In Support of 60-year old Women Everywhere

[Bike Chick]

I just wish the woman in the photo was wearing a helmet. It just irks me so to see people riding :-)

I agree. She's old enough to know better!!

I was 46 when I started riding a bike and have been riding for 6 years. I hadn't been on one since I was kid but riding a bike makes me feel like a kid again. Any wonder why 60 year old women enjoy riding???

[Thorn]

Glad others enjoyed the picture as well.....I've made it this week's background bitmap. In the Milwaukee area there are a couple of non-racing riding groups. All have significant numbers of female riders over 50. I really think that we have it easier getting into cycling than guys of the same generation. Sure, we can be just as competitive, but we are also willing to live with ourselves and just enjoy feeling like a kid again.

But, not to start a helmet war....I always wear one and I still cringe when I see someone without one, but I have to accept the argument made by the same blogger as to why he doesn't wear a helmet and why he can accept others who do not. I don't agree, but I make an effort to see his side of the argument:
http://overthebarsinmilwaukee.wordpr...ld-ride-bikes/

[Bike Writer]

But, not to start a helmet war....I always wear one and I still cringe when I see someone without one, but I have to accept the argument made by the same blogger as to why he doesn't wear a helmet and why he can accept others who do not. I don't agree, but I make an effort to see his side of the argument:
http://overthebarsinmilwaukee.wordpr...ld-ride-bikes/

Thorn, thanks for posting another perspective. While I wear a helmet when riding I understand his reasons for choosing not to.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

60 year old women going to the store on bicycles are a really common sight in other parts of the world. Unfortunately, the deliberate restructuring of roads, suburbs, and community/transportation layout after WWII in the U.S. crowned the automobile as supreme king and aggressively discouraged both bicycle and walking as means of transport. This resulted in the current situation where cycling is considered to be either a sport or recreation rather than simply a form of normal transportation.
The average civilian is afraid to ride a bicycle anywhere except on designated recreational 'paths'. Roads are not designed here to make bicycling safer, and aggressive drivers are not punished or educated to 'share the road'. Bicyclists get yelled and cursed at to 'get off the road' and to 'get off the sidewalk'.
Even small town or suburban kids and teens who used to typically ride their bikes to school are now driven to school even when it's 8 blocks away. America is 'car world', and sadly, any ordinary citizen using their bike to go to the store is typically considered an anomaly, whether they're 12 years old or 70.

Hopefully this will slowly change. Like it or not, the recession is creating a situation where roads are deteriorating, gas is more and more expensive, people are losing their health insurance and thus want to walk and bike to stay healthier, people are losing their jobs and looking for alternatives to going everywhere by car. This is both bad and good depending on how you look at it, but it will create a scenario where we are going to be seeing more average citizens riding their bikes to the store, and eventually such a sight won't be a cause of amazement.

[buffybike]

[QUOTE=BleeckerSt_Girl;542476]This resulted in the current situation where cycling is considered to be either a sport or recreation rather than simply a form of normal transportation.
The average civilian is afraid to ride a bicycle anywhere except on designated recreational 'paths'. Roads are not designed here to make bicycling safer, and aggressive drivers are not punished or educated to 'share the road'. Bicyclists get yelled and cursed at to 'get off the road' and to 'get off the sidewalk'.
Even small town or suburban kids and teens who used to typically ride their bikes to school are now driven to school even when it's 8 blocks away.

Hear, hear!! I know my neighbors think of me as "eclectic" for riding my bike with Wald baskets to the grocery store. People have even asked me if I'm riding my bike because I lost my license to drive! I ride on roads--even busy ones--just to make the point that it's do-able and drivers are just going to have to get used to me being there. The more of us they see out there, the more "normal" we'll become to them.

[emily_in_nc]

But, not to start a helmet war....I always wear one and I still cringe when I see someone without one, but I have to accept the argument made by the same blogger as to why he doesn't wear a helmet and why he can accept others who do not. I don't agree, but I make an effort to see his side of the argument:
http://overthebarsinmilwaukee.wordpr...ld-ride-bikes/

As an avid helmet-wearer here in the US, I have to say that this article made a surprising amount of sense. In Belize, we ride on the beach and even in town without helmets. While there are many, many people on bikes (beach cruisers) there, you won't find anyone wearing lycra, gloves, using clipless pedals, or wearing a helmet. People ride there not for fitness but for transportation, and dressing up for it is just not a part of the culture. And because most folks there don't have a lot of money, it's not likely to be. It's also only recently that cars were even allowed on the island of Ambergris Caye, so bikes and golf carts were the only form of transportation. Now that there are some cars and small trucks, helmet usage would seem to be smart (when riding off the beach), but it's still not done. I doubt you can even purchase a helmet in the country.

[GLC1968]

I understand his point about not wearing a helmet, but I don't like it. I mean...why can't we just set a style that says a helmet would look GREAT with a suit? At least, that's how I'd do it if my commute wasn't 20+ miles necessitating 'fitness' type clothing. When I lived 1.5 miles from work, I often road my mixte wearing a dress and a helmet. Let's make THAT cool!

Or maybe that's step two...after we get everyone on bikes first?

I do question his statistics though...that biking is safer than driving. I'd like to know how those numbers were derived. If less than 1% of the population bikes to work yet a much higher % drives - how can you accurately compare accident rates? If bikes to cars were closer to 50% each - which would be safer then?

[Melalvai]

The more bicycling that occurs, the accident/injury rates actually go down. When gas prices rose and bicycling doubled or more in Missouri, the total number of accidents stayed the same. In other words, the accident RATE was cut in half.

My dad got a wetsuit for his 62nd birthday today. After the initial mental image of what my 62 yr old and not all that fit dad will look like in his wetsuit, I was jealous! He's retiring next month and maybe he plans to follow in my triathlon footsteps/ bicycle tracks/ wake. Nah, more likely he wants to bike & swim, his knees are no good.

Anyway, go 60 year olds!

[Roadtrip]

Humm.. I may be wrong, but it looks like she's riding a fixie too!!!

Gotta love spunk!

Shannon

[Crankin]

Honestly, I don't understand the reasoning for not wearing a helmet. I wouldn't mind at all if I was riding in "work" clothes or dress clothes and had my helmet on. It's a piece of safety equipment, and like GLC says, we need to get people to think it's "cool."
I know people don't wear helmets in other countries, but truthfully, when I rode a cruiser on the beach in Hilton Head a few years ago, DH had to convince me not to wear my helmet. We had brought them to go mountain biking. I didn't wear it, but I was worried the whole time I was going to crash and land on my head. I don't care if I was going 5 mph on sand; it's just that ingrained. Or maybe it's my Jewish mother neuroticism.

[shootingstar]

She looks determined on that bike.

I'm a little tired of this helmet issue when some of those who don't wear helmets are particularily vociferous about the law, etc.

I haven't highlighted this yet but there was some criticism levelled at the marketing of Velo-city 2012 that in our video footage it was dominated by people wearing helmets (and cycling wear).

I'm not convinced we need to adapt cycling culture/habits in Europe , etc. that don't require helmet wear.

What is not highlighted is other parts of Europe that don't have Netherlands/Copenhagen-like cycling-safe environments and massive cycling mode share.

[Biciclista]

I think a lot of people in those places after coming HERE and seeing what we are up against would take to wearing helmets!