Ladies

[jan19]

After a conversation with my girls earlier, I'm just wondering how many of us posting here are ladies (not, I'm anxious to add that it matters, I'm just curious)

Myself, Eiliethyia, Flinders, Anura (and hopefully Manx Cat again) but I'm struggling to name any others.

Does this reflect the number of ladies who cycle as against men? Or do ladies (apart from me obviously ) have better things to do than posting on forums?

Jan

[Jonty]

My wife has certainly better things to do.
jonty

[SarahK]

I'm here now and again, am female but usually have other things to do of an evening.

Out of friends who cycle I'd say there was a 60:40 male/female split although out of everyone I know I think it's more 90:10 male to female ratio. Infact I can't think of any female at work who cycles apart from me.

It's far more even amongst people I run (badly! ) with.

Sarah

[bogmyrtle]

Count me in

[Colin63]

I know plenty of women who cycle, but only a few who would define themselves with the label 'cyclist'. The domination of the forums by men probably reflects that we're all a bit too geeky for our own good. Most of my male friends have fairly obsessive hobbies, and the more kit that goes with the hobby the higher up the geeky ladder we climb!
Whether it's bird watching, photography, Munro bagging or cycling. It's the blokes who tend to want to talk about it all the time. We just can't help ourselves.

Women, I think, show their enthusiasms in different ways. I personally always take note of the females posting here as what they have to say is often far wiser and balanced than our rantings, and without you we would all descend rapidly into a bunch of anoraks!

[Mick F]

Myself, Eiliethyia, Flinders, Anura (and hopefully Manx Cat again) but I'm struggling to name any others.

Helen is another, and Mary Laver(the lady in the power chair that did LEJOG)
We had Mrs Tortoise some time back, Mhara too and Albion Lass - all gone, sadly.

Oh, and not forgetting Burscough Girl - Mrs Mick F!
(Not that she posts very often)

EDIT:
Rosiekm has just joined this evening.

[patricktaylor]

You never see (or I don't) groups of age 60+ ladies out on a group ride. I was wondering why today, when I saw ten or so silvertop men out on their bikes together having a nice time on a weekday. The only reason I can think of is that out in the open, women tend to be more timid than men. In a confined space, the reverse may well be true.

Speaking of Munro bagging, my Dad (who's done them all) told me my Mum (who was often there too) couldn't be bothered to walk the last bit to the conquer the actual summits.

[eileithyia]

Guess it's complex as all aspects of life, but there are other fora. I also check out 2 forums dedicated to racing and http://www.shecycles.net/index.php which is a dedicated ladies' forum, (men are allowed only if they are sensible, and not full of testosterone fuelled nonsense as i believe the MTB sites can be). Whilst quite a few of the ladies' are MTBers there is a mix of girlies.

So there are lots of ladies cycling just we are spread more thinly across the disciplines. There are of course the various Ladies' Cycling Associations around the country, but they are sadly dying out. Many began in the hey day of cycling in the post war years and whilst they mainly promoted ladies races and had their own internal competitions, they also had other events. I know for a fact the various associations would meet up for a post race season YHA weekend such as Peak district so groups would be able to ride out from Central, Yorks and Manch associations.

After celebrating it's 50 anniversary 3 years ago Yorkshire Ladies assoc has folded this year because younger members were not prepared do the committee work, just hope these same members do not miss the various events and social activities that this supported, or perhaps they should then they will realise what they have lost.

Many of the ladies I come across are actually worried about not being technically minded and would be concerned to be alone if something went wrong with their bike, all the more reason for you fellas out there to ensure your lady knows how to do some basic repairs.

I do see small groups out there but guess they are smaller and fewer inbetween so they are less likely to be spotted over male groups or will be within a group of males.

As for doing other things, well housework etc often gets pushed down the list in favour of cycling.
I often come on here when my son is watching stuff on Tv I am not interested in or when I am supping my tea before going out to work in the morning.


PS I feel another why do ladies cycle/not cyle thread coming on, I guess it is similarly linked.

[Jonty]

Surely the average woman having more "friends" than the average man may have something to with men being more active on fora. Also women talk more "face to face" with their friends and acquaintances than men on average. Don't women on average speak many more words per day than the average man? I've even noticed two women talking constantly to each other as they swim up and down the local swimming pool.
So I think it may be something to do with men having fewer friends and not talking as much to their friends and acquaintances as women do, and therefore feeling more comfortable in the semi-anonymous world of fora.
A friend of mine (one of the few) thinks this is due to behaviour in our distant past. Men went out hunting and had to work together co-operatively and keep quiet in case they disturbed their quarry. Women on the other hand, looked after the children and collected berries and therefore could talk a lot to each other. Also it you find a bush with lots of berries, a good strategy is not to let on and eat as many as you can before someone else finds out. This, my friend suggested, explained why men were happy to work co-operatively together whereas women weren't.
I don't buy into this especially the last bit.
Women of course simply aren't as active in sport as men. Increasing female participation in sport is a Government objective. Many men aren't fit enough to cycle but I suspect more woman fall into the same category. Some women don't like getting hot and sweaty as it's not ladylike, but I think that's changing.
I'm not convinced by the way that women aren't as good as fixing things as men. I think it's a matter of education and encouragement. My wife is better than I at DIY and mechanical things, and I'm happy to encourage it.
jonty

[Si]

"Build it and they will come".

See Russell's work with Stourbug - an area that has/had a traditional racing club and a traditional CTC section, and had a fairly average percentage of female riders. He put in place an organisation that invited and encouraged non-competative, non-political cycling for those not from a cycling background and he has 100s of female riders.

[westofsouth]

Due to last year's success, my local CTC are running this event- http://www.getgorge-ous.co.uk/ again this year. I believe more than 50 females have so far joined up.
How many will discover and use this forum is up for debate.

[fimm]

I'm a woman!
I quite like having a gender-neutral user-name - you could ask why does it matter whether I'm male or female?

[Anura]

As has been stated previously I'm a female! I'm also over 60. I've not cycled with a club for years although I've gone on cycling weekends such as CycleFest in Lancaster (sadly no longer an event), Bike Rite based either at Wooller YHA or Longridge Towers and other events around the country. The people who get together on these events are a mix of cyclists, not necessarily club riders. There are a few ladies but not many. They have been lovely social events in addition to the cycling. CycleFest was a great way of meeting people and I am still friends with some of the people I met there.

I used to be a member of a local ladies cycling association when it was very active indeed in the 60s/70s. We used to run events, have winter cycling weekends and get together for committee events. I used to be a committee member on the area RTTC and attended their meetings, of which I think there 2 or 3 women committee members.

I just think there are more activities nowadays that women get involved in than they used to do. I'm the only cyclist in my family so have to consider the needs of my other half before jetting off every Sunday like I used to do. I've also noticed my mileages have steadily decreased since the age of about 58, and shortly after that I was off with eye operations and because I had to keep off the bike found it more difficult to regain my fitness level, which was quite good previously. I also dislike cycling in bad weather unless I'm caught out in it, when it just can't be helped. I've got lots of other things to do in bad weather without getting freezing cold and wet going out 'because it's a Sunday'. (I had to do that when I was young whether I wanted to or not!)

Sometimes I would prefer to 'play' on my computer than watch TV. The other half likes sci-fi and I hate it, so toddle upstairs and amuse myself on the laptop.

I really can't see what the answer is. For those in London there is the website "London Cycle Chic" which is aimed at young women who don't want to get dressed up in Lycra. They promote cycling in a very positive fashionable way.

[eileithyia]

Anura if you are/were a member of Merseyside Ladies no doubt we have cycling friends in common.

[Colin63]

Speaking of Munro bagging, my Dad (who's done them all) told me my Mum (who was often there too) couldn't be bothered to walk the last bit to the conquer the actual summits.

I'm with the ladies on this one. I've climbed many Munros but have declined the final assent due to sheer terror of the exposure on quite a few. I religiously ticked off all the Wainwrights in Cumbria but took a much less macho stance with the big mts in Scotland.

Anyway, please don't allow this to distract from the subject at hand, i just wanted to reply to that.

Back to the matter of Ladies... I wonder women feel intimidated by all the strong opinions and certainties on the forum format. I know that Ally did and that's why she would never contribute.