Why are 75% of cycling trips made by men?

[awavey]

for me, and I dont like claiming to be somekind of spokeswoman for my whole gender, I can only tell you just what Ive been through since I started cycling seriously about 15 years back now, what Ive experienced and still go through to go cycling, and why the vast majority of my circle of female friends really wouldnt touch cycling as a thing even if you paid them lots of money to do it.

and I just think almost simplistically as an answer maybe, but there are just way more barriers to cross for women to get into cycling than men face, and yeah maybe it does boil down to how determined you are to actually want to push through those barriers and do whatever form of cycling that encompasses, but I do think alot of men faced with the same kinds or number of barriers would also struggle.

alot of it is about safety and personal safety, its great London is so nice to cycle in, apparently, never seems like it from all the videos that get posted about it, but London isnt the rest of the UK, most of us dont have miles of cycle lanes or lovely infra to rely on, we're right in the middle of the action with all the irate drivers in the trucks, the buses, the vans on the roads and its not pleasant sometimes,and theres alot of male machismo on the roads in the way people drive or even behave towards all cyclists, but which can feel very threatening if you are a woman.

I was cycling home last week, and I had a car firstly punish pass close pass me,they couldnt pass me for no more than 10secs because there was oncoming traffic and I was just riding a normal secondary position, but thats immediately a conflict threat theyve created and Im just riding a bike, but the passenger then stuck their head out the window and shouted aload of verbals at me, hadnt a clue really what they said but I know it wasnt complimentary, would they have said the same to a rugby playing sized 6ft5 bloke ? probably not.

and you know Im dealing with stuff like that quite alot, some of its gender specific, some of its just anti cyclist, it used to bother me alot more than it does now, but if I hadnt adopted a I wont let these bar stewards win attitude I could quite easily have just gone its much safer in a car where Im protected.

I did once get slapped on the ass filtering past a car stuck in traffic, Ive been spat at, had various beverages and even full bottles chucked at me from moving cars, one guy once threatened to knock my lights out, been called every rude name under the sun, brake tested, followed, both by men on bikes and in cars. and some of that gets really scary to deal with especially as a lone rider because you dont know what those peoples intentions are, or how you are going to get away if things really turn for the worse, which is also a thing female joggers have to put up with and there are tons of articles about that if you google them. Understandably alot of women resort to indoor training with more women as theirs safety in numbers and a safer environment for them.

then theres the thing that cycling is quite male centric so most LBS's never feel that welcoming, Im not expecting scented candles instead of the smell of GT40 or anything, I just want to be treated like a normal customer, and yet I know and experience it alot that Im treated very differently to the male customers, who might know a fraction of what I actually do about fixing bits on my bike, I can fix a puncture on the road, Ive swapped discs on my wheels, replaced chains, cassettes too, but theyre blokes and blokes can always spanner a bike it seems, whilst I get the condescending talk down to me rubbish. I bought some mudguards from a shop last year, and got a 5min lecture about how difficult mudguards are to fit to bikes and maybe I should bring my bike in and theyd do it for me, for a charge of course.

cycling clubs too, very male centric, the club runs never have what I consider to be normal speed runs, their slowest is about my fastest, and I remember once meeting a club bunch stopped at a pub, where they had a couple of women riders in the club, yay other women do ride bikes, but who & as did the rest of us, had to spend the whole stop listening to their males colleagues lists of sexual conquests and dating successes from the week before. A different club I know always used to deliberately drop female riders on their first club ride as an initiation to see if theyd quit or keep riding, oh what a jolly jape that was.

then there is the thing about cycling in clothing to arrive, or clothing you carry to change into at say work, not all workplaces have good facilities to support that, plus no-one really likes to get that sweaty either as makeup doesnt tend to work that well when youre very sweaty, and your hair can look a mess unless your wear your hair in braids or a pony tail all day and you dont want to feel icky all day. So you have to almost treat it like your just on a camping holiday without showers and do the best you can with it, which isnt the outlook certainly women I know like to have to think about as part of their daily routines.

so theres a bunch more stuff I could highlight, but that to me is plenty enough reason why most women given the choice do not cycle on UK roads.

[Carlton green]

I’m delighted to see a couple of responses from women and I very much hope that more will also respond.

What’s really interesting to me is that the responses aren’t uniform and that’s, I think, really helpful to debate: life is complex and one answer doesn’t cover all.

I’m lucky in appearing fit and bulky so rarely get grief on the road, however abuse and intimidation, regardless of gender, is real and depressingly common. In general I notice that some men behave badly towards women (in an abusive or predatory way) and that people, and some men in particular, pray on those physically or mentally weaker than themselves. A complex and layered mix of abusive tendencies from a small but significant segment of society. Those abusive attitudes are learnt well away from cycling and blight the lives of those unfortunate enough to somehow overlap with them; in simple terms a weak and / or female cyclist is just an or another easy target for some horrid person to gain pleasure and / or advantage from abusing.

As a separate issue, and it still might be true at times, male drivers have been known to harass female ones. This world has many idiots in it.

[roubaixtuesday]

for me, and I dont like claiming to be somekind of spokeswoman for my whole gender, I can only tell you just what Ive been through since I started cycling seriously about 15 years back now, what Ive experienced and still go through to go cycling, and why the vast majority of my circle of female friends really wouldnt touch cycling as a thing even if you paid them lots of money to do it.

and I just think almost simplistically as an answer maybe, but there are just way more barriers to cross for women to get into cycling than men face, and yeah maybe it does boil down to how determined you are to actually want to push through those barriers and do whatever form of cycling that encompasses, but I do think alot of men faced with the same kinds or number of barriers would also struggle.

alot of it is about safety and personal safety, its great London is so nice to cycle in, apparently, never seems like it from all the videos that get posted about it, but London isnt the rest of the UK, most of us dont have miles of cycle lanes or lovely infra to rely on, we're right in the middle of the action with all the irate drivers in the trucks, the buses, the vans on the roads and its not pleasant sometimes,and theres alot of male machismo on the roads in the way people drive or even behave towards all cyclists, but which can feel very threatening if you are a woman.

I was cycling home last week, and I had a car firstly punish pass close pass me,they couldnt pass me for no more than 10secs because there was oncoming traffic and I was just riding a normal secondary position, but thats immediately a conflict threat theyve created and Im just riding a bike, but the passenger then stuck their head out the window and shouted aload of verbals at me, hadnt a clue really what they said but I know it wasnt complimentary, would they have said the same to a rugby playing sized 6ft5 bloke ? probably not.

and you know Im dealing with stuff like that quite alot, some of its gender specific, some of its just anti cyclist, it used to bother me alot more than it does now, but if I hadnt adopted a I wont let these bar stewards win attitude I could quite easily have just gone its much safer in a car where Im protected.

I did once get slapped on the ass filtering past a car stuck in traffic, Ive been spat at, had various beverages and even full bottles chucked at me from moving cars, one guy once threatened to knock my lights out, been called every rude name under the sun, brake tested, followed, both by men on bikes and in cars. and some of that gets really scary to deal with especially as a lone rider because you dont know what those peoples intentions are, or how you are going to get away if things really turn for the worse, which is also a thing female joggers have to put up with and there are tons of articles about that if you google them. Understandably alot of women resort to indoor training with more women as theirs safety in numbers and a safer environment for them.

then theres the thing that cycling is quite male centric so most LBS's never feel that welcoming, Im not expecting scented candles instead of the smell of GT40 or anything, I just want to be treated like a normal customer, and yet I know and experience it alot that Im treated very differently to the male customers, who might know a fraction of what I actually do about fixing bits on my bike, I can fix a puncture on the road, Ive swapped discs on my wheels, replaced chains, cassettes too, but theyre blokes and blokes can always spanner a bike it seems, whilst I get the condescending talk down to me rubbish. I bought some mudguards from a shop last year, and got a 5min lecture about how difficult mudguards are to fit to bikes and maybe I should bring my bike in and theyd do it for me, for a charge of course.

cycling clubs too, very male centric, the club runs never have what I consider to be normal speed runs, their slowest is about my fastest, and I remember once meeting a club bunch stopped at a pub, where they had a couple of women riders in the club, yay other women do ride bikes, but who & as did the rest of us, had to spend the whole stop listening to their males colleagues lists of sexual conquests and dating successes from the week before. A different club I know always used to deliberately drop female riders on their first club ride as an initiation to see if theyd quit or keep riding, oh what a jolly jape that was.

then there is the thing about cycling in clothing to arrive, or clothing you carry to change into at say work, not all workplaces have good facilities to support that, plus no-one really likes to get that sweaty either as makeup doesnt tend to work that well when youre very sweaty, and your hair can look a mess unless your wear your hair in braids or a pony tail all day and you dont want to feel icky all day. So you have to almost treat it like your just on a camping holiday without showers and do the best you can with it, which isnt the outlook certainly women I know like to have to think about as part of their daily routines.

so theres a bunch more stuff I could highlight, but that to me is plenty enough reason why most women given the choice do not cycle on UK roads.

Thank you.

[ElaineB]

I have lots of women friends that ride bikes, some started in a spin class and gravitated to either the road or off road. All of us have had to put up with rude behaviour at some time from passing traffic but so too have the men I know. A lot of drivers don’t like cyclists and it appears a lot of cyclists don’t like motorists but we all have to coexist whether we like it or not. Our roads here in the UK were mainly built originally for horses and carts, nobody then had heard of Amazon or delivery drivers, in a rush to make a living. I’m against a war on motorists as I myself am one, although 95% of my journeys are by bicycle of some sort. I’ve often been held up by cyclists when driving my car but then again I have often held up drivers myself on my bike. I also buy from online sellers and know I am partly responsible for the added delivery vans. When I started cycling 40 yrs ago the roads were nowhere near as congested as they are today and are about to get even more congested it appears. So do we all give up cycling? It seems 75% of men think not, me too. If women feel unsafe riding on the road being harassed then it makes sense to either find another route or another form of transport, sadly.
I find riding during the daily ‘school runs’ like playing Russian roulette with my life, so I either avoid riding at 3pm or find another route away from schools. They have as much a right to be on the road as I do but I value my life to share the same road with possibly distracted drivers and car doors flung open. Sadly we don’t live in LaLa Land, as much as we would like to, we live in the real world and it’s up to each one of us to decide what we do and how we do it. Yes men probably are stronger and less fearful, which gives them an advantage over us females when cycling on the roads but I personally don’t see any other disadvantage when it comes to cycling. There are lots of women out there cycling, I’m one of them but I don’t begrudge the men, as far as I’m concerned we can all do it the way we choose. A lot of women cycle with their husbands or partners, I don’t but it will not stop me, I like riding either on my own or in a small group. It’s horses for courses, as they say. I am sorry that so many women get harassed and give up cycling, it’s a brilliant way to keep fit and commute at the same time, I can’t remember the last time I paid to park my car. There are of course ‘horrid’ people out there, everywhere, schools, work, driving cars, etc. we have to either try to get along or find a hole to hide in! I don’t speak for others as everyone has their own way of dealing with these bullies, but I for one am not giving up riding my bike, I shall carry on being happy to be 25% of the women who do ride and wish the 75% of men ‘happy, safe cycling’.

[Carlton green]

I have lots of women friends that ride bikes, …

There are of course ‘horrid’ people out there, everywhere, schools, work, driving cars, etc. we have to either try to get along or find a hole to hide in! I don’t speak for others as everyone has their own way of dealing with these bullies, but I for one am not giving up riding my bike, I shall carry on being happy to be 25% of the women who do ride and wish the 75% of men ‘happy, safe cycling’.

Thank you for your excellent response.

Here at the ‘Green residence’ I’m reading CUK’s magazine; page 8 of the Feb / March issue of Cycle has an article about improving women’s safety. It seems a sensible enough article to me and doesn’t claim that safety is the only (perceived) issue discouraging women from cycling. The article ends with the reminder: “ … if we make cycling safer for women, it will feel safer for everyone”. imho it would be a darned good idea to simply make cycling safer for everyone: regardless of gender the young, old and relatively weak are all vulnerable too.

[TrevA]

One of the cycling clubs I belong has over 50 female members, around 42% of the total club membership. Some are happy to ride with men, some are happy to do faster rides, but many only go on the Friday Ladies only ride.

This ride has 3 speed groups - inters (15-16 mph), lower inters (13-14 mph) and steadies (12mph). The steadies is aimed at newcomers and the experienced riders take it in turns to lead this group, so that any new riders always have someone to ride with. They all meet up at the start and then split up into their groups. Each group has its own route, such that all groups meet up again at the designated cafe stop. They often get 20-25 riders over the 3 groups. Rides are timed to allow children to be dropped off at school first, and the rides get suspended during school holidays, or shortened so that children can come along too.

There’s also a Breeze ride on Thursday evening - 12 to 15 miles at the pace of the slowest rider. This is often the hook that gets new women riders into the club, as any bike is acceptable. The Friday Ladies are usually all on road bikes, though the steadies sometimes have hybrid riders.

The whole thing is driven by a team of 5 or 6 dedicated women volunteers, who organise and lead all of the Ladies rides between them. I think this is the key to getting more women riding with clubs. Let the Ladies do the organising and don’t let the men interfere!

I’ve tried to encourage the Ladies in my other club to do something similar, but they are happy doing what they do (riding with men with the occasional Ladies ride).

[Carlton green]

Anecdotal evidence is of limited value, but imho it still has value.

Recently I was chatting to a friend and the topic of cycling came up. She told me that she’d given up cycling and I asked about why. The answer was that her home faced onto what had become a busy road (the first and last part of her every journey by bike) and that the road wasn’t wide enough for vehicles to safely pass cyclists (she felt physically intimidated and feared for her life). As an aside unless she too drives her car she’s imprisoned in her home by motor vehicles. The key point there is that much increased traffic (numbers and vehicle physical size) has effectively resulted in removal of safe on road space.

It’s easy to blame simply being female on why a part of society doesn’t now cycle, but it’s a small part of the bigger issue. My friend is a woman of confidence and ability, she has a PhD and is used to managing people and public speaking, yet even she has pragmatically accepted being driven off of the road by motor vehicles.

[Ron]

.I have no interest in whether or not more people cycle.

I have an interest in the number of people cycling!
The more the merrier, cyclist need a stronger voice to fight for decent cycling infrastructure to improve cyclist safety and make cyling a more convenient and attractive transport option for all.

[irc]

.I have no interest in whether or not more people cycle.

I have an interest in the number of people cycling!
The more the merrier, cyclist need a stronger voice to fight for decent cycling infrastructure to improve cyclist safety and make cyling a more convenient and attractive transport option for all.

Not sure facilities are the issue. In my town people travel a mile and a half from the furthest areas to the town centre. Easy cycling. There are good off road paths. A seperated cycle lane on a main road. Plenty low traffic side streets.

People choose to use mostly cars. Thereafter walking and bus/train. Cycling? Not so much.

[pjclinch]

.I have no interest in whether or not more people cycle.

I have an interest in the number of people cycling!
The more the merrier, cyclist need a stronger voice to fight for decent cycling infrastructure to improve cyclist safety and make cyling a more convenient and attractive transport option for all.

Not sure facilities are the issue. In my town people travel a mile and a half from the furthest areas to the town centre. Easy cycling. There are good off road paths. A seperated cycle lane on a main road. Plenty low traffic side streets.

People choose to use mostly cars. Thereafter walking and bus/train. Cycling? Not so much.

The oft-quoted example is Stevenage, a New Town designed with lots of high quality cycling facilities. But as well as being easy to ride anywhere it was easy to drive and park anywhere, so in an increasingly car-centric society where the cultural norm has become "we travel by car by default" people used (and continue to use) cars.

In order for cycling to take a good slice out of the private motoring cake takes both sticks and carrots. Private motoring has to be a clearly worse way to get about and cycling has to have clear advantages before people will change habits, because changing habits is hard.

"Build it and they will come" is contingent on a lot of factors. It's working quite well in London because London doesn't have space for anything like the number of people there to be driving everywhere, so driving anywhere tends to suck, but London isn't like most of the UK (significantly more population than the whole of Scotland, for example).

Pete.

[irc]

In order for cycling to take a good slice out of the private motoring cake takes both sticks and carrots. Private motoring has to be a clearly worse way to get about and cycling has to have clear advantages before people will change habits, because changing habits is hard.

You need to be careful with sticks. Glasgow city centre is suffering a bit because sticks for drivers mean they go to out of town retail parks instead.

My sister lives in central Glasgow. Used to have the choice of three bridge clubs within walking distance. Parking costs in the evenings after the council abolished post 6pm free street parking was a major factor in the clubs merging and selling their seperate premises. The replacement centre was built in an industrial estate with easy motorway access and free parking.

https://www.bridgewebs.com/clyde/

[ElaineB]

I think it’s a case of ‘you can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink’.
People/women/ cyclists, call them what you will, will generally do what they like/want to do and I’m all for that. TrevA and the cycling ladies group are what I believe will help women get in to safe cycling but make it a social outing too, which is excellent.
I read a cycling magazine at the weekend and the whole mag was about training for ‘challenging’ rides over enormous mountains in clothing that cost over £200 for a cycling jacket. This is cycling as a sport that ‘mostly’ young men are very much in to. It doesn’t suit me but it does them, they can’t get enough of it! Good luck to them but good luck to the ladies group going for a coffee stop, I’m just about to do the same with not a mountain in sight, thank goodness!

[Carlton green]

In order for cycling to take a good slice out of the private motoring cake takes both sticks and carrots. Private motoring has to be a clearly worse way to get about and cycling has to have clear advantages before people will change habits, because changing habits is hard.

You need to be careful with sticks. Glasgow city centre is suffering a bit because sticks for drivers mean they go to out of town retail parks instead.

My sister lives in central Glasgow. Used to have the choice of three bridge clubs within walking distance. Parking costs in the evenings after the council abolished post 6pm free street parking was a major factor in the clubs merging and selling their seperate premises. The replacement centre was built in an industrial estate with easy motorway access and free parking.

https://www.bridgewebs.com/clyde/

After Covid - or rather during it - a lot of habits changed and attending Bridge Clubs might be one of them; parking costs do encourage people to give up on none essential activities - however worthy the activities are - and particularly so when alternative transport provision is poor. It may be that the Bridge Clubs were hit by two different factors.

I see that the new club is near (?) to a train station so perhaps some public transport to it exists.

When I lived in Swindon there was a good network of cycle tracks, they were used but most people still chose to drive. As they say: “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink”. Of course a car can be needed for the journeys that can’t be done by bike so for the marginal cost of the petrol it’s maybe quick and easy to drive instead. For short distances I much prefer to cycle and love cycle tracks, but maybe that’s because I enjoy the freedoms and exercise that cycling brings.

[pjclinch]

You need to be careful with sticks. Glasgow city centre is suffering a bit because sticks for drivers mean they go to out of town retail parks instead.

In Dundee they've been doing that without any sticks particularly required. Where planning and culture have mainly been about private motor traffic throughput and people driving everywhere then the presence of somewhere it's easy to drive to is quite enough to knock city centres for six if they don't provide something different.

My sister lives in central Glasgow. Used to have the choice of three bridge clubs within walking distance. Parking costs in the evenings after the council abolished post 6pm free street parking was a major factor in the clubs merging and selling their seperate premises. The replacement centre was built in an industrial estate with easy motorway access and free parking.

Like I say, you need sticks and carrots.
If they were within walking distance to a great many people, why didn't people walk? My guess is something that makes walking unattractive.

Pete.

[irc]

Why didn't everyone walk? Not everyone lives in the city center or west end. While she was walking distance most members were not.

When I lived in that area I would often walk rather than cycle. Under 15min who cares about time saved. Slightly longer, a bit worried about theft risk. Subway a preferable option.

Cycling has a hard sell considering weather, security, perceived danger. I know the risk can be drastically minimised by various methods. Most regular cyclists I know have crash stories to tell though. Even without the car option most people seem to prefer bus/subway, walk, taxi.