Re: [Ebbc-Talk] Getting more women on bikes

Women-owned bike shops. It has been mentioned before but there are a lot of great options in Oakland with Tip Top, Manifesto, and Bay Area Bikes all co-owned by women. I imagine it can be a big turn off for a woman to walk into a shop full of dudes who have little to no experience fitting women for bikes and might not take their concerns about urban riding seriously.

Also, without stereotyping too much, some studies have shown that women bikers tend to be more risk-averse than men, and prefer bike infrastructure with better protection from auto traffic, even if it results in a slightly slower ride.

Infrastructure and products that support riding with children and carrying cargo are also important, as despite all of our societal gains women still tend to take more responsibility for childcare and family shopping. (Again, these are generalizations, I know).

More women transportation planners, more women bike advocates, more women bike manufacturers, the list goes on and on...

-Robert

On May 12, 2012, at 1:45 PM, Eric McCaughrin <[email protected]> wrote:

> Appropriate gear? What does that mean? Unless you are riding for sport, there is no gear required.
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Jon Spangler <[email protected]>
> To: EBBC Discussion List <[email protected]> 
> Cc: BikeAlameda List <[email protected]> 
> Sent: Friday, May 11, 2012 10:15 AM
> Subject: [Ebbc-Talk] Getting more women on bikes
> 
> I'm glad I'm seeing more women on bikes all the time: yesterday at BikeAlameda's BTWD station at Peet's and at the Bike Away from Work Party in Oakland, 
> for examples. But it is still more challenging for women to find appropriate gear and bikes than it is for men. And that's just part of it:
> 
> http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2012/05/getting-more-women-bikes/1984/
> 
> 
> Jon Spangler
> Writer/editor
> Linda Hudson Writing
> TEL  510-864-2144
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> 
> 
> "She who succeeds in gaining the mastery of the bicycle will gain the mastery of life."
>   —Frances E. Willard, in A Wheel Within a Wheel: How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle (1895)
> 
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