HELP NEEDED PLEASE! Opinions and comments wanted :)

Hi everyone!
I'm a Graphic design student at the University of Leeds, and I'm currently working on a project which is aiming to encourage females aged 20-25yrs old to participate more in cycling as a sport. According to research that I've found, this is a low-participating audience in the sport. So, please if you have a spare minute or two, I'd be very grateful to hear any views you have on this issue - why do you think females of this age don't cycle often? Why SHOULD they? Did/do you cycle at that age - why/why not? Could it be an image problem at all? Are they scared of the dangers of cycling perhaps?

Thanks very much for your time, and I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Cassie x

You really need to be asking these questions of people who DON'T bike. They are the ones who would know the answers.

We would just be guessing.

Welcome to TE. :D I'm not sure how much we'll help your study, like "preaching to the choir" so to speak but it's a great place.

Surf on over to the "getting to know you" thread when you get a chance.

bike helmets mess up their hair. And no, I'm not joking.

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Originally Posted by Biciclista

bike helmets mess up their hair. And no, I'm not joking.

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I've heard that more from my guy friends than from women - I'm not joking.

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Originally Posted by Biciclista

bike helmets mess up their hair. And no, I'm not joking.

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That's my guess too.

And that it's not even on the radar of most women at that time. I think its true for a lot of sports across the board. Doing running races, the 20-29 bracket is not very competitive. But once you get into the 30's, all of a sudden it explodes.

In your 20's, your establishing yourself: relationships, family, careers, living on your own, etc. Sports just aren't on the forefront.

At least, that was my experience.

It's not a cheap sport to really get into. With running, you buy a pair of $100 shoes and you are good to go. Biking I'm guessing is around $300-500 (or more if you want better stuff), even if you are starting with a used bike, if you consider bike racks, bike shorts, bike shoes, pedals, helmets, blah blah blah. Most 20-25 year olds don't make a heck of a lot of cash. I know I didn't, I got my first serious bike when I was around 25 (more than 10 years ago), and the $350 investment was not trivial for me. I really would not have been able to do that a couple of years earlier. I thought I would pass out a few years later when I dropped $800 on a road bike.

Also, I think many people, and maybe women more than men, are intimidated by the idea of riding a bike in areas with cars. If they do not have groups to ride with, and do not understand the rules of the road, it could be well, scary. A lot of women - and we all know who they are - have that eek, not little old me attitude. I think that goes away a bit as you get older and try things. Boys are raised to jump into physical things. Girls are often raised to be more cautious.

Preface: I'm not a 20-25 year old female who doesn't cycle....

I'm a little older and a bit of a cycling maniac :-)

Cassie, I think you are asking a fascinating but incredibly complex question. Like most complex questions the answers & reasons why one thing happens (or doesn't) are multi-factorial and cannot be reduced to a few things.

A notable chunk of the North American (yes Canadians too) population is sedentary and has related health problems. I would think there is some continuity between the reasons that is having and the age group you mentioned as well. There are probably some specific reasons for not cycling among the population you stated (20-25 yr old women) but I suspect many of them are no different than why other populations don't cycle.

Why don't people cycle (or jog or walk, etc)? I'd say there are economic, social, psychological, and emotional reasons for that. Maybe for specific individuals there may be one clear-cut reason that predominates, but I think when looking at a large group of people, you'll find it varies considerably and usually involves several factors.

If I had to speculate, I'd look at 20-25 year olds in general - this being a prime college age group. College students are more indebted than ever, not coincidentally school is more expensive than ever, while job prospects aren't nearly as good. All of which makes for people working more, earning less, and consequently having less time. Then again, this is hardly limited to just 20-25 year olds..

Sounds like less quality of life to me and having ample time and resources to exercise is most definitely a quality of life metric imo...

I'm 22. I got into cycling this past year (started looking for a bike a year ago!).

I would not have bought a bike if I didn't have someone to ride with. In my case, it's my significant other. I'm also still a bit nervous about riding on the roads. Not so much the cars any more (I do what I can do, and that's all I can do; also, most people really don't want to hit you), just cars + bad pavement around here. I have a lower risk tolerance than BF, which he hasn't realized yet.

Time and cost are two other big factors. I don't ride as much as I'd like because I'm a full-time college student. During riding season, I was lucky if I could get out on weekends.
The big thing is that this is a very expensive sport. I got very lucky in that I got a cushy summer job and parents who were willing to give me half the cost of the bike as a birthday/Christmas present. Many people don't have that luxury. The entry-level road bike was about $800. Shorts, a helmet, water bottles+cages, and a bunch of other things later...well, that's a lot of money. I could go find a sports club on campus and try something else like fencing or archery (for example) for $15 a semester and not have to buy anything.
That's also an age group that doesn't make a lot of money, and the money gets used up on other things, not least of which is student loan debt. It's also a group that will quite likely not have health insurance (not limited to 20-25 yr-olds, obviously), so a sport like cycling that is perceived to be inherently dangerous ("you're riding on ROADS?") is less likely to be attractive.

Thanks so much for your replies!
I know, it's such a broad area to research, and - like you've said - there will be different reasons for different individuals, etc. The money issue definitely seems to be an important factor for the age group I'm looking at though.

On a slightly different note - as people who cycle regularly and enjoy the sport; what do you like best about it? What aspects of cycling would you promote in order to encourage young females to participate more? In my earlier research, I found that health and body is a very prominent issue with females aged 20-25, and so was hoping to use that as a possible direction perhaps....

Thanks again for all your help by the way :)
Cassie x

What I like most about cycling.....?

In no particular order...

Superb health benefits - I actually look forward to seeing my body fat numbers, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. And as a bonus, no need to worry about clothes becoming too small...

Great fitness - nothing makes me feel younger than knowing I'm fit enough to do almost anything I want physically.

Mobility - I don't have a car so the bike is how I get around. There's nowhere in town I can't get to on my bike.

Sights/Sounds - is there a better way to get to know your city or even travel than on a bike?

Social consciousness - biking is the most efficient form of transportation in the world, period. Not to mention it is generally very clean (yes, tires & manufacturing process do contribute some greenhouse gases, but much less than that in the production cars. plus bikes last far, far longer than cars and make cities & streets much more pleasant)..

Cost - The amount of money I save on insurance, gas, repairs, etc is massive compared to owning a car. Granted, some people really need a car for their job, etc and/or the places they live in don't have adequate transit - so I understand going car-less isn't for everyone. But for me it certainly is one more motivating reason to bike.

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Originally Posted by cassie

On a slightly different note - as people who cycle regularly and enjoy the sport; what do you like best about it? What aspects of cycling would you promote in order to encourage young females to participate more? In my earlier research, I found that health and body is a very prominent issue with females aged 20-25, and so was hoping to use that as a possible direction perhaps....

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This research approach makes more sense: ask people who bike why they do, and ask those who don't why they don't.
I started biking 5 years ago so I can answer why I didn't bike before, and why I do bike now.

I bike for transportation. I started biking because we had only one car and couldn't afford a 2nd. So I started biking because it was cheap! I loved it, and now we will never have two cars. I loved losing weight, I love saving money, I love not driving a killing machine around. I feel safer on a bike than in a car.

Why didn't I bike until I was 31? It didn't occur to me. I didn't realize that people could bicycle for transportation, unless they were poor or had DUIs. (In fact, someone assumed I was "green" because she knew I wasn't too poor or drunk to own a car, and that was the only reason she could think of that I would bicycle!) I recommend education & role models to encourage women to bicycle.

When I was 20-25 I was in college full time, working part time...I was broke, tired, and didn't have a lot of spare time. Had money not been an issue I have a feeling I would have made time for cycling.

When I was 20-25, I was athletic, but I was still in college and participating in a lot of team sports. It wasn't until I got out on my own and found I didn't have time for team schedules that individual sports like running or cycling became a draw for me.

Cycling just never even occurred to me at that age.

Actually, let me correct that....road cycling never occurred to me. I did own a mountain bike and I did enjoy mountain biking when I could get the time. My roommate in college had a bright yellow Trek mountain bike and we all drooled over it. ;) If our dorm room door was open, people would stop in and ask what kind of bike it was...mountain bikes were so rare back then!

I have a theory though. I don't think that most young women think about cycling as a sport because they don't have a lot of role models and a lot of exposure to it like guys might. I mean, my husband grew up riding BMX bikes, so transitioning to mountain biking and then road biking was a natural transition, even if he didn't race or get involved with teams. Most women do not have those kind of early influences. It's the same reason that women in fields like electrical engineering are so rare. MOST women are just not exposed to things like electronics at an early age...where as boys often are...it's a societal influence (wrong or right).

Here is my personal thought on this subject.

Aside from the obvious hair messing type stuff that can prevent women from riding bikes....

I myself don't really do 'sports'. "Participating in a sport" sounds like way too much fuss and trouble to me. :D
I'm 55, and I bicycle, I snowshoe, I do vegetable gardening, I dance, and I fitness walk...all to stay active. I do all these things for fun and as a normal part of my lifestyle.
When it snows, I put on my snowshoes. When it's a beautiful day, I get on my bike and go for a bike ride. Or I go to the store on my bike and climb back up the killer hill to my house. I meet my friend for breakfast once a week and we typically go for a 4 mile brisk walk afterwards. I go to the local dance here in town once a month and I dance my head off for 3 1/2 hours. I hoe and weed in the garden.

I don't compete, and I do these fitness activities just as a part of my every day life. I don't think of them as sports, and therefore they don't require much special preparation and planning set aside. It's just my own mind set, but to me bicycling is just a part of my normal lifestyle, whereas I think of a 'sport' more as something special and separate from your normal day that you plan and set out to do.

Decades ago, average people and kids just rode their bikes and had fun doing it. People didn't think much about it. Nowadays I think the general non-biking public in America gets the idea that 'cycling' is something you have to have very specific skills and equipment in order to do. And you have to have Tour de France type outfits and do lots of Training too, preferably with a look of intense suffering on your face. LOL! The gear required is bewildering. That's what the average person sees when they see cyclists whizzing by. Looks too expensive, too complicated and looks like a lot of WORK.
Now I'm not saying there isn't an exacting real sport of cycling where serious athletes are competing in cool ways. There is!
But I am secretly convinced this whole concept of riding bicycles as being an exacting sport and no longer just a part of every day life is responsible for a lot of average women thinking that riding a bike is something too involved, competitive, expensive, and difficult. Men are slightly different, as in general men tend to be less afraid to take on a competitive activity, which is what they see in 'the sport of cycling'. And men also tend to not be scared off by having to buy expensive equipment. Sad but true.

My two cents as to why more women don't ride bikes.

Do you bike much yourself cassie? If no, why not?

The helmet hair thing, unbelievably, easily turns off alot of women.

Also alot of women who don't bike, have been turned off by the experience of cycling a bike that doesn't fit them. Bike fit is something I find myself repeating patiently, over and over and over.

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

Also alot of women who don't bike, have been turned off by the experience of cycling a bike that doesn't fit them. Bike fit is something I find myself repeating patiently, over and over and over.

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Ah yes, this is something else I forgot about.... I have LOTS of female friends who say that they tried biking but it hurt their privates or rear so much that they gave up. Most give up for good, too. Seriously, try something new, it hurts...why keep putting yourself through that kind of pain, right? That is a BIG turn off for a lot of women and really, the only thing that could change this factor is education. Women need to know that it doesn't have to hurt to ride a bicycle!

Why I ride?
I love being active, sweaty, and fit. While I do say I do sports, they are not team sports and I never compete (except with myself). It's part of my life. I was a skinny, uncoordinated kid; the only active things I ever did were riding a bike and ice skating. Girls *didn't do sports* when I was growing up.
Being strong, healthy, and fit helps me age gracefully. It doesn't mean I don't have my share of aging stuff, but riding (x country skiing, snow shoeing, hiking) helps me deal with it all.

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Originally Posted by GLC1968

Ah yes, this is something else I forgot about.... I have LOTS of female friends who say that they tried biking but it hurt their privates or rear so much that they gave up. Most give up for good, too. Seriously, try something new, it hurts...why keep putting yourself through that kind of pain, right? That is a BIG turn off for a lot of women and really, the only thing that could change this factor is education. Women need to know that it doesn't have to hurt to ride a bicycle!

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I sure can relate to this first hand! Among the more frequent comments I hear: a) how can anyone ride more than a few miles, it is too painful and.....(you'll love this one!)....b) i must be crazy to wear biking shorts, and without knickers too...

Biking has a high 'cool' factor as well as being very visible. It ends up being easily equated for many people with visions of the pro peloton riders and european grand tour racing. It can be very intimidating and as everyone mentioned, the gear is not cheap either. Then there are potential safety concerns which cannot be easily dismissed. It takes a lot more skill to successfully navigate traffic and deal with the usual stuff on the road. In addition, at least where I live, there's very little if any organized riding or clubs for women cyclists. I know I'm always the token female in every group ride here...

When I used to be a runner, I found the hip/chic/coolness factor was much lower. You didn't really need anything but running shoes and most any top & shorts. I saw plenty of people of varying ages, body types, race, ethnicity, and other social backgrounds. Plus you could run in plenty of venues and places where you didn't have to be elbow to elbow with motorists and others. Some people ran faster than others, but basically everyone was a runner and could really connect with the place the activity had for them...

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

Also alot of women who don't bike, have been turned off by the experience of cycling a bike that doesn't fit them. Bike fit is something I find myself repeating patiently, over and over and over.

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This was definitely an issue for me, too. I have a clunky Schwinn mtn. bike that is at least a size or two too big for me. I got it over a decade ago and can count on both hands how many times I actually rode it. It took me a long time to have any interest in road biking, since my experience with a low-end mountain bike was so uncomfortable, even with a decent saddle and slick tires.

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

Also alot of women who don't bike, have been turned off by the experience of cycling a bike that doesn't fit them. Bike fit is something I find myself repeating patiently, over and over and over.

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I have to jump on this bandwagon too. I remember a bike I had in high school, that I was supposed to use to commute my senior year. This is years after I stopped riding my fun kid bike around the neighborhood. It was a free bike, and it was way too big, and the seat hurt, and my back hurt after riding, and it generally sucked to ride it. I ended up begging rides off of friends with cars for the year, because it just wasn't fun. It was kind of a fluke that I even considered cycling again.

Judging from my athletic daughter in that age range, one reason is, yes, helmet head - and the related problem of arriving somewhere all sweaty.

Also, it's just not Cool.

Me, I ride because I dislike driving a car and walking is slow.

Gave my ideas why more women don't cycle.

But why I cycle and I have been for past 18 years after returning to cycling at 31... is: for fitness-enjoyment, transportation since we are car-free in our lifestyle for many years...for getting around city and also for vacation trips.

I can also transport things such as heavy groceries more easily on bike compared to walking.

As for students who are "poor", not denying that stage that I and many TE folks have experienced. However it floors me, how many students these days have money to pay for gas, car maintenance and drive to university/college. It wasn't quite like that when I was a student awhile back.:confused:

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

As for students who are "poor", not denying that stage that I and many TE folks have experienced. However it floors me, how many students these days have money to pay for gas, car maintenance and drive to university/college. It wasn't quite like that when I was a student awhile back.:confused:

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I was poor because I had to pay for those things...on top of rent, groceries, and tuition. We also got married just before I turned 24, so from about 22.5 until then I was saving for wedding costs, too. Mom and dad couldn't afford to foot the bill on any of this for me, as I was the eldest of 3 with a sibling still at home and another in college, as well.

In your study it might be helpful to distinguish between whether a woman is active or not and how that relates to her attitude towards cycling. I would argue that women who are less active might have very different attitudes than women who are active but might be focusing their energies on other activities.

I remember at that age wanting a bike but not being able to afford one, not to mention that it was very difficult at the time to find a road bike my size. That was when I first heard about Terry, which I definitely could not afford. I was 26 before I finally felt comfortable spending money on a low-end mountain bike. Up to that time I borrowed bikes from friends in the bike industry when I had the opportunity.

I was also hanging out with a very athletic crowd at the time. I think that for active women that age, if they are busy with school/establishing careers, there are other sports you can get involved in that don't cost as much. You can run and enter 5ks and marathons. You can join a community soccer league.

I wouldn't make too much of the helmet head thing. It's more of a humorous aside for active women, who at some point accept that they're not going to look fresh as a daisy, but that's fine because you can always clean up afterwards. The rewards of feeling strong and confident far outweigh the price of helmet hair. It is probably more of a barrier for people who haven't yet found a sport that they love.

As a graphic design student myself, I'm wondering why you have to ask this question. What exactly is your assignment?

Community barriers to non-motorized transport are a huge issue keeping people of every age and sex off bicycles. As a side question, I'd be curious to know what fraction of women who do ride, do it only as a sport.

(That said, I live four blocks from a middle-aged man who insists on driving his road bike to the start of the club ride... three miles from his house, all of which has either a bike path, a wide shoulder, or low traffic. :rolleyes:)

The final assignment has not been given to us in full yet - we've been set the research part first, before the actual design side kicks in (which I think is a bit silly; as our research may end up not being particularly relevant!)

But the assignment is "something to do with" encouraging participation in a sport. We will have to produce a digital outcome - so, for example, something online, for the iphone, etc. Hence my research into reasons why females of that age don't cycle; so I can then attempt to tackle these areas in order to encourage participation.

Personally, I only cycle on an occasional basis - this is because I'm at university and a bike won't fit in the student house/would most likely get stolen if i left it outside! When I'm home though I try to cycle during the summer, but only on a very casual basis. I must admit - helmet hair is an issue! - as well as lack of free time for me.

This is a really interesting thread. I have enjoyed reading it.

I have to say I agree with most of the comments on why younger folks, and I do think it also extrapolates to folks not in their 20s, don't ride.

I want to add modeling though. I think there are probably just not enough good models for women and riding. I know I didn't have ANY women in my life who rode a bike. I still don't personally know any other women who ride. I also think it isn't high profile enough. On the "Family Feud" thread, I had to really think to come up with a name of a famous woman cyclist, and even when I thought of someone, I wasn't sure I wasn't making it up.

One of the reasons I think biking is so much fun, is that I feel so free on a bike. My mountain bike, and my road bike, just infuse me with an emotion or sense of flying and being free. The WEEEEEEEEEEE factor keeps me coming back. It just plain feels good to ride. The fitness is certainly a bonus, but mostly I feel like I need to be fit to enjoy riding my bike. Not the other way around. I don't give a fig about helmet hair - well maybe I give a raisin, but certainly not a fig!

I admit, I've been skimming the responses, but has anyone said:

sore bottom? I hear that ALOT. They ride once and their bum hurts. So they never do it again.

And the bike jerseys/kits are UGLY (not my opinion, but I hear that alot).

And who wants to wear spandex shorts, OMG! Especially if a guy will be riding a foot behind you!!!!

I will never forget the first time I rode with DH and he told me my bum jiggled a lot. It's a good thing I'm not overly sensitive.

I too have enjoyed reading this thread. It has made me think back to how I got into cycling when I was in my 20s (it wasn't that long ago, being in my 30s is a recent development :)

I think that the biggest deterrent to me before taking up cycling was the idea of getting places sweaty and gross. To be honest, that hasn't changed much. Therefore, I don't commute by bike. Cycling is my sport and I am only in a public place after a ride if I am with other cyclists post-ride at a coffee shop, or at the LBS - that is one place I have never minded arriving sweaty and gross, and driving there just seems odd. I'll occasionally bike to the tennis courts (my other sport) but don't really like having to carry my tennis equipment so only do it if I am desperate to get a ride in.

The roads are another problem. Being young, I tend to move around a lot. I got used to biking on the roads in the bay area, and then moved to chicago. It took me some time to feel comfortable on new roads. Partly I didn't know what to expect from the drivers and partly I was afraid that I didn't know the best/safest routes, or that I might get lost in a bad neighborhood. Finding groups/clubs to ride with definitely helped.