Why Women Riders Is A Minority

[Corzhens]

I have observed that women riders here are a minority. It's not because of the gender issue though but perhaps more of a cultural reason. Bikes are for men, that's the orientation when I was young and girls who ride are activists of sort. Now there is no gender barrier but women still pale in number compared to male riders. One of the reasons is the risks involved and another is the discrimination.

 

[BikeBikeBikeBike]

Here in Canada it's actually getting closer to 50/50
LOTS of women are into bike riding, mostly for the fitness aspect.
I find they are more interested in getting into non-contact, non-violent, non-team sports.
So running and biking are big.

 

[Zhen25]

I'm in Jamaica and I really cannot tell the last time I saw a woman riding. Of course learn to ride when they are young but I think the boys find it more interesting.

 

[pwarbi]

Here in the UK I'd also say that cycling is predominantly a male sport or pastime. While you do get the odd female taking part, most of the time wether it's cycling for leisure or commuting to work and back there aren't many females riding.

 

[sunshiney]

Here in Canada it's actually getting closer to 50/50
LOTS of women are into bike riding, mostly for the fitness aspect.
I find they are more interested in getting into non-contact, non-violent, non-team sports.
So running and biking are big.

I'm also in Canada and I've noticed the same thing...it's pretty evenly split between men and women. I've never really thought about why, it's never occurred to me that women would be less inclined to cycle for any reason I live in a very safe area so that might have something to do with it...if a woman lives somewhere that she doesn't feel safe out on the street then it follows that she'd be less comfortable cycling as well.

And I know it's not exactly the same thing, but spin classes are also super popular here which might contribute to the number of women cycling...but then I think it's just as likely to contribute to the number of men cycling too, so who knows.

 

[mayasupernova]

Yeah, the same goes for my country. In Serbia one would often have a sight of a group of men cycling, but rarely some women. I am thinking it could be due to the cultural thing, where parents are being scared for their children, especially girls, and being pretty conservative and strict, they rarely let them go out freely, especially ride bikes late at night. I know this because of the girls around me. Even myself, when I was younger, I was not allowed to go cycle when the night was falling. My parents were pretty scared because of the drunk and irresponsible drivers, due to the fact there are no bicycle lanes here. Although I am sure there are many other factors included, too.

 

[kuroba]

In my country cycling is still predominately a male activity, but this past year I've seen an increase in female riders, at least in my local urban cycling group.

I think the main problem is that cycling is still perceived as a somewhat dangerous activity, mainly because of motorists, and most female riders prefer to ride on MUPs recreationally, rather than make cycling their main mean of transportation or a sport (MTB and road cycling are still very male dominated).

I take it as my personal job to convince my girl friends otherwise. In year of using my bike for commuting, shopping and errands I've only had a handful of accidents and none where caused by a motorists nor they left me with serious injury.

 

[pwarbi]

I also think that while cycling as a sport as been in the headlines more and more with the Olympics, cycling as got more popular with both sexes, and so the ratio as stayed the same.

For example if out of a group there 200 men and 10 females, there's now 400 men and 20 females, so the amount of cyclists taking up the sport is increasing, there's still a male bias.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Ah good ol California! I see groups of women riding by at times, 10+. I have read other posts by others form other states that say there is a shortage of female riders. Not here!

 

[Jcycle]

I have observed that women riders here are a minority. It's not because of the gender issue though but perhaps more of a cultural reason. Bikes are for men, that's the orientation when I was young and girls who ride are activists of sort. Now there is no gender barrier but women still pale in number compared to male riders. One of the reasons is the risks involved and another is the discrimination.

I think you are making an unqualified assumption. Can you cite any facts or cite any sources other then your own belief?

 

[Corzhens]

I think you are making an unqualified assumption. Can you cite any facts or cite any sources other then your own belief?

My statement on the minority of women cyclists is what I see and observe. Whenever I would go out of the village to ride, I would notice cyclists passing on both directions. Our place is near Antipolo, a popular destination of cyclists. It is easy to see that a group of 20 cyclists are all male. Another group of 30 passing by are all male... and another and another. I would join the group when I would see that there is a female rider. That's how I know and my opinion is not an unqualified assumption.

 

[CrankyThunder]

I think you are making an unqualified assumption. Can you cite any facts or cite any sources other then your own belief?

I do not understand why you need outside verification or supporting facts...............

The initial poster clearly stated what she has seen about male/female participation and was asking for other observations in the cycling community. Corhens is fully capable to make a statement on what she has experienced where she lives.

What makes you think that she is unqualified to request information on the male/female percentage of bicyclists?

Personally, I welcome her comments which have been interesting in this and other threads she has participated in. While I rarely respond to most threads, they do make me think a bit and I appreciate the ideas these initial posters raise.

Sincerely,
George

 

[GemmaRowlands]

I am in the UK, and I am not sure of the statistics, but to me it really does feel as though I am in the minority as a female cyclist. I would be interested to hear what the actual numbers are, but more often than not when I say good morning to somebody whilst I'm out and about, it will be a male rider, and that is something that leads me to believe that they are greater in number. Certainly, I would want to try and encourage more females to ride if there was any way that I could do so.

 

[Corzhens]

I am in the UK, and I am not sure of the statistics, but to me it really does feel as though I am in the minority as a female cyclist. I would be interested to hear what the actual numbers are, but more often than not when I say good morning to somebody whilst I'm out and about, it will be a male rider, and that is something that leads me to believe that they are greater in number. Certainly, I would want to try and encourage more females to ride if there was any way that I could do so.

At least I have someone corroborate my statement, hahahaaah, just joking. That's also my experience in riding, I am used to seeing male riders and it's a surprise whenever I would see female riders in a group. By the way, I still have to see a group of female cyclists, pure female and no male. Maybe I can start one but I am not active in riding anymore due to my leg injury.

 

[ambal]

Females can't handle the pain, simple as that.

 

[maanderx]

Females can't handle the pain, simple as that.

A lot of men can't handle the pain too! That's why you see lots of men 'not' riding bikes. ;-)

 

[Jcycle]

Females can't handle the pain, simple as that.

That has got to be one of the most idiotic things I have read in a while. Troll!

 

[briannagodess]

Coming from the same country, I share your sentiment. I don't see a lot of female bikers around here. I mostly see little girls riding a bike. But a woman riding a bike to go to work? Not so much. Men riding a bike to go to work? Plenty. I agree that it can be quite risky to ride a bike for women but so is transportation. Any situation can be risky after all. I do hope more women here will be willing to ride a bike not just for leisure reasons but also for transportation reasons.

 

[likeascroll]

Women riders here are sort of a minority, but not really that bad. It's a pretty good mix. I'm not sure why women are a minority in most places.