How to encourage more women to cycle?

Ha ha, I have asked, if I was in London I'd come down to ladies drinks with her and see if you couldnt work some magic.

If any of you are up in Edinburgh for the ECMC 2012 I'll bring her along to all the pub based events.

Was planning on going to the Worlds since it's so close but sadly it clashes with VeloJam - a girl only track meet at Herne Hill which is going to be chockablock with

If more women saw their female friends or women they respect cycling I believe it would continue to grow. For example, I think that if my gf had come to Rollapaluza at LMNH last week, she would have thought the women participants were awesome and would have been more inclined to get on a bike herself. It would have more of an effect than me encouraging her to cycle for sure.

I have been saying this for years but I'd really like to see a true breakdown of men and women across the UK who cycle purely for transport. I think there are a fuckload of male club cyclists and triathletes who drive everywhere (but might tick a box on a survey saying they occasionally cycle for transport) and as a result we don't have a true picture. I certainly don't feel there's a visibly obvious majority of male utility cyclists, in or outside of London. Lycra types, yes.

We discussed this issue at my local LCC group meeting (mixed sex, third of it female) last night, as we had received an email about the LCC board considering this. The consensus was, that while there might be different barriers to cycling for different groups of women (we are not just a great lump of girlz for goodness sake who all think, look and behave in the same way, you know, there are old women, younger women, women from all kinds of different ethnic and cultural groups, single women, others with tons of family responsibilities etc etc etc) the one thing that would get the largest numbers of women from all different groups on a bike would be safer roads, with less motor traffic moving around at slower speeds. The majority at our meeting thought that the LCC's Go Dutch campaign was the kind of approach that would be the most successful. Build the safe and pleasant cycleways and they will come, women, children, babies on the backs of bikes, as well as a few more men!

Here are a few suggestions to encourage more women to cycle:

1) role models/ trailblazers - women (obviously not all) are more likely to do something if accompanied (even going to the loo). I run a sports club, and have found out its far more effective to say "Come running with me, Anne and Lizzie are also coming" than "there is a fitness session at this time this date". So having Victoria Pendleton launching her bike brand is good, Cycletta is good, even better yet, if you're in a circle of friends/colleagues, be the trailblazer yourself and take them out for a ride.

2) Media - inevitably the society's view is heavily dependent on it, good or bad. More coverage of women in cycling is good and I think they're doing a better job these days esp coming up to the Olympics with lots of news on Chrissie Wellington, Helen Jenkins, Pendleton etc... but its also important to feature regular female commuters and explain exactly how (to maintain hair/ makeup/ clean / fresh smelling / safe etc) In the Triathlon / running world, press coverage for women and men are precisely 50/50, if only that can happen in the cycling world.

...The majority at our meeting thought that the LCC's Go Dutch campaign was the kind of approach that would be the most successful. Build the safe and pleasant cycleways and they will come, women, children, babies on the backs of bikes, as well as a few more men!

So long as they're proper cycleways (with at least equal priority to the car lanes) as in the Netherlands, otherwise they're worse than useless... but that's another thread.

Anyone know what happened to the Women Who Cycle But Not In a Club Club?

Anyone know what happened to the Women Who Cycle But Not In a Club Club?

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Aww, what happened to the first reply? The one with the video of a woman having an orgasm on her bike? That was classic. Thread over in one.

Aww, what happened to the first reply? The one with the video of a woman having an orgasm on her bike? That was classic. Thread over in one.

The user got banned for it.

Misogyny is rife enough on the forum without having to have it brought into not only the ladies forum, but also a debate on how to get more women cycling.

Less of that might well be part of the answer considering the one thing women of London face at times is that kind of sexist abuse out on the road.

Fair point, especially given the context.

To get on topic: Loads of women taking up cycling at my work. I think it's just reached a critical mass and people are thinking, "if everyone else is doing it, so can I". I think this is going to be a big year for cycling. Not due to the Olympics - it just feels like we're near a tipping point.

I think the best way to get more women cycling is simply peer pressure. If nobody in your group of friends rides a bike then you're unlikely to. But if most of them do then you don't want to be left out.

Although not just riding the bike but being very vocal and encouraging about it is important. Constantly repeating the benefits, like I'm forever bleating about how I've spent less than £10 on public transport in the last 3 months, and that just having a 5 mile commute means that I get 100 miles of exercise every fortnight. And when people pull the 'dangerous' card I simply state that I've been cycling daily in Central London for over two years and haven't had a single crash or incident. And they can't really argue with that.

Another issue is that many girls seem to like the look of Dutch bikes, but they're usually very heavy and - along with Boris bikes - are difficult to pedal up the Col du Clerkenwell Rd.

A nice light bike with swept bars really makes a difference when you're trying to encourage someone to cycle.

The best way to encourage women to cycle is getting out there and being a woman who cycles

The hair, clothes and makeup problem is a blocker for a lot of women, so a bit less emphasis on SCR and a bit more on it being perfectly possible to cycle 5 miles or so to work without getting sweaty, or to pop to the shops without wearing a clown suit.

Access to repair services to sort out punctures etc - either more lbses or some sort of AA for bikes. Not because we can't do it but because we don't want every trip to come with added risk of oily hands. Especially if we're on a bike with a chaincase.

And one from the wishful thinking list, a cultural shift to treating aggressive driving by the WVMs and cabbies of this world with the same disgust shown to someone taking a dump in the street would help no end.

Yeah I agree, I've been loaned a Bobbin Bike (big cumbersome Pashley type bike) for a couple of days and it is SO unstable and heavy! If I was a newb to cycling having such an unpredictable and annoying bike would definitely not help soothe my nerves when in the middle of rush hour traffic. Filtering must be pretty much impossible. Let alone getting any momentum up hills.

Yeah I agree, I've been loaned a Bobbin Bike (big cumbersome Pashley type bike) for a couple of days and it is SO unstable and heavy! If I was a newb to cycling having such an unpredictable and annoying bike would definitely not help soothe my nerves when in the middle of rush hour traffic. Filtering must be pretty much impossible. Let alone getting any momentum up hills.

On a bike like that I wouldn't bother trying to filter. It's a different style of riding - slower and laid back, and of course drivers tend to give you more space.

YMMV but I find it a lot less fraught taking this approach in the rush hour.

Perhaps the 'problem' is that current cyclists are weighted towards young, fit, intrepid, risk/rush-appreciating people. My brother-in-law was telling me that his workmate (who commutes by bike) told him he likes to cycle because he loves the thrill. As if it's a mini bungee jump every morning. So what I'm trying to say is that it's not just women who are put off cycling, it's anyone who's a bit nervous of traffic, doesn't feel 'sporty' or fast, doesn't want to look like a twit, thinks there will be too much sweating involved. So targetting women is a red herring (flowery hire bikes etc). Anyway, this is all speculation.

This.
the CTC and LCC, with their vehicular cycling mantra, have for decades been pushing a subconscious message that cycling is for experts, in special clothes, mixing it with danger. And it's a particularly male message. Or at least one more appealing to males.

so, I was thinking, and it's no more helpful than my last bit of input, how in Cambridge (and I'm sure there are other places) there isn't so much of an issue. people, generally, cycle. women cycle, children cycle, old people cycle, young people cycle. there has definitely been a trend towards more helmet wearing in recent years, particularly when familes are out on the bikes (parents setting a good example to children etc) but still by no means universal. less (proportionally) than in London, I think. and yes there are a lot of big heavy dutch style bikes around and baker bikes seem to perenially be in fashion for 13-16 year old girls (it is not uncommon to see them on oversized bikes so they can't sit and pedal at the same time), as well as BSOs but also plenty of decent bikes too. people ride in all sorts of clothes, generally whatever they are wearing, rarely lycra / cycle specific, so work clothes, school uniform, black tie on the bike is a common sight especially among students. however, nearly everyone rides in secondary. you get more grief 'taking the lane' than in London, it is simply not expected. no doubt the numerous parks and commons encourage cycling, but you can't get everywhere traffic free, people do ride on the roads. it probably makes a difference that the town is quite small, it is unusual to have to cycle more than half an hour to get somewhere. when you do see lycra on the roads, I suspect the cyclist is in the minority who come in from the villages and therefore have to cover greater distances. none of this is an answer, just some observations from a place where people of all kinds (including women), cycle.

I may be slightly drunk and need to go to bed

The user got banned for it.

Misogyny is rife enough on the forum without having to have it brought into not only the ladies forum, but also a debate on how to get more women cycling.

Less of that might well be part of the answer considering the one thing women of London face at times is that kind of sexist abuse out on the road.
Thanks for the swift action Velocio.

We discussed this issue at my local LCC group meeting (mixed sex, third of it female) last night, as we had received an email about the LCC board considering this. The consensus was, that while there might be different barriers to cycling for different groups of women (we are not just a great lump of girlz for goodness sake who all think, look and behave in the same way, you know, there are old women, younger women, women from all kinds of different ethnic and cultural groups, single women, others with tons of family responsibilities etc etc etc) the one thing that would get the largest numbers of women from all different groups on a bike would be safer roads, with less motor traffic moving around at slower speeds. The majority at our meeting thought that the LCC's Go Dutch campaign was the kind of approach that would be the most successful. Build the safe and pleasant cycleways and they will come, women, children, babies on the backs of bikes, as well as a few more men!
Interesting. Thanks for feeding back on here. Which group are you?

This.
the CTC and LCC, with their vehicular cycling mantra, have for decades been pushing a subconscious message that cycling is for experts, in special clothes, mixing it with danger. And it's a particularly male message. Or at least one more appealing to males.
What do you mean by LCC have a vehicular cycling mantra? They've never come across the way you describe above, to me at least.

Interesting. Thanks for feeding back on here. Which group are you?

I'm Lewisham and you probably know me better as Jane!
It was interesting. No one thought the hair and makeup thing was an issue, to be honest. But that could be because it's not a particular priority for the kind of folks who go to cycling meetings. Except, I have discussed this issue with lots of women in different settings, and it has never been mentioned. Like I said before, there were different barriers for different groups of women, but every female non cyclist I've ever spoken to has mentioned fear of traffic as one of the barriers. I have "bike buddied" quite a few women on their first rides to work. Quite a few of them carried on and became confident cyclists. But a few of them gave up despite the support. Every one of those women said the traffic still scared them too much. I have always tried to help people find routes that avoid busy roads and junctions but if you live south of the river and work north of it, that's not really possible. So, I'm guessing, safe, proper cycle paths would have kept those women riding.

What do you mean by LCC have a vehicular cycling mantra? They've never come across the way you describe above, to me at least.

I have been a member of LCC for years. In the beginning, I think, what Blue Quinn wrote, was true. We did push that approach. I think there was a view that if you get enough people out there on bikes, road conditions would change around that. The critical mass idea. Well, lots more cyclists have appeared on the roads compared with the 80's. But change has been slow. And with Boris' tenure at TfL, seems to have stalled completely and possibly even reversed in favour of motor traffic again. To be fair to LCC, I think they have taken this on board and changed their approach, not without some internal opposition. That's what their new Go Dutch policy is all about.

Heh. Hi Jane! You probably don't remember me but I came on a few Lewisham rides that I think you were on back in about 2006 (Hoo, William Morris, Golding Hop - in fact I poached the Golding Hop as a ride idea and did an afterworker ride (one of my popular women's rides that no women come on) to there on Tuesday). I was the 20/21 yo girl riding a Langster. Just moved back to Lewisham actually (well Catford) so I should really come on a ride soon and do some more destination poaching. Hope you're well, anyway.

Well, well. Small world. I remember you and your bike. I tend to remember bikes more than people, how sad is that? Catford is just a mile or so from me, (Honor Oak, just round the corner from Vaidas bikes). Our ride programme is a bit sparse at the moment, due to weather and illness, but I am doing my Surrey Hills Ride in March, the Spring Edition. Our new website is here
http://www.lewishamcyclists.co.uk the old .net one is defunct and should be ignored. Our rides are very women friendly, although not women only, and at the moment, most of our ride leaders are women.