The reason fewer US women cycle than the Dutch is not what you think it is.

[hozn]

@dasgeh 97065 wrote:

Some errands are easier for me to do by bike — stopping in various stores in Clarendon, e.g., where I can park my bike at the door, and be in and out quickly, where in a car it would take longer. But yes, you have to deal with carrying capacity. There are lots of options for that, some of which depend on how far you’ve got from the store to your house.

Also, bike can serve as workout time, so if the added time of biking < how much time you would spend working out, it's not so selfish...

Yeah, it’s true; exercise is important. I don’t think I would exercise for 2+ hours every day [if I weren’t cycling], though. Or probably even 1 hour a day, if we look at just the extra time it takes to commute by bike (approx 30 minutes extra per direction).

The logistical question is also more one of time than hauling capacity. Really, though, it’s important to me to ride bicycle so I will continue to do that, even if it means I’m home a little later or (more realistically) leave a bit earlier. But I recognize that I’m doing this because I want to [for me] and there are costs in an environment where automotive transport is a fairly ingrained assumption.

[mstone]

@dasgeh 97062 wrote:

Infrastructure is important, both for safety and for ease of use (turn radiuses work with family bikes, inclines aren’t too steep), but another HUGE aspect is availability of equipment. We need more bike shops that carry and service family bikes and family biking equipment.

Or just decent bikes for regular people in general. But I see that as pretty easy/quick to change through market forces given sufficient demand, whereas the infrastructure problem is more of a generational effort.

[dkel]

@Geoff 97055 wrote:

I know there are people on this forum who do all errands by bike, but for me stopping at the store for a few items is a problem – I don’t have the extra carrying capacity for a gallon of milk.

This is why I carry sooo much stuff on my bike while commuting: rear and front racks, both my Ortliebs (no front packs yet), bungee cords and nets, a U-lock and a cable lock (I’d rather use the U, but not everywhere you go has something that will fit a U). I don’t have that much to carry for work, frankly. As for shopping, there’s a difference between stopping on the way home for something (a gallon of milk would work fine for me, though it’s more likely to be a couple bottles of wine!) and going out to do the shopping, which is mostly out of reach for my current setup given my hungry family of four. But that’s what cargo bikes are for! Speaking of which, I told Rockford that I would gladly do all our grocery shopping if she let me get a cargo bike…no sale.

[Emm]

@Geoff 97055 wrote:

I know there are people on this forum who do all errands by bike, but for me stopping at the store for a few items is a problem – I don’t have the extra carrying capacity for a gallon of milk.

I ran into this issue twice recently on my commute home. I leave my lock at work, so unless I think ahead, no bike lock. I remembered the lock 2 weeks ago and stopped by the store to get cat food since it was a pretty urgent need. In the store it looked like an 11 lb bag would fit in my smallish backpack…but when I got out…nope. I forgot to take into account the lock takes up alot of space. I emptied all 11 lbs of kitty kibble into my backpack utilizing all the pockets and had a very unpleasant (and smelly) final mile ride home. Luckily the backpack was washable…although my cats and the dog are still pretty obsessed with it.

Then last week the same thing happened at the grocery store and the food wouldn’t fit. I ended up tying the final plastic bag to my backpack, which was NOT safe since it kept knocking my head. Luckily I only had 4 blocks to ride home, and traffic was light.

I much prefer my hybrid with panniers for errand days, but it’s just so much slower than the road bike for work commutes, so I utilize it less during nice weather And yes, as the woman in the house, I am stuck more with groceries and errands (fiance would just order pizza instead of picking up rice, but I think that’s laziness on his part, not sexism).

[Phatboing]

Capacity! (gallon of milk and 6-pack, though at different times)

More capacity! (75lb of bulk discount goods from Costco, just last week)

P.S. Don’t load your trailer with 75lb of stuff. Crikey that was a pain to pull.

[wheelswings]

The article makes good points. A lot of us would feel safer with improved cycling infrastructure. And I say “Amen” to a reduced burden of housework and obligations.

But I think the picture is more complex. I wonder about other factors affecting the number of female bicycle commuters.

1. I think a lot of women don’t realize what they’re missing. The article seems to suggest that if we really want to see more females on bikes, we need a social revolution – more free-time, less housework – in addition to safer bike infrastructure. But I think many females simply have no idea that biking is often the most efficient, reliable and economical transportation option. In a sense, female bike-commuting is an undiscovered secret. You get door-to-door service, you save thousands of dollars per year over Metro or driving, you can reliably get home to pick up the kids at the school-bus without worrying about traffic jams or transit delays. You have refreshing outdoor exercise built into your day…a luxury that single working moms like me would otherwise likely forego, ‘cause who has the time? Sure, there are far-away chauffeuring responsibilities that are not conducive to a Double Burley, but it’s amazing how much you can do on a bike.

2. My guess is that the social pressures to look beautiful in the workplace play a role in capping the number of female cyclists. The level of grooming in the DC area is quite high. Mix in some mud, sweat, and helmet-head, and female cyclists may not always make it up to standard, even after the daily Superwoman transformation in the ladies’ bathroom stall. I don’t know what proportion of employers offer showers, but my guess is that it’s not so high. Men aren’t judged in the same way. (Personally I think showers and fancy sports clothes are over-rated, and in part I blame the school system for raising generations of kids to think they have to change for the jumping jacks and other “exercise” they get in gym class. You can bicycle commute in most anything, so long as you stick a pair of shorts under the skirt and throw a neon shirt on top. ).

[Steve O]

@dkel 97093 wrote:

As for shopping, there’s a difference between stopping on the way home for something (a gallon of milk would work fine for me, though it’s more likely to be a couple bottles of wine!) and going out to do the shopping, which is mostly out of reach for my current setup given my hungry family of four.

My record is $207 of groceries with two panniers, a paper grocery bag in the front basket and a string backpack. (Granted at Whole Foods’ prices). That’s on my 3-speed, around-town bike. On my road bike there is no front basket, but I have still transported well over $100 worth of stuff on my way home from work.

A couple of years ago when my wife was using the car for all her commuting and my work schedule was very flexible, I was able to do virtually all the shopping on my bikes. About once a month I would use the car.

But I choose to have a rack on my commuter bike, which I know others eschew. However, having it makes it much easier to do those “on the way home” errands.

[chris_s]

@Steve O 97106 wrote:

My record is $207 of groceries with two panniers, a paper grocery bag in the front basket and a string backpack. (Granted at Whole Foods’ prices). That’s on my 3-speed, around-town bike. On my road bike there is no front basket, but I have still transported well over $100 worth of stuff on my way home from work.

A couple of years ago when my wife was using the car for all her commuting and my work schedule was very flexible, I was able to do virtually all the shopping on my bikes. About once a month I would use the car.

But I choose to have a rack on my commuter bike, which I know others eschew. However, having it makes it much easier to do those “on the way home” errands.

Just wanted to throw in that I’m a huge fan of those “scan it yourself” scanners at Giant for grocery shopping by bike. Because you are scanning it yourself, you can pack the stuff directly into your backpack or panniers and know before you ever approach the checkout that what you’re buying is going to fit.

[baiskeli]

@Phatboing 97102 wrote:

Capacity! (gallon of milk and 6-pack, though at different times)

Bet you could fit a kid in that!

[oldbikechick]

So, speaking as a former female bike commuter and temporarily stay at home mom, to me it comes down to the infrastructure, the choices you make (ie. make some compromises to live close to work or not), culture and kid duties. I am not a die-hard by any means, I bike only when it makes sense, but I take into account the exercise, fresh air and mental re-charging I get from biking into the equation. Taking all that into account, it almost always made sense to commute to work by bike – takes the same amount of time and my alternative is public transportation. I also only had myself to worry about crashing, freezing, etc. On the occasions that I had kid drop-off duty on the way to work however, the equation changed. Safety and comfort standards increased a lot. The timing did not work out. I could not make the equation add up and I always drove to drop off, although then I biked from free parking to my office Saving $18 a day in parking definitely supports the biking equation.

Now that I am home, I bike to and from pre-school when it makes sense – ie. the weather is decent and I’m not running terribly late. I feel a pang of guilt every time however since there is one small unavoidable section of the route that worries me in terms of safety. I would not think twice about it on my own, but with the precious cargo back there, I’d rather there were fewer cars and more separation. More Dutch-like infrastructure and enforcement would help the equation here. However, MOST times going to the grocery store, for me it makes sense to drive so I can carry all the stuff back, so I do, even though it is only 1/2 mile away. I learned my lesson during freezing saddles when I decided to ride to the grocery store “to pick up a few things” and could not fit it all in the panniers and ended up careening back through the neighborhood with several grocery bags swinging to and fro on the handlebars hoping none of the neighbors could see me.

I think in the Netherlands people are only biking when it makes sense as well, but with way better infrastructure and a biking culture thrown into the equation. Everyone grows up biking (no school buses!) so biking is naturally considered as a viable option. The infrastructure is great, and with the urban set up (denser towns, more difficult parking) biking often makes more sense. But when it doesn’t makes sense to bike, I don’t think anyone thinks twice about driving if it’s an option or taking a cab, or whatever other option works best.

As for the premise that it’s our US work-life balance and lack of a living wage that is the issue, I had to chuckle at that logic putting cycling at the center of the universe (would it be a “Pedalemaic system?”). The idea that to improve the numbers of women on bikes we need to basically solve all our social ills in the US seems to look at things a bit backwards. It would be great to solve all those issues, and maybe it would also have some good side effects, like getting more people on bikes.

[Sunyata]

@wheels&wings 97104 wrote:

You can bicycle commute in most anything, so long as you stick a pair of shorts under the skirt and throw a neon shirt on top. ).

Wow… I guess you must never sweat. Even this morning (it was cool, but super humid), I arrived at work super sweaty. Had I been in my regular work attire, I would be miserable, gross looking, and pretty stinky. So I absolutely disagree that you can bicycle commute in most anything and remain somewhat presentable, even in my very casual work environment.

As for the general conversation, I am a female and I commute to work and do most of my errands by bike. The only exception to my bike errands is if I have to take my dogs to the vet or if I need to get large amounts of beer or toilet paper (I still have yet to figure out how to safely carry an 18 pack of toilet paper home on my bike). I think the reason I commute is because I love cycling and hate parallel parking. 😎

[wheelswings]

Right, you can ride in most anything, but the the bathroom stall Superwoman transformation is still essential to be presentable in the office… What you’re saying boosts the main point I was trying to make, that the high standards of grooming in the workplace may help cap the number of female bike commuters.

[Steve O]

@oldbikechick 97119 wrote:

However, MOST times going to the grocery store, for me it makes sense to drive so I can carry all the stuff back, so I do, even though it is only 1/2 mile away.

When I lived in Center City Philadelphia, there were many households without cars. These “city carts” were common for carting groceries and other stuff. Given it’s only 1/2 mile, that’s within easy walking distance. And, unlike your bike, you can dispatch your spouse to the grocery with it, too!
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[Steve O]

@Sunyata 97135 wrote:

miserable, gross looking, and pretty stinky.

I sweat like crazy, too. However, if you shower before you go, sweat does not stink. I have been literally dripping with sweat on August trips to business meetings (with my suit in my pannier). I give myself 10 minutes to cool down, then essentially towel myself off in the men’s room, put on my suit, and no one can tell I was not driven there by my chauffeur. No smell.

[oldbikechick]

@Steve O 97154 wrote:

When I lived in Center City Philadelphia, there were many households without cars. These “city carts” were common for carting groceries and other stuff. Given it’s only 1/2 mile, that’s within easy walking distance. And, unlike your bike, you can dispatch your spouse to the grocery with it, too!
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Those carts are awesome! I spent a lot of my life not having a car, or even a bike. When I first came to DC I used to walk to the grocery store with a backpack and ration my purchases of heavy things. I once moved apartments by bike, not because it was cool or trendy, but because I only had a bike. Luckily they were furnished apartments, but it still took many trips. The next time I moved, I had a paying job and was able to rent a car. There are definitely many ways to be creative and use your own two feet or two wheels if you don’t have a car. But, I do have a car now, so…. Of course, in those old lean car-less days, I was also at my fittest. Hmmm.

[Author]

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