Life is better on a bike!

Category: advocacy (Page 1 of 10)

Getting More Women on Bikes

The number of women bicycling lags behind men. A recent study, Bike Shops for Everyone, by The League of American Bicyclists addressed how to make bike retail more accepting and welcoming to women.

Caitlin Giddings, with Bicycling Magazine, took it a step further outlining 10 basic ways local bike shops could facilitate more women biking in her article, 10 Ways Bike Shops Can Welcome Women.

I encourage you to read the article but her 10 strategies rang true for me; if you’re female they likely will for you too.

They are as follows:

1. Don’t assume she’s a beginner. Don’t assume she’s not. As you should with any customer, start a conversation to get a feel for her level of bike experience and then work from there. You’ll be glad you took the time to assess the situation when you are saved from the embarrassment of explaining a basic bike concept to a pro masters racer who happened to wander into your shop in civilian clothes that day. If it turns out that you are dealing with a beginner, don’t just sell her the bike explain what other gear she might want or need.

2. Remember that women aren’t a niche. We are road bikers, commuters, mountain bikers, cyclocross racers, bike messengers, cycle tourists, and more. Don’t pigeonhole us or stereotype us. We have just as many needs and interests as men do on the road (or trail!).

3. Stock diverse women’s gear in different sizes from XS bikes to plus-size cycling clothing. And make women’s gear look just as appealing as the men’s, says deputy editor Emily Furia. Don’t cram a measly two women’s jerseys amongst a big rack of guys stuff, forcing us to dig for it like we’re at TJMaxx (an awesome place to score deals, but not a pleasant shopping experience).

4. Don’t assume she wants a women’s bike. Gear editor Gloria Liu tells this story: A friend of mine recently had the Liv Avail pushed on her so hard by multiple shops (though she said repeatedly that she didn’t like the position it put her in) that she asked me, “Geez, are they getting a special commission to sell these things?” The geometry commonly used on women’s bikes, shorter top tube and taller head tube, doesn’t suit every woman’s body or riding style. And men with long legs and shorter torsos could be better served with a women’s bike, depending on their preferred riding position.

5. Take us at our word when we say we can do a mechanical task, says Emily Furia. “At a demo tent at a gran fondo, I had to explain to the guy working there THREE times that I knew how to install pedals before he would release my test bike without them.” Also, we like to work on our bikes, too, so stick to the requested repairs unless we’ve indicated otherwise.

6. The golden rule of all human interaction: Don’be a dick. Staff writer Molly Hurford says this just boils down to a few simple points: “Don’t talk down to women, don’t hit on them, and don’t make assumptions about what kind of riding they’re doing.”

7. Hold rides, events, and mechanical clinics tailored to women. Many women feel perfectly at ease in a bike shop, but others don’t. And most will be excited to have new riding buddies. “Ask if she has friends to ride with,” says contributor Selene Yeager. “I saw an interesting survey about women riding much more often when they have others to ride with. Help her find a community.”

Associate editor Taylor Rojek, who used to work in a bike shop, agrees. “We had a women’s ride that was really great for introducing women to each other and growing networks,” she says. “Something I did personally was to ask women who were buying new bikes if they wanted to go for a ride. There were plenty of women who were just plain scared to ride on the roads, by themselves, with this expensive new bike. If you add in someone who’s supportive and encouraging and knows what she’s doing, it becomes a way more positive experience.”

8. Ask your customers, both men and women, what they want from your store. Women’s bike shop Gladys Bikes in Portland, Oregon, has this down to a science. “We have this thing called ‘GAB,’ the Gladys Advisory Board, made up by customers providing feedback on what they want from a women-specific shop,” shop owner Leah Benson says. “We’re constantly evolving in terms of what it means to make a place relevant for a large community of women by asking our board, ‘Hey, what do you want to see?’ Our Saddle Library came out of that. A lot of women saw saddle comfort as a barrier of entry to cycling, so we said, ‘Hey, we can make your butt more comfortable!'”

9. Talk saddles, suggests Selene Yeager. “I’ve heard from many many top industry insiders that this is the number one silent issue that keeps women off bikes. They are uncomfortable ‘down there,’ and they are not comfortable talking about it. Dudes in bike shops are generally uneasy about broaching the topic. But somebody HAS to or there will be many women who will simply not ride.”

10. “Hire women!” says Taylor Rojek. “Having me at the shop made the whole experience more comfortable for a lot of women, and they were super appreciative of it,” she says.”

Case in point: Several years ago my husband and I went to a LBS for bike fittings. Mine was first, and although I repeatedly explained to the guy that I had ridden for many years and cycled many miles, done multi-day bike touring, etc., he insisted on setting me up on my race ready carbon fiber road bike very upright, not the least bit aero. The problem was he treated me like his mother rather than a fellow cyclist of similar ability. If he had listened he could have told by my level of understanding that I didn’t just fall off a cruiser. Completely ignoring my input, he explained I would be “more comfortable” with the non-aero fit and left it at that. I didn’t want to be comfortable, I wanted to be fast!

My husband who at that time had ridden very little was fitted in a much more aero position than I, even though he explained to the guy he hadn’t ridden much and was just getting into it again.

This shop did an injustice to me and my husband by making assumptions based on gender and not listening to our needs and experience level. Neither one of us ended up being happy with our position on the bike.

What has been your experience?

The same thing occurs because of age, but that’s a post for another time.

Bike Day–Bike Month–Bike Time

bikesI have been around awhile.

I have been riding over 25 years and that’s just part 2. Part 1 started when I was around age 6 and continued to age 21 or 22, part 2 started in my mid-30’s and is still going strong. Suffice to say, I’ve spent a big part of my life riding.

I’ve ridden when it was common and all my friends did it – childhood – and also when hardly anyone else did – including none of my friends or anyone else I knew for that matter. I rode when it was rare to see an adult on a bike, and even rarer to see an adult female. No doubt where I lived at the time had a lot to do with my solitary experience as a bike rider.

Nevertheless here we are in 2015 and bikes are common. Heck bikes are cool! And it’s not just the cool kids riding. Young and old, female and male, rich and poor alike are riding in record numbers. Granted not as many females as males, but the numbers are growing, and although most riders are still white, that’s improving too.

I see many more people riding bikes now then any other year I can remember. I read and hear more about bicycling than at any other time I can recall.

More cities and states are developing bicycle master plans, incorporating Complete Streets concepts into road plans and improvements, discussing and planning how to make their cities and communities more hospitable for people.

In the past many of these conversations and efforts focused on finding more space for vehicles.

Look at Bike Share. Every major city in the U.S. and many not so major cities have bike share programs now. According to Grist, the combined fleet of shared bikes in the United States grew to above 18,000 (2013), more than doubling the number at the beginning of the year. I’m sure it is even higher now Many colleges and universities also have bike share programs.

For some individuals the first time they get back on a bike as adults is renting a bike through bike share, and for some of them no doubt, it is just the beginning.

Things are looking up for bikes and those of us who love riding and for those of you who would like to ride but haven’t taken that step, a foot on the pedal if you will, yet. A recent study I read (that I can’t put my hands on at the moment) found that 1/3rd of the respondents who did not presently ride stated they would like to but hadn’t because they didn’t feel safe to do so.

Imagine if the number of people biking grew by 33%! Safety would improve, studies have repeatedly shown the more people riding, the safer it is for all us. Infrastructure would improve, bicyclists would have a larger voice and demand and support the programs and people who supported bicycling. Many of the health related problems facing us would improve, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, depression, to name a few.

The numbers of Americans commuting by bike has certainly grown. According to League of American Bicyclists, since 2005 states have seen, on average, a 46% increase in the share of people commuting by bike.

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Today is Bike to Work Day, this month is National Bike Month and this year has more people on bikes than in previous years and most importantly those numbers continue to grow.

No doubt there is still much to do.

We are in the infancy stage of creating an equal status for bicyclists, and pedestrians too, on our streets and roads, in our communities, but we should also take time to celebrate the gains we have made.

We’ve come a long way baby!

Rethinking Streets

Rethinking Streets, An Evidence-Based Guide to 25 Complete Street Transformations, available free in PDF and hard copy format, is a book detailing 25 complete streets projects from around the U.S. The following article discussing the book is from Planetizen.

The book written by, Marc Schlossberg, John Rowell, Dave Amos, and Kelly Sanford, may be downloaded here.


“Rethinking Streets,” a new report by the University of Oregon’s Sustainable Cities Initiative, provides detailed information on 25 complete streets and streetscaping projects. It is available free in PDF and hard copy format.
It is time to rethink the street.

For too long we have been building streets as though they have one function: to move cars quickly. The reality is that streets can to do more than just move cars. They can move people on foot, on bikes, on transit, without hurting vehicular throughput and safety. They can be more than a way to get somewhere else. Good streets are good places, too, public places where people meet, sit and socialize, conduct business, wander about, play, and more.

This new book uses evidence from completed street projects from around the United States in order to help communities imagine alternative futures for their streets. The book does not show hypothetical street re-designs, but actual examples from typical communities to show how they did what they did and see what resulted from the change.

Never Assume Anything

Never assume anything from drivers. Never assume anything from walkers, runners or even cyclists for that matter.

Case in point, this afternoon I was out riding, heading home through a nearby neighborhood and even though I had the right-of-way (and no stop sign/light), a driver who was stopped at the stop sign and turning left from a side street (to my right) decided they had waited long enough and pulled out right in front of me.

You learn to expect that type of behavior or at least be prepared for (following the rule – never assume anything) it and I was. I stopped quickly or would have hit them. 

Another good rule of thumb, Fridays are the most dangerous day to ride, particularly Friday afternoons. I rarely ride on Friday afternoons for that reason. People are in a hurry and they are more distracted than usual. An accident waiting to happen. Be careful out there.

Promoting Safe Cycling

There are a series of very cool posters promoting cyclist’s safety launched today by 100copies. I discovered 100copies several months ago and posted about them. I bought one of their posters too, a black and white abstract of a bike. Super cool print.

I love this new work they have created and especially love that each poster is designed to increase awareness among cyclists and drivers to promote the safety of cyclists. Check out how cool they are below.

From 100copies Facebook page:

Today we launched a series of Safety Cycling Posters in association with the LTA and Singapore Road Safety Council. A big thank you to all the sponsors who have made this possible. If you need the hires of the poster to print it out, email me at yangthomas@mac.com I will send you the link to download it. If cycling safety is important to you and your loved ones, please do help to share.


Share the road Poster 1Look Out Poster 2Respect Poster 3Make Way Poster 4Hard to see Poster 5

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