Way more men than women cycling commuting

[shootingstar]

So last two days after work, I was by a heavily used bike-ped, wide, flat path downtown taking photos. So was at each spot for at least half an hr. or longer.

It was getting boring, 80% passing cyclists were men. I am talking about a path that has a cyclist passing through every 30-60 seconds or so.

Even today, on a Friday afternoon when it's 85 degrees F...unusually hot at this time of year for us.

I needed photos of commuter cyclists.

[lph]

I was thinking about this thread the other day. I would have guessed that a majority of the bike commuters I see are men, but no, once I started paying attention I saw that at least half were women, maybe even more. And women in "real" bike gear too.

[ScaldedCat]

More men than women in the workforce so more men than women commuting, more men driving cars than women too I guess but you don't notice as the car is an anonymous box compared to a bike. Women who don't work don't cycle as much as men for day to day transport as they are likely to have children to take care of which makes it harder to use a bike for transport.

Neither I or my partner have ever learned to drive or owned a car so it's always bikes, walking or public transport for us.
There are usually more women than men on buses.

[soprano]

I get a tremendous amount of pushback from my friends and family about riding for transportation. They worry out loud about me. They're worried about traffic, about assault, and about my bike being stolen. This is despite the fact that I've been riding for 3.5 years and +12,000 miles, and that I live and ride through reasonably safe areas. Most of them turn out to be very ill-informed about the actual risks or problems I experience. That doesn't make their comments any less discouraging.

Every single time I have this conversation with a friend or family member, I wonder if they would say these things to a 32-year-old man. Somehow, I doubt it.

When I need to really dress up for something, I bail and take the bus or train. It's a hair and makeup thing. Theoretically, I could go an hour early and shower/primp at the gym, but that is so incredibly inconvenient. I completely understand women who are required to dress up every day not wanting to deal with that on a daily basis.