What would you like to know?

[velogirl]

Vivian! Thank you so much for your passionate response.

BTW, 54 is not old. On our very first race team, one of the racers (who had never raced before) was 52 years old. She is still racing 6 years later.

In our organization, I've found the demographic pretty representative of the women's demographic in the bike industry in general. There's a pretty distinct bell curve, with the critical mass falling in the 35-50 range with a smattering above and below. I think our youngest member this year is 10 and our oldest is 73.

[sundial]

I'd like to hear from the women who don't have a women's program available. What would you like to know about developing a woman's program?

OK, there just aren't many women in my area who are interested in cycling--particularly if they live in the small rural towns. Our state doesn't offer much for cyclists either because of lack of cyclist friendly parks or decent shoulders on the roads. We do have some clubs, but the majority of these members are competitive men. I would like to have an experienced gal to ride with, but they are few and far between and I end up in a testosterone pack.

I think before we can have a club in my area, we need a decent place to ride. I guess I don't really have any questions for you, just a vent.

[velogirl]

Sundial, vents are fine.

Do you think the safety issue/lack of good places to ride is more of an issue for the women than the men?

[sundial]

Sundial, vents are fine.

Do you think the safety issue/lack of good places to ride is more of an issue for the women than the men?

Yes. The shoulders that I have ridden on are sometimes a foot or less. I have to ride during low traffic periods and I ride defensively as well.

We have a great state park, Old Davidsonville, that won state park of the year. There is not one mtb trail in the whole park. I use the hiking trails to ride on.

Also, there are those idiots that might take advantage of grabbing a female cyclist and heading for the hills to do who knows what. It almost happened to a cyclist friend of mine--in front of her male cyclists.

[sundial]

You know what? I'd like to attend a girls only workshop offered by a women's cyclist program. Maybe something that could tour the rural towns of Arkansas.

Little Rock is the hub of activity but is 2 1/2 hrs away. I've been in all but one bike shop and it essentially caters to men in terms of garments, gadgets, and bikes. I have heard fewer women shop the stores compared to men. If these bike shops hosted a girls only clinic, I wonder if that would help ladies feel empowered and ride more.

[velogirl]

Absolutely! Women don't like bike shops (sweeping generalization). I've found that if I can bring a group of women into a shop for an hour or two (clinic, shopping party, etc), they become familiar with the shop and will feel more comfortable coming back. If all bike shops did something like that, they'd likely see an increase in their female customer base.

It's too bad Little Rock is so far away. Are there any shops a bit closer to you?

[Geonz]

My favorite bike shop has had several women's nights but it's hard to get the word out.

What age group is being targeted?

I *do* think that there's a HUGE audience of beginners who want fitness, love endorphins but aren't into the guy racing culture and maybe not racing at all.

THen there are those of us doing the whole 'bicycling lifestyle' thing...

[vmax]

One more thought on this subject and I'll try to be brief, promise

I've gone to bike clinics on my own, single, no boyfriend or anyone else that could come along. While the classes were helpful there is one missing piece, esp for women . . . the social aspect. Why not have beverages, snacks, a way to learn and socialize at the same time. Being that I am single, going to a class is a good way to meet other women who bike. However, many people head straight for the exit as soon as the class ends . . thus eliminating a way to meet other people. I'm not suggesting that it become a "happy hour" yet there has to be a better format for this idea. How about a bike mentor group? Food for thought . . .

Perhaps a follow-up class with the same group or a series of classes for whatever the topic: bike maintenance, motivation, a non-threatening way to work on your own bike as a learning process. I'm stumbling around here for ideas but I do believe that, in order to get more women (of all ages) interested in biking one needs to include the social piece as well.

Again,

- Vivian, MN

[bonniekate]

I would talk about some of the basics, like why a women's group can be so beneficial to women riders (versus coed programs). From my experiences, and there is not a women-specific program here, most women in my area start cycling with their husbands or boyfriends and will either begin riding in coed groups or will only ride with the person they started with. It is hard to get the ladies confident to want to move forward with their riding. And without riding with a group they don't want to ride alone and therefore do not ride as often as they would like. So how do you get the ladies involved and wanting to get out there into a program? I would love to see a women's group here, but don't have the motivation to start one myself. Even some of the spouses and girlfriends of the guys I ride with won't come out on our group rides and we don't drop ANYBODY!

You have to know where you're coming from to know where you're going!
good luck, it's a great topic!

bk

[Eden]

Vivian! Thank you so much for your passionate response.

BTW, 54 is not old. On our very first race team, one of the racers (who had never raced before) was 52 years old. She is still racing 6 years later.

In our organization, I've found the demographic pretty representative of the women's demographic in the bike industry in general. There's a pretty distinct bell curve, with the critical mass falling in the 35-50 range with a smattering above and below. I think our youngest member this year is 10 and our oldest is 73.

This is exactly what we've experienced here too - we have a lot of women who come to racing relatively late in life and are successful at it. I started at the age of 34. One of the other people who started the same year I did is in her early 50's and is incredible. Most of our riders above cat 4 also qualify to ride masters (and in fact many of the top riders in the area too). We have some younger people but I think the 35+ crowd out numbers them. Our two youngest members I think are 17 this year. (there are already several excellent organizations for juniors in the area so I think we might hesitate to take on very young children)

[shootingstar]

Well maybe Seattle or further inland abit as a convergence point..

I looked over my data and realized I hadn't updated my thinking.. it's returning to cycling at 32 yrs. and cycling for nearly past 17 yrs.

For all my years of cycling so far in 2 major Canadian cities where I've lived (toronto & Vancouver), only about 2% of my mileage, has been cycling with groups of 3-15+ cyclists. Otherwise, around 60% of my mileage I cycle with my partner and rest of the time, I simply do it solo...for hrs. Some years I was cycling solo 100% when my partner was living for 2 yrs. in another city.

It would have been great to cycle occasionally with another woman who lived within cyclable distance to meet up and ride together. I am not sure I would have always wanted to be locked in to a meet time for a regular group ride...for certain not right now, my personal schedule is very limited.

Knowing a network of women cyclists locally would be helpful. Right now, what does keep me on bike, even though it does feel solitary at times, is to remain healthy,, save money and...because we don't have a car.

When we had our info. table at an annual bike trade show that drew 10,000 people, it was abit strange where some women just treated us /our group like lepers when we tried to provide them merely info. These women were with their male friends/spouses.

Honest, some women have insecurity issues that they don't want to associate at all with an all-female cycling group.

To reach teenage girls, the focus should not be on competition nor racing for the majority of girls at that stage. Instead more focus on cycling competency, endurance and confidence to take on long routes, busy traffic ...while also having fun. When there is clear evidence that many teenage girls (to me) look heavier than teenage girls were 30 years ago, cycling certainly can become sellable option as healthy fun thing to do ...if the girl doesn't feel safe or too exposed to be jogging solo. At that age, I would tend to build in some social time for teenage girls during a ride/workshop(s).

I was an awkward, brainy nerd in high school and for certain, suggestions of racing/competition would have intimidated me from cycling. thank god at that time, I was still cycling in cemeteries where I felt safe from roaring traffic But then I was wierd and abit of a loner who did my own thing.

[Eden]

To reach teenage girls, the focus should not be on competition nor racing for the majority of girls at that stage. Instead more focus on cycling competency, endurance and confidence to take on long routes, busy traffic ...while also having fun. When there is clear evidence that many teenage girls (to me) look heavier than teenage girls were 30 years ago, cycling certainly can become sellable option as healthy fun thing to do ...if the girl doesn't feel safe or too exposed to be jogging solo. At that age, I would tend to build in some social time for teenage girls during a ride/workshop(s).

I was an awkward, brainy nerd in high school and for certain, suggestions of racing/competition would have intimidated me from cycling. thank god at that time, I was still cycling in cemeteries where I felt safe from roaring traffic But then I was wierd and abit of a loner who did my own thing.

I don't necessarily agree with this. While not every girl wants to be on a competitive sporting team I think that girls should absolutely be encouraged to get involved in competitive cycling. I would never have dreamed of trying to join the basketball team or the volleyball team when I was in high school. I definitely was about as opposite as possible from being a high school jock, I was a pretty poor swimmer and too small to be useful at any ball sports, but I was an avid cyclist and I probably would have jumped at the chance to join a cycling team. Unlike ball sports its something that is easy to continue into adult hood, competitively or not.

I was a pretty akward brainy nerd too - but I felt very much at home out on the road and used to do 70 mile solo rides when I was 14 (which probably only served to mark me more out....). I can respect that competition isn't for everyone, but I also think that it's not a reason to not encourage girls to do it. There are track and cross country teams and that doesn't discourage girls from jogging for fitness.

[shootingstar]

Another topic for female cyclists providing leadership locally to other women and girls... to help them understand when group cycling is beneficial vs. solo vs. competitive cycling/racing.

is how to look at sports and what a person's personality is like. Cycling can be a "social" oriented sport riding in groups to push one's competence further and for the social aspect. Or it can be pursued in a more solitary manner...for folks (like me) who are tend to be loners, independent and carve their own road.

Nowadays I advise people to choose a sport that they love to do..often enough...for many years to come. Doesn't matter if it's golf, running, bowling, etc. Also some people just don't realize that perhaps why they don't enjoy group/team sports...it may not fit their personality profile. Or they need group /team sport/exercise activity to stay motivated/be pushed to excel.

Keep in mind some girls might want sport to be a great workout with some fitness pushing to the limits, but non-competitive because already in other parts of their life they ARE competing (ie. academically) or they are competing on the job to stay on top of their profession.

[Starfish]

What would I like to know?

How to start a recreational cycling program for at-risk adolescent girls that would form the base for a life in cycling, regardless of whether that base led to competition, recreation, or commuting. Question areas I would have would include:

-Liability & parental consent issues
-Finding bike donations and mechanical support
-Finding volunteers to lead, teach, train
-Fund raising
-Involving moms for mother/daughter lifestyle changes together
-Mentoring issues to help girls compete if that was their wish
-Partnering with schools, YMCAs, or other existing programs
-Adding additional prevention components
-And probably lots more questions I haven't thought of!

[smilingcat]

The biggest problem I see in my area where there are literally hundreds of clubs for all walks of life and trying to get the word out to average Jane Doe. The women who might be casually interested in riding never try to find out on what is available to them.

We have clubs whose main interests are touring only, racing only, mtn biking, commuter oriented, socializing & riding, casual riding for fitness. But even for someone like me who is seasoned has a hard time finding all the clubs and groups around. You occasionally run across a free local cycling paper with a listing of "all" the clubs and groups. So how do you get the word out?? If you pick a LBS to meet, you won't be able to put a flyer in other LBS.

Then there is starfish's concern of if you wanted to start your own group biggest obstacle I see is liability. I don't want to lose my house just because someone had an accident.

and the other problem is how do you sustain the group once it started as pointed out by shootingstar. There are times when you just really feel burnt out with leading a ride. It's a lot of commitment so to spin this around a bit. How do you keep from burning yourself out as a ride leader or organizer? There are days when I JUST DON'T WANT TO GO OUT!! OR I JUST WANT TO TRAIN ON MY OWN

After ride/workshop social is a must. You don't have to supply with soft drinks snacks. The successful and ongoing rides usually finish at a bikeshop near a donut place or finish at a coffee house or a deli. Occasional party at one of the riders house also helps.

One thing that has irked me over the years is that there are always small group of people both men and women who tend to develop a clique and basically alienate new members. so how do you keep exisiting members from alienating potential new members

I guess I'm just reiterating what others have said.

These days, I prefer to ride alone because most groups never do what they claim.

They hog the road, rotating pace line is never smooth, squirrly riders allowed in pace line, hand signal or not to hand signal.

Biggest two peeves of mine is blowing through red traffic lights/stop signs and dropping people on no drop ride. I used to be the one who went back and picked up the straggler and encouraged them and humored them to continue with the ride. I ended up being the mechanic often times for the stragglers with impromptu "how to fix a flat clinic" out on the road.

Occasionally, I rode back to the starting point with a rider who either blew up or bonked. It's not easy to keep them motivated sometimes. How do you convince a newbie to a group that they are not inconveniencing an experienced rider in situation like this? I don't want them to become alienated just because they couldn't keep up on one of the outings.

I guess my thoughts are on how to get new members to join in on ongoing basis.

Smilingcat