Women Cyclists: 5 States Where Women Barely Dare to Bike Commute

treehugger.com:

Dedicated bike commuting is grew about 38% in the last eight years. But if women are truly the indicator species for a successful bike infrastructure, lots of states aren't getting it right.

Read the whole story: treehugger.com

Comments

[Jpwill]

It's great to hear that in the Land of the Hummer and the home of the 4x4 more people than ever are commuting to work, but sad to hear that woman aren't saddling up.

Here in Europe, I'm not sure there is a gender bias, and certainly in the new bike capitals I'd say it was about 50-50, but then these cities have amazing infrastructure and policies specifically geared toward getting people on two wheels. In Amsterdam for example 50% of people bike to work.

http://greenexplorer.ovi.com/getinspired/europe/netherlands/the-new-capital-of-pedal-power/

It would be interesting to know, which American city can claim to the country's capital of pedal power. Any ideas?

[MikeyMike]

[caveat - West Coast-erner here] I could well be wrong, but I think it may be true that most parts of the US have higher humidity than western Europe, the mid West and the East coast in particular. You don't want to arrive at work drenched in sweat! Here in the west, we are pretty spread out and can have long commutes -- the longest I know of was a guy that worked at LAX and lived in Temecula (about 90 miles one way).

That being said, I myself could actually ride to work. If I knew how to ride a bike. But I'm looking for a job where I can ride my horse.....

[yappnmutt]

bicyclists should stay off of roads without dedicated lanes for cyclists. too many cyclists don't understand physics. a mishap with a car is extremely dangerous to a cyclist's health. it should be avoided at all costs which means staying off of narrow, winding, hilly country roads no matter how attractive they are. a car cannot evade a bicycle safely on these roads and a bicyclist cannot win a confrontation with a car.

new york made the mistake of giving bicyclists the same road rights as autos and way too many bicyclists use these misguided rules to endanger themselves.

[Paradym]

Wow.

Drivers should obey all the laws and safety rules of the road. Drivers should not be distracted while driving, instead completely focused on identifying any potential hazards. Drivers should be compassionate, sharing the road with all vehicles - who have the legal right, and very often legally required, to use the road.

All states, in fact all nations, consider bicycles a vehicle, and therefore are subject to the same rules and regulations, and hence rights, of the road. So, please put down the cell phone, slow down a bit, be respectful and aware, signal any turn or lane change, and take a few relaxing breaths while driving. You'll get to your destination, and perhaps enjoy life a bit more.

[hulagirrrl]

Compared to bikes in Europe, most bikes are uncomfortable and just made for mountain biking. Living in Europe I would only use the car on rare occasions, do all of my daily things including going to work on my bike. One thing that is also missing here besides comfortable bikes (evolution of dutch bikes) is safe bike lanes. Most cities do not allow for walking or biking, and one is suicidal to do either.

[Paradym]

You should really visit a bike shop and take a look at the wide variety of bicycles available: road, touring, mountain, cross-country, comfort, cruiser, etc. A proper shop and trained salesperson should fit you to a bicycle so that it's comfortable and functional for your needs.

[been2there]

Women's clothing is ill-suited to cycling, but an equally serious problem is that women are more at risk from all sorts of violence; a bike is not very protective. My daughter stopped biking after too many close calls with physical assaults!

[anitaj]

Well said. Your daughter's safety is more important that anything.

[econ1]

I hate to say it, but that is why I bought my daughter a Tahoe to commute to college. I pay a bit more for gas (and I know it has a carbon impact), but she (and her two friends) are worth more than an extra $300 a year.

[ResidualSelfImage]

In New Hampster we have many twisting turning dangerous roads. Its dangerous.
Some towns have bike paths that help for some.

[MikeyMike]

It might be more accurate to compare number of women to men riders within a job group. It's pretty easy to bike in jeans, but if you wear skirts/pantsuits/nice shoes at work, it gets complicated pretty fast.

[love2lindy]

Try commuting in FL! A change of clothes is absolutely necessary for anyone not working outside. I carried a backpack with a change of clothes and babywipes to freshen up before work. Not too hard, but it added half an hour to my commute.

[love2lindy]

The article is correct - I find it's just too dangerous to bike to work. I tried it and after 6 months and more than a few scary near misses, I decided it just wasn't worth the risk. I now bring my bike to work on my car & drive to a bike trail to get my exercise safely.

I live in Tampa, FL and there are only a few bike lanes. They seem to be created whenever a road has a total makeover, but there's just not enough and they aren't safe enough - some drivers seem to think the bike lanes are theirs anyway! I mostly rode on the sidewalks.

[paulbikes]

new threatened species, women cyclists?
Can we change the headline? Seems to me that more people are riding than ever, and plenty of them are girls.

[BebeLush]

Be patient. In about 15 years from now, when gasoline is about $9.00 a gallon, we'll all be riding bikes.

[Angie Cordeiro - Huffpost Blogger]

I've been riding my bike more and more since 2004, that's five years on the road and the article is correct, besides which, the bigger the truck or automobile the more rage or insensitivity there seems to be towards cyclists.

I have practiced an ounce of prevention, kept my diligence in yielding the "right of way" and just taking the road less traveled, being in hurry is not an option.

[blaharumph]

ARTICLE: "getting more people on bikes in general means catering to the needs of women with safer, less risk bike lanes, we can guess that these states aren't doing their best."

this is EXACTLY why i not longer ride to work. houston has lost a few of it's bike lanes, not to mention that many motorists don't understand that bikes are allowed on the roads not just in neighborhoods. they honk and yell, "get off the road!" and after getting nudged (perhaps unintentionally) by an SUV and getting bumped by their large side mirrors with reach into the narrow bike lanes... i decided to use my car to go to work (which is only 8 minutes away).

[klbrz]

There should be dedicated lanes for cyclists, especially in areas where the pick ups and SUVs are so huge, the driver wouldn't see you. Though, even dedicated lanes don't always help. Last week a couple on a tandem bike was killed as they were riding on the shoulder of hwy 16 west of San Antonio. A person in a pick up was distracted and swerving and hit them. These are roomy lanes and the shoulder is, also.

I guess I'm not sure what the answer is, though if Perry hadn't vetoed that one bill, I wonder if that pick up driver would be charged with something. They might still be charged anyway, but surely it would help to have some laws in place specifically addressing this.

[paulbikes]

It sucks, but the best option for most people is avoiding all busy roads and using trails as much as possible. Otherwise you have to ride aggressively and assert your place on the road. I prefer the latter, but it shouldn't be that way. The law in my state is crystal clear about cyclists' rights, and we're very empowered, but nobody in a car knows that, and yes iv'e been forcibly run off the road, screamed at etc.

Dangerous game it is to do the right damn thing and ride a bike around town.

[love2lindy]

Aggressive riding gets you your right of way, but can also get you killed or maimed. I can't justify taking that risk.

[blaharumph]

i was very content with my 12 minute (12 by bike, 8 by car) bike ride to work... for green, health and financial reasons. it is in an urban area, not downtown but nearing it.

the bike lanes are narrow and disappear and restart with out warning... have massive pothole, debris, etc...

i wish some motorists were more informed about bike being allowed on public roads. it seems surreal but some drivers don't think they're supposed to be.

thanks for all who posted here.

[blaharumph]

speaking of which:

http://www.houstonpress.com/2009-10-08/news/ghost-riders