth has to be that the women ride for business purposes as well which is encouraging. Some of them are market women and they ensure they take their goods to the market everyday on a bike for riding is quite popular here. On the part of your country, I don't think there is need to lay blames since it is the decision of those women living in that part of the world.
 
There are things called sun sleeves that can be worn. Also light weight long sleeve jerseys too. On the legs and other exposed areas of the skin sun block works fine for cycling.
 
I'm not sure why this is the case but cycling and women don't seem to go hand in hand much. While yes women do ride bikes but cycling is really a male dominated sport, it's not as male dominated as it was back in the 70's and 80's when it was rare to find a woman riding a bike but it still isn't as popular with women as one would hope it would be after all these years. Women seem to run more than bike, not sure why that is. When I say bike I don't mean ride around a local park or around the neighborhood, but go on longer rides of 20 plus miles. Even when I use to live in Southern California in the 70's and 80's it was rare to find a woman riding a bike any sort of distance, they mostly did aerobics and ran...those that did anything at all! Today I live in the midwest, I would guess that here about 15% to 20% tops of the serious riders are women, back in the 70's and 80's it was maybe 1/2 of a percent at the most! I have asked women on occasion over the years why they don't like to ride bikes and almost all of them indicated that they were fearful of traffic which I found interesting, not a very scientific survey though, but there might be a trend there in their thinking?

Keep in mind my percentages are pure guess, I could be way off track, but that seems to be close to the ratio where I live, those percentages I mentioned may be a lot higher in biking mecca areas like Southern California and Denver Colorado.

Women can be extremely good riders. I was riding at my cruise speed of 19 mph when this lady, on a very expensive bike, buzzed past me at around 24 mph, and she kept that pace without much effort! I couldn't hang with her! There are no pro riders in my city so she wasn't a pro either, and I haven't seen her at any of the local race events or clubs but she was a strong rider. She had no fear of riding roads since I saw her riding on a country road. And from what I've read from a scientific research site that women have better stamina than men do! This is why Juliana Buhring, a ultra endurance rider who rode the Trans am race in 2014 took first place in the women's category BUT took 4th place OVERALL!! She did the Transcontinental race in Europe and placed 9th overall!

Women is an area where the cycling industry could do a much better job at marketing to that's for sure.

This is all my opinion of course so I hope no one kills me for what I've said, I know male vs female subjects can get quite heated and I really hope I haven't done that or offended any women.
 
The fear of traffic is one I've heard too although it's usually more in the city than in the country since the traffic's heavier in the city and there's less room to maneuver. It also takes more time to get ready to go for a ride. With running a good pair of shoes, shorts, top and a drink and you're pretty much set. You also usually get a harder workout in a shorter period of time. Also the expense. Any sport at a higher level can get expensive but I'd say cycling is much more expensive than running. We have a pretty good amount of women riders in my area and there are some that are strong and fast. It would be good to see even more riding though.
 
I'm not sure why this is the case but cycling and women don't seem to go hand in hand much. While yes women do ride bikes but cycling is really a male dominated sport, it's not as male dominated as it was back in the 70's and 80's when it was rare to find a woman riding a bike but it still isn't as popular with women as one would hope it would be after all these years. Women seem to run more than bike, not sure why that is. When I say bike I don't mean ride around a local park or around the neighborhood, but go on longer rides of 20 plus miles. Even when I use to live in Southern California in the 70's and 80's it was rare to find a woman riding a bike any sort of distance, they mostly did aerobics and ran...those that did anything at all! Today I live in the midwest, I would guess that here about 15% to 20% tops of the serious riders are women, back in the 70's and 80's it was maybe 1/2 of a percent at the most! I have asked women on occasion over the years why they don't like to ride bikes and almost all of them indicated that they were fearful of traffic which I found interesting, not a very scientific survey though, but there might be a trend there in their thinking?

Keep in mind my percentages are pure guess, I could be way off track, but that seems to be close to the ratio where I live, those percentages I mentioned may be a lot higher in biking mecca areas like Southern California and Denver Colorado.

Women can be extremely good riders. I was riding at my cruise speed of 19 mph when this lady, on a very expensive bike, buzzed past me at around 24 mph, and she kept that pace without much effort! I couldn't hang with her! There are no pro riders in my city so she wasn't a pro either, and I haven't seen her at any of the local race events or clubs but she was a strong rider. She had no fear of riding roads since I saw her riding on a country road. And from what I've read from a scientific research site that women have better stamina than men do! This is why Juliana Buhring, a ultra endurance rider who rode the Trans am race in 2014 took first place in the women's category BUT took 4th place OVERALL!! She did the Transcontinental race in Europe and placed 9th overall!

Women is an area where the cycling industry could do a much better job at marketing to that's for sure.

This is all my opinion of course so I hope no one kills me for what I've said, I know male vs female subjects can get quite heated and I really hope I haven't done that or offended any women.

One of the reasons that women tend not to ride sports bicycles is pretty simple - the men in the group always have a need to act like jackass racers. Around here when I first started riding there were several men that were influential in the groups that always held the speed down and discouraged racing with each other and we have a large contingent of women. When he passed away the guys started with the same old BS and the women dropped out from perhaps 25% of the group to less than 10% who were capable of forming their own groups and just not riding with men.
 
One of the reasons that women tend not to ride sports bicycles is pretty simple - the men in the group always have a need to act like jackass racers. Around here when I first started riding there were several men that were influential in the groups that always held the speed down and discouraged racing with each other and we have a large contingent of women. When he passed away the guys started with the same old BS and the women dropped out from perhaps 25% of the group to less than 10% who were capable of forming their own groups and just not riding with men.

I know that men with there bikes can be jackasses on bikes that's for sure, but all women need to do is start their own club if they don't want to hassle with mens super large egos. Believe it or not even men have to deal with other mens egos which is why I haven't joined a bike club either because they always turn into a race; at this point and time while I'm still working I don't want race because I don't have the time needed to train for that sort of thing.

I also understand that some women don't want to ride alone for fear of attack but they don't seem to be worried about that running alone, so not sure how that equates into things.

As far as the cost goes a lot of women make as much money as a lot of men do, so for them to buy a nice bike shouldn't be a problem anymore then it is for a man to buy one.

While running is cheaper it's harder on the joints which could cause health costs to go way up later in life, plus shoes don't last very long when running at around 400 miles for a pair, and spending $150 for a pair of shoes every 400 miles can add up to quite a bit over a long period of time; think about a set of bike tires that cost say $150 for a pair that last 4,000 miles means that in that same amount of miles a runner could easily spend $1,500 in shoes, you can buy a decent bike for that amount. In my example of cost sure you can find running shoes for less (or even more) than the $150 a pair I quoted, but likewise with the bicycle tire cost, you can buy tires for less or more, and actually the bike tires cost is on the high side whereas the shoes were more mid level cost. I think over the long haul running might actually be more expensive. While running burns more calories in a shorter period of time than cycling it's still hard on joints and bones. I quit running some years ago because I was getting some pain in my knee, since I switched to cycling that pain has gone away and hasn't returned...but if I were to run today the knees will revolt in a short distance.

Just some random thoughts.
 
In our country also, Woman don't want to ride bikes because they maintain their white skin, and instead of doing some outdoors activities, they preferred the indoor and stay in the gym. Well that's how the woman attitude here.
 
The reasoning behind it is understandable, however, there are still ways to enjoy cycling without being afraid of the sun's effect on your skin. You can have indoor bikes or bike at night or early in the morning since you need sunlight anyway for vitamin D. It's also important to always use sunblock even when just walking as the sun can really age your skin and can cause diseases.
 
This sun stuff causing skin diseases has me wondering why people prior to working indoors had to work all day in the sun tending their fields, or hunting for food, didn't have all the issues we have today with sun related stuff. I tried to google that information but nothing came up, maybe someone else can find some info. I did find that if you block the sun all the time you'll have other issues that will make you sick. I also found that for the person that works indoors all day then exposes themselves to the sun their risk increases vs if the same person worked outside all their lives. So that may be the secret to why people in the old days didn't suffer from skin issues that we suffer from today.

Interesting read: http://nautil.us/issue/14/mutation/america-is-getting-the-science-of-sun-exposure-wrong
 
One of the reasons that women tend not to ride sports bicycles is pretty simple - the men in the group always have a need to act like jackass racers. Around here when I first started riding there were several men that were influential in the groups that always held the speed down and discouraged racing with each other and we have a large contingent of women. When he passed away the guys started with the same old BS and the women dropped out from perhaps 25% of the group to less than 10% who were capable of forming their own groups and just not riding with men.


Not sure if you are in California like I am, but we have plenty of jackass women around here. Many, many, many times we have been holding our steady speed while catching and passing other women, who are actually at the time riding with a man or two. Maybe because I have a couple of female riders with me, if we pass another woman, many times they turn to jackasses and start their own race in their minds. :D

We're a small steady group doing a decent pace and I have no idea what these jackass women are thinking. If a group catches you from a mile behind, they are probably doing a better pace. We don't race anyone. Usually ends up with the jackass fading 1/8 of a mile down the road. :p

BTW, I am not saying there aren't a bunch of jackass men, but there are a bunch of jackass women too!
 
Prime example of a jackass woman. About 30 seconds into the video. :eek:

We were doing our pace, you can see we didn't lift our pace, just maintaining or speed. We catch this chick and her man. They hop on the back then a few minutes later, the chick sprints around. He man goes too and drops her.

Not more than 100 yards later, we roll right by her as she struggles up a little ramp of about 10 yards.

I was riding with my wife Gina and friend Aimee, our usual ride.

FTR, at about 2:30, we pass a couple. I posted text saying Gina told the rider to talk to the hand. We know those riders and that was just a little humor knowing they dude would watch the video and we often tease each other. So that is intentionally meant as a joke for the dude Alan who we have ridden with many times.

I actually placed this in the video because the gal was such a jackass! o_O

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That's just someones competitive juices kicking up when you passed so they thought they would try to kick it up a notch and see if they could pass you, which they did but were unable to maintain a pace to stay ahead. Unless they made some sort of wisecrack as you or they passed I wouldn't write that off as them being jackasses. People do that all the time when I ride, and guess what? Sometimes I do it to them, why because it pushes me a bit harder for while that's all, I know if I pass a far better rider I'm not going to be able to maintain a pace to stay ahead, it simply is pushing me a bit.

After watching your video I do have a question, some people don't realize this, but I wonder why cyclists coast down hills? I watched you guys do that on a hill, I could understand if you were going down a 20% grade because you can't pedal any faster, but a small downward hill you simply change gears as your RPM's rise above a comfortable level, and crank the hill out, as the hill fades to level or an upward trend then select another gear as your RPM's begin to fall. Maybe you do that but just didn't do it that time? But I know from riding in California for many years vast majority of people coast down hills, I never did that, I guess it was my racing training I had, but even going down steep hills I was still moving the legs even if I was going faster than I could crank, my theory in doing that seemingly wasted motion was to keep the blood circulating at all times in the legs.
 
That's just someones competitive juices kicking up when you passed so they thought they would try to kick it up a notch and see if they could pass you, which they did but were unable to maintain a pace to stay ahead. Unless they made some sort of wisecrack as you or they passed I wouldn't write that off as them being jackasses. People do that all the time when I ride, and guess what? Sometimes I do it to them, why because it pushes me a bit harder for while that's all, I know if I pass a far better rider I'm not going to be able to maintain a pace to stay ahead, it simply is pushing me a bit.

After watching your video I do have a question, some people don't realize this, but I wonder why cyclists coast down hills? I watched you guys do that on a hill, I could understand if you were going down a 20% grade because you can't pedal any faster, but a small downward hill you simply change gears as your RPM's rise above a comfortable level, and crank the hill out, as the hill fades to level or an upward trend then select another gear as your RPM's begin to fall. Maybe you do that but just didn't do it that time? But I know from riding in California for many years vast majority of people coast down hills, I never did that, I guess it was my racing training I had, but even going down steep hills I was still moving the legs even if I was going faster than I could crank, my theory in doing that seemingly wasted motion was to keep the blood circulating at all times in the legs.


Coasting down those hills we are hitting about 28, 29 MPH. Why pedal? We don't need to do 30. :D


Ahh, correction. Looked up the ride. Mostly flat but a couple of small short downhills like the one in the video This is the ride info from that day, MAX SPEED OF 34.

Not sure why she would need to pedal down the hill when we are not racing or trying to set any downhill speed records.
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Coasting down those hills we are hitting about 28, 29 MPH. Why pedal? We don't need to do 30. :D

I understand what your saying but by not pedaling you're resting, which is ok if that's what you want to do, but 30 isn't horribly fast, but I admit I'm weird when it comes to speed! I routinely came down S Calif mountains doing 45 and above, I once hit 61 (assuming the computer was correct) going down Tramway in Palm Springs Calif, and I've probably gone faster than that in the days prior to computers but I'll never know for sure. One of the reasons why running burns more calories than cycling is because you can't coast even a little bit, not even going down hills, your still moving, being a former runner I just adopted that concept in cycling, just keep pedaling as if I was running.

Cheers, not trying to tell you how to bike, sorry if I came across that way.
 
You may be surprised with the reason why only few women are biking here. They don't want to get a tan. Yeah, it is the opposite here that in the US, you want a darker skin but over here, people want a fair skin hence the more they can avoid the sun, the better for their skin. And even if there is a sun block lotion, it is only for the beach but not commonly used when riding. But in fairness to those who avoid the sun, it is noticeable that most bikers ,the male species, have dark skin due to too much exposure to the sun.

I guess it has something to do with the culture. It is not a common sight to see a female rider in our country, and that's what makes them refraining to ride one. They are just concerned about what other people might think about them, since biking is also tagged to take the virginity of female riders.
 
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I guess it has something to do with the culture. It is not a common sight to see a female rider in our country, and that's what makes them refraining to ride one. They are just concerned about what other people might think about them, since biking is also tagged to take the virginity of female riders.

Riding a bike takes the virginity of female riders? REALLY? you would think anyone with common sense on how the female anatomy works that a seat couldn't do that, and you don't ride with the seat shoved up into the vagina! this is is hysterical!
 
Cheers, not trying to tell you how to bike, sorry if I came across that way.

Nah! Gina pedals for 2 1/2 hours so coasting 5 minutes of that is no big deal, she has no interest in race techniques.
 
I guess it has something to do with the culture. It is not a common sight to see a female rider in our country, and that's what makes them refraining to ride one. They are just concerned about what other people might think about them, since biking is also tagged to take the virginity of female riders.

When I was in high school, that myth about virginity was also popular among the girls. That may be one of the reasons why only a few girls were learning to ride bicycles. There's even that joke of my brothers that girls should wait until they get married before they can ride a bike. You know what I mean, that joke was referring to the virginity. But now we know that it's just a myth.
 
Same goes with my country. I haven't seen much girl cyclists here. There are clubs for women cyclists here though, but it is not as active as men's groups do. You know, I am still hoping that I got a chance to see a group of all female cyclists having fun in a cycling event in my country.