Open letter to Google

Dear Mr Google,

First, let me say, your company is the best. I love Gmail, love Picassa, love the online documents, love, love the maps and what they do. That is why I am writing to you.

Your company is poised to take over. Microsoft is hampered by the anti-trust and Apple charges outrageous prices for their stuff. Whereas, Google, so far is free. Can't beat free.

Over a year ago I predicted that you, Mr.Google, would be in position to topple Apple. You serve the same populations, you are a cool company, your people look plenty geeky. So from my stand point, you are very similar to Apple. You make user friendly stuff. And you both do cool things.

I hear you have a prototype cell phone with your Google interface, turn by turn directions as part of the phone. Unlike the I Phone, that app cost $60.

You have taken map making to levels never dreamed of prior to computers. You have those nifty cars with cameras that go all over the globe. Unbelievable!

Google is in a great spot to do for cycling what all the cycling advocates cannot do. Make cycling mainstream. You are a green company, I see where you grow your own food for your cafteria. What better way to make an impact than to bring cycling to the forefront. There are many cycling advocacy groups, but nothing really that organized to make any kind of impact. With lots of biking stuff coming out of Google, folks would take notice.



Here are some suggestions Mr. Google:

1. Make the Google Map system GPS friendly, in that I could import my cues routes into Google Maps. That way I can do a search for stores, gas stations and what not along my cue route.

2. Overlay weather maps over your maps so that weather could be aligned with the streets. For example, I am in West Chester PA and I want to go to Lancaster to bike. I import my cue sheet from say My Bikely (Google should have a cue sheet making program, too ) and I can then overlay a weather map. Get instant weather reports for the roads I will biking on.

3. Using your broad network of gophers, have bike routes available as part of Google Maps. Again, such sites as My Bikely and Map my Ride have these. But the stuff is all over the network and many cannot find these resources.

4. List which roads are good for biking. Is it a 2 lane road, 4 lane road, busy with traffic etc.

5. Real time construction obstacles would also be handy. The local news stations do a lot of this stuff, so the technology is there, but not in a good place for folks to make use of.

6. Make the new phrase "googbike it" as mainstream as the phrase "google it"

Mr. Google, these are just some ideas, but I am looking for you and your company to take a stand and make cycling something that everyone would want to do. With more and more folks biking all over the place, the cities and towns would have to start accommodating this huge new population.

Thank you Mr. Google for taking the time to read my letter.

Libby

January 1 - 12 noon C ride

IF the weather is decent, Biker Chicks will have a ride available leaving from Hot Foot at 12 noon sharp.

The A and B riders already have two rides up, so looking for some brave chicks. Check WCCC ride page for latest on cancellations etc.

An email Gem

an email gem, just some fun as here in the Northeast, it is below freezing, so biking is on hold for the time being :(



The Pastor's Ass
The pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won.
The pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again, and it won again.
The local paper read:

PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT.
The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered
the pastor not to enter the donkey in another race. The next day, the local paper headline read:

BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR'S ASS.
This was too much for the bishop, so he ordered the pastor to get
rid of the donkey.
The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent.
The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day:

NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.
The bishop fainted.
He informed the nun that she would have to
get rid of the donkey, so she
sold it to a farmer for $10.

The next day the paper read: NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.
This was too much for the bishop , so he ordered the nun to buy back
the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.
The next day the headlines read:

NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.
The bishop was buried the next day. The moral of the story is . .. being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery . . even shorten your life.
So be yourself and enjoy life.
Stop worrying about everyone else's ass and you'll be a lot happier and live longer!


MORAL of the story From Libby

Get on your bike and ride, forget what others think of you!!!!!

wondering about bike clubs

Who are the members of Bike Clubs?? Mostly A and B riders and men??an even mix of A,B, C and D riders?? club officers... do they come from the A and B groups or do clubs pull from each ride category?? do women join the bike clubs??

Why, what and why not??Post comments as to the makeup of your bike club. My own experience is limited. My club seems to have a huge amount of the A and B riders, with many many rides posted each week for these groups.

I have been trying for 3 years to expand the C and D groups and have had little luck. Yes, some new folks have taken up the sport but our numbers are very small compared to the rest of the club.

A fellow posted to my bike club's email list asking about an inexpensive entry level bike for his wife. I wonder what kind of bike the husband rides and did he buy an inexpensive entry level bike for himself?

Maybe he did, who knows??

How does your bike club stack up?? What are you doing to get new members in the C and D groups??

Do you even care if the slower riders are part of your club?? Looking for suggestions on how to get ladies riding and joining bike clubs.

New Year's Resolutions for Cyclists

1. Double your last year's biking mileage

2. Bike 3-5 times each and every week

3. Learn how to stand up when going up a steep hill

4. Cross train, do some other stuff besides biking, water aerobics, jogging for example

5. Go to someplace new to bike (I'm planning on biking in the state of Michigan this summer)

6. Bike across your entire state (my son is going from Phila to Ann Arbor MI this summer, which is damn, 3 states!)

7. Do a century ride

8. Keep track of the birds and wildlife you are lucky enough to see ( i spotted a beaver made dam on a creek last week, cool)

9. Join a bike club and meet new people

10. STOP telling yourself you are not good enough to take up the sport of cycling

11. Do a 50 -60 mile ride every weekend

12. Look good when biking, get some new clothes, SPLURGE for pete's sake

13. Upgrade your shoes and cleats, get road shoes and new cleats

14. Learn how to maintain your own bike

15. Change a tire without help

16. Stop doing long bikes rides on an empty stomach, EAT on your rides

17. Clean your drive chain every 200 miles

18. Buy a new bike ( I am!!)

19. Upgrade something on your bike

20. HAVE FUN enjoying your new sport ( I plan on it)

The Rational Dress Society and why Bike Chic still makes me mad

from the article I posted previously, this portion is most interesting......

"Bloomers provoked wrath in conservatives and delight in women cyclists, and the garment was to become the centerpiece of the "rational dress" movement that sprung up at the end of the 19th century. The rational dress society statement of purpose reads in part: The Rational Dress society protests against the introduction of any fashion in dress that either deforms the figure, impedes the movement of the body, or in any way tends to injure the health. It protests against the wearing of tightly fitted corsets, of high-heeled or narrow toed boots and shoes; of heavily weighted skirts, as rendering healthy exercise almost impossible.... (Dodge, 126) The bloomer quickly made a host of enemies, however, and many a bloomer clad women complained of being ridiculed, fined, and even treated "like a prostitute" by local authorities.(Willard, 94)."

got a comment via email from a reader....

"that other article was very interesting, i love the idea of the rational dress society for women,

when you think about it, much of our clothing is for the benefit of men- high heels, tight clothes, low cut shirts etc., to me no different than the burka for Muslem women- all for men ( men control religion), not for women"

My point exactly and I do think Bike Chic is a very good example of this comment above.

I really do not think any woman in her right mind would put on heels to ride a bike unless to attract the attention of men.

As much as we enlightened ladies like to think we are enlightened, I am not so sure we are. We buy clothes not for comfort but to look good for men.

For us old ladies who fought the hard fight to finally not have to wear skirts and dresses to school, who never even owned a pair of jeans until in our 20s (there were no jeans for women prior to the hippie movement), biking in a dress just takes us back 50 years to the time when we had to wear skirts all the time.

I know many say, liberation is picking whatever you want to wear, but truly, would you pick those short skirts, tight shoes and low cut tops if you were going out biking with just women.

I doubt it. Who designs all those ridiculous high heels.. Jimmy Choo (sounds like a man's name to me)??

If you want to bike to work, fine, but put on appropriate clothes, pants, sneakers and a sweater for example. You only let men control your clothing choices when you bike in short skirts and tight tops. I see no choice in your biking clothing selection, only a lady trying hard to wear what men want us to wear.

empowering women

was sent this via email, via a Tweet from Terry Cycles, interesting article and all the more reason you SHOULD be biking........

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG02/hendrick/women.html

The Possibility of Mobility: Women

Amongst the bicycles most important, and perhaps most enduring, legacies is its effect upon women's issues; indeed the mark the bicycle left upon gender relations in the 1890s is difficult to underestimate. One must remember that the America of years past was one of rigidly defined gender roles, with distinctly separate spheres of activity for men and women. The distinctions between the sexes were certainly as rigidly defined as ever in the years leading up to the 1890s--the years we popularly refer to as the Victorian era.

However, as the 19th century came to a close, women were gradually making headway into the male-dominated public sphere, through increased roles in education, social and political organizations. Perhaps as a response to the seemingly increasing potential for equality amongst the sexes, men begin to more and more delineate themselves in terms of physical prowess. Cycling, then took its natural place amongst football, baseball, and other male dominated spheres of activity. One can imagine the indignation, often expressed in terms of health or morality, that many a male felt when the woman was shown to be just as adept at handling the cycle as her counterpart.

Simply put, the bicycle allowed for movement into new spaces, literally and figuratively. The woman of the 19th century who had been given little opportunity to cultivate or express her autonomy now had a vessel with which one could not only develop autonomous power, but do so while leaving behind the old reliance upon men for travel. It's easy to see then, why Susan B. Anthony, women's rights advocate and future star of an ill-fated dollar, was to say that the bicycle had "done more to emancipate women then anything else in the world".(Willard, 90)

This emancipation came in many forms, and not the least of which was the casting off of the impractical clothing styles that had long kept women's bodies uncomfortably covered. The advent and the ensuing popularity of the safety bicycle, with its appeal to both sexes mandated that women cast off their corsets and figure out some way around their long, billowy skirts. The answer to the skirt question was to be found in the form of bloomers, which were little more than very baggy trousers, cinched at the knee. Bloomers provoked wrath in conservatives and delight in women cyclists, and the garment was to become the centerpiece of the "rational dress" movement that sprung up at the end of the 19th century. The rational dress society statement of purpose reads in part: The Rational Dress society protests against the introduction of any fashion in dress that either deforms the figure, impedes the movement of the body, or in any way tends to injure the health. It protests against the wearing of tightly fitted corsets, of high-heeled or narrow toed boots and shoes; of heavily weighted skirts, as rendering healthy exercise almost impossible.... (Dodge, 126) The bloomer quickly made a host of enemies, however, and many a bloomer clad women complained of being ridiculed, fined, and even treated "like a prostitute" by local authorities.(Willard, 94).

Rational dress aside, the bicycle, despite being heaped with scorn by outraged men, was consistently trumpeted by progressive women as a tool for increased freedoms. Indeed, many feminist tracts of the day frequently invoked the bicycle as a metaphor for increased self-control, with perhaps the president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union Frances' Willard's How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle being among the most famous. Similarly, the author of Bicycling for Ladies, Maria Ward, bluntly notes that "Riding the wheel, our powers are revealed to us...".

It is precisely this sort of attitude, empowerment coupled with visions of an increasingly egalitarian future, that angered many men greatly. Simply put, the woman on wheels was a threat to the well ingrained system of practical inferiority that men had been taking advantage of for centuries, and outraged men were quick to point to the bicycle as a threat to the social order. The cycle, it was argued, would disrupt the delicate sphere of the family unit by allowing the woman to travel beyond her previous limits without the surveillance of a knowing husband nearby. The younger woman, too was vulnerable to a bicycle induced lapse in morals, for it allowed her to stray farther a field with members of the opposite sex during courtship.

The leveling effect acheived by the woman on the bicyle was so great that the coming of the automobile and subsequent demise of the bicyle can be though of as a major step backwards for women's empowerment.

December 25, 2009 Valley Forge Park

Nuf said

our government run amuck

Yippee, our Congress passed a huge porkulous bill masquerading as a Health Care Bill. The wheeling and dealing only points to how corrupt and useless our government has become. The few insurance laws I have heard about sound good but what is costing $871 BILLION dollars?? Are those funds helping poor folks get insurance??

Somehow I doubt that. Seems our legislators work only for power. How to stay in Congress, collect their huge salaries, lobbying gifts and great great benefits. All of this paid for by you and me.

It does not matter the party affiliation, our government has ground to a complete halt. When the only way to pass a bill is to bribe legislators, there is a big problem.

Now this $871 billion, where is it coming from?? How can government spend money it does not have?? I guess I am just plain dumb, cuz by spending $871 billion, my government is somehow gonna save the medical industry and bring costs down.

If this happens, I think we can say, we here in America, have created a miracle.

snow and kids and adults

oops, not this kind of blizzard!!!!

Kids love snow, snow expands their day, snowmen, snow angels, snow ball fights, snow forts, and sledding. The possibilities of fun for kids is limited only by their imaginations.

Adults on the other hand, find their days contracted, stuck in the house, cannot get to the Malls, and for mothers mostly, additional laundry and cleaning of wet snow clothes.

For many adults, being forced to stay inside, also limits their social life. We cannot visit friends,and older folks have no social contact.

For adults, driving is treacherous, and emergencies become nightmares.

But for kids, all they see is the fun of the white stuff. My kids are grown, now I have dogs that I must walk and also play with in the snow. As dogs are like kids, snow simply expands their day and fun.

So for all the adults, try to find that inner child and enjoy the huge Nor'easter blanketing the northeast.

when biking is a habit

start em young

1. when 30 degrees starts to look warm

2. when all your bookmarks are cycling sites

3. when your Christmas list is all bike gear

4. when you start selling old stuff on ebay to buy new bike stuff

5. when you get done with a ride in sub freezing temps and feel warm

6. when you plan your day around your ride

7. when it takes 15 minutes to dress for your ride and you don't care

8. when you consider selling your gold jewelery to buy more bike gear

9. when the first website you check in the morning is the local weather

10. when wind speeds of 15-20 mph do not look so bad and you plan your ride to bike into the wind and come home with wind at your back

11. when you spend your free time making new cues

12. when you smear Vasoline on your face to protect it from the cold and don't feel foolish

and the list goes on........

Libby's latest rant

To all joggers and cyclists, PLEASE take off the earphones while you are on the road! Holy moly, how do you expect to hear a car or another cyclist if you are plugged into the ipod?

How can you hear anything dangerous that might be coming your way?? how can you run along a busy road totally unaware of approaching cars or bikes??

Today while biking, I had a jogger out in front of me, as I approached, I yelled, "passing", the jogger nearly tripped over his feet as he was startled by the noise.

Especially troubling to me is a single woman jogger, out in the country, alone with earphones stuck to her ears. This is just so unsafe. Am I just an old fart who thinks this way??

Why would anyone run or bike on roads with cars on them and not be totally able to hear approaching cars, trucks or whatever?

madder than hell

This Biker Chick column has nothing to do with biking, but has plenty to do with children which I am passionate about.

Last week the Philadelphia Inquirer had a column by Annette John-Hall talking about the school violence being perpetrated on Asian students at a South Philly High School. Her column which I will post below was the best piece of reporting I have read in many many years. Finally an unbiased appraisal of an event with nothing but straight reporting. This quote being perhaps the best sentence in the piece.

"Still, it would have eased the students' hurt if, Ms. Ackerman, you at least genuinely showed that you cared.

It's bad enough that you waited four days to publicly respond to a gang attack at one of your schools. But it was even worse on Wednesday, watching you sit there dispassionately, as though you were listening to your voice mails, when students asked for an apology."

John-Hall has captured so clearly what it is like when you have to go to school to have a meeting with administrators. Unfortunately, Ackerman is not alone in her dismal response to a serious school problem.

This stone face showing no emotion is what many parents face constantly when attending IEP (individual education plan) meetings or when called to the office to discuss something their child has done.

John-Hall has restored my faith in newspaper reporting. Finally something in the paper that is straight reporting, no axe to grind, no side to support, just a clear clear view of what was going on. Her perception of Ackerman's response went beyond what most people see. John-Hall really saw what was going on and that was a dismissal by administrators of a serious problem.

Annette John-Hall: Weak response to school beatings

By Annette John-Hall

Inquirer Columnist

Beaten and still bruised, physically and otherwise - but here to tell about it - Asian students from South Philadelphia High met this week with School District administrators.

In one emotional testimony after another, they described the brutal beatings they endured a week ago in and near the school. The father of Chaofel Zheng raised his son's shirt to show a bruise from the assault, just in case the teen's black eye weren't evidence enough.

"I hope," Zheng said, "that security will put more care into us."

About 150 student supporters carried signs. But one sign said it all: "Grown-ups let us down."

Grown-ups like the cafeteria workers who allegedly turned their backs on the fighting.

And the security guards who made the victims leave school property - even though the students feared the walk home. And rightly so.

And the adult staffers at the school who allegedly made fun of them frequently.

They can add one more grown-up to the list.

Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, I'm sorry to say.

Yes, I'm talking about you, Superintendent. Especially after your slow response and dismissive performance at the meeting in front of the hurt and outraged students - your students - and parents who hoped for more from you.

Since you were hired 20 months ago, you've said the right things. Made big pronouncements about how you were going to make your administration more user-friendly. Vowed to put the children first and make school safety a top priority.

And judging from the way you talked, it seemed that grown-up accountability - you know, the process of holding adults responsible for their actions or inactions - was the one thing you were committed to enforcing.

"We've got plenty of accountability for the students that we serve and not nearly enough for the adults who serve them," you said then.

So what did you say, Superintendent, when so-called responsible adults didn't intervene as a rogue group of African American students attacked Asian schoolmates so severely that many had to seek hospital treatment?

You linked the assaults to retaliation for an unwarranted attack off campus on a disabled black student by two Asian students the day before.

But how do you explain that these Asian students have been victimized for the last 18 months? Or that this time, random Asian students were targeted, as one community activist pointed out?

"We don't have to get into a back-and-forth about that," you responded.

Well, then. You know those sensitivity classes you're talking about?

Adult abuses

Chinese and Vietnamese students, some of whom have been here for only a few months and barely speak English, courageously described, in excruciating detail, how they've been relentlessly teased and taunted by adult support staffers. "Hey, Chinese." "Hey, Dragon Ball." "Yo, Bruce Lee. Where are you from? Speak English."

You don't have to wonder why 50 students have boycotted classes since Monday at a school where some adults allegedly condone such ignorant actions. I can't say I'd send my own kid back under those conditions.

We all know the problem can't be solved in a day.

Still, it would have eased the students' hurt if, Ms. Ackerman, you at least genuinely showed that you cared.

It's bad enough that you waited four days to publicly respond to a gang attack at one of your schools. But it was even worse on Wednesday, watching you sit there dispassionately, as though you were listening to your voice mails, when students asked for an apology.

You know, a simple but powerful gesture that says, " 'I'm sorry that this happened to you, I'm sorry for the slow response time, I'm sorry that we have not stood with you earlier,' " said Ellen Somekawa of Asian Americans United.

Which is the human thing to do.

But how did you, the chief executive officer of the Philadelphia School District, respond?

With silence. Defensive, deafening silence.

And then, you didn't take questions afterward.

Finally, an apology

At least School Reform Commission Chairman Robert Archie took the cue and apologized to the students "on behalf of the SRC."

Look, Dr. Ackerman. I realize you've taken some action - hired an outside investigator, increased security, suspended some of the kids involved, and put together a task force to get to the root of the problem. It's no more than any good administrator would and should do.

And you do recognize the problem is bigger than South Philly High. You said it yourself. The violence "is only the symptom of a more serious problem which has its roots in racism. . . . It is the proverbial elephant in the room."

Most leaders would not have been so forthright.

But you have to realize that all of the investigative findings, sensitivity training, and task forces for racial and cultural harmony won't quickly solve the problems at a persistently dangerous school where violence is up 32 percent under a new principal.

And that's violence against everyone - black, white, Latino, and Asian.

It takes a bold pronouncement on your part, a swift apology on behalf of the district and an unwavering vow that any kind of violence against any of your students will not be tolerated, to send a universal message, one understood in any language.

You shouldn't have to have your hand forced before you take that stand.

Just think if it had been one of your children.

I hate Walmart

This guy is kidding, really???

If anyone has ever bought anything at Walmart and had a good experience, I would like to meet that person. I have been into Walmart about 5-8 times in my whole life and each time, it was a disaster. Nothing in stock, huge, huge aisles and long waits in the checkout lines. No one in the store is around to help and if you find someone, they have no clue where your item is.

The worst part of Walmart is the online page. Yesterday,I go to the online webpage and look up Blue Disc players. I find a Phillips for $128. I do a store check and my Walmart has it in stock.

I get in my car and drive to Walmart. I find my item and it is $178 in the store. Why? I ask the clerk, he says, don't know, sometime stuff on the Net is cheaper and sometimes it is not.

I said, "well how is a person supposed to know this?", he shrugs and moves on.

This is ridiculous, how can the store advertise one price and then not sell the item at that price?

So I will continue to hate Walmart and wonder who shops there and why. oh yeah, the line to return items was at least 20 people long and they had one lady trying to help all these folks.

I left the store, vowing to never enter another Walmart again.

why bike in cold weather, no I am not an idiot!

Went out today, it was 37 degrees but NO wind, surprisingly it was very nice out there. We did 22 miles but could have done more as we were not cold. To know what to wear in cold weather takes practice. It is easy to overdress as well as underdress.

The more you go out and if you make note of the temps and the wind speed, the better able you are to dress right.

I know I have spoken about the Gore Windstopper jackets, these are INVALUABLE for winter biking. These jackets can make you warm in cold weather. They hold in the body heat and keep out the wind. Today I just had my jacket and bike jersey. Now I am cold tolerant but the Windstopper is just such a great bike item for winter biking. I bought one for me and one for my son and found them on the Net at great prices but look early fall or late spring for the best buys.

I also have recommended getting foot and toe warmers, buy a decent brand. I did splurge on the UnderArmour gloves I found at Sports Authority and they have proven well worth the $25 price tag.

But so far this winter, 37 and no wind is very doable and actually makes for a pleasant ride if winter-geared up right.

Plus biking in cold weather makes you feel so good, you feel strong and powerful when on the roads and it is cold. You pass a few other hardy souls on bikes and you always get a wave. Not so true in warm weather.

It is exhilarating and fun and adds another dimension to your biking. Since it requires good winter gear, start this year and buy some of it. Then next fall look for your Gore Windstopper and be ready to bike in the winter.

Goal this winter is too see how low we can go. Most likely will hit the wall if below 30 but we shall see.

Biker Chick Party/Meeting

WHEN: December 13 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm

WHERE: my house, 206 E Virginia Ave, google it

WHAT: looking for ride leaders for C+, C and C- rides

WHY: we need more leaders, only fair thing for me

I have been at it for 3 yrs, looking for folks to volunteer to lead rides, you only have to step up 1-3x per season, so that is not hard. I sometimes feel like the lady above. I NEED HELP.

Find a few Saturday mornings where you can lead a ride.

Brian's Run

Brian's Run, in its 33rd year of running came by my house this year. Lots of fun for us folks who live in town. The big shirtless kid is my son and looks happy. The one empty frame was the first place guy, he went by too fast and I missed him!

You Walk Wrong

This shoe and the stilettos and Adidas sneakers on the subsequent pages are trompel'oeil paintings applied directly to the feet. Nice as they look, you can't buy them.
Makeup by John Maurad and Jenai Chin.

(Photo: Tom Schierlitz)

Read more: How We're Wrecking Our Feet With Every Step We Take -- New York Magazine http://nymag.com/health/features/46213/#ixzz0Yin1ZmV3


My son has bought these shoes, Vibram Five Fingers and loves them. The above shoes are done with make up as this sytle has not yet been made. Check out the link to Vibram to see the styles that are available.

My son is doing Brian's Run in his Five Finger shoes. His running form improved dramatically once he started running in the Five Fingers.

GOAL - 5000 miles for 2010

Setting my biking miles goal for 2010 at 5000 miles. Now up north here, we do have winter and if it snows, I am doomed to accomplish this goal.

But nonetheless, setting the goal. And living in Chester County means I do have to lots of those miles climbing up hills. My weekend rides will be around 50 miles and the weekday rides can be shorter. Will need 3 - twenty mile rides per week to get to this goal.

Who wants to join me?? I will have almost 2500 for this year but I now have a biking partner since my twenty something son is now living at home. He is almost at 7000 miles for this year despite fighting some illnesses that way laid him for some months.

So those of you sitting at home not biking, WHY NOT???

why having women on bikes can help a community

How to Get More Bicyclists on the Road is a great article about why it is important to get women on bikes and on the roads. Also today the Bicycle Coalition of Philly links to great video about this issue as well.




Why should we even care if women bike? Apparently if women are on the roads it is a good thing for biking for everyone involved.

I recently posted an article about bike chic and the post generated tons of interest across the globe. I was being derided in many countries about my stance.

Put a lady in heels on a bike and voila, the men are interested. If a cute chick rode in heels on her bike around my area here in Pennsylvania, cars would crash trying to get a glimpse of her

We are not as evolved as Copenhagen where bike chic is an everyday thing. But in reality, it says a lot about Copenhagen and its ability to make women feel safe on a bike. If women can jump on their bikes in sexy gear and still get to where they want to get to, this community is definitely bike friendly.

We are nowhere close to this in PA, heck, any time I am on my bike I am at risk of getting run off the road by a motorist.

But from what I have read, getting chicks on bikes does a community good. If ladies feel safe on a bike, that community is doing something right.

Most biking stores and bike clubs in my area are geared to the guy and his bike. Men work in these stores, men are the mechanics and men do all the fitting. Bike clubs post tons of rides for the elite riders, my club lists anywhere from 5-10 rides per week for elite riders. The one C ride I list is it for women wanting a slower ride where they feel safe.

But these elite riders according to the Scientific American article do not make biking more prevalent in a community.

from the SA article linked above....

"Women are considered an “indicator species” for bike-friendly cities for several reasons. First, studies across disciplines as disparate as criminology and child ­rearing have shown that women are more averse to risk than men. In the cycling arena, that risk aversion translates into increased demand for safe bike infrastructure as a prerequisite for riding. Women also do most of the child care and household shopping, which means these bike routes need to be organized around practical urban destinations to make a difference."


This risk factor of fear is often not understood by the male cyclist. The men pride themselves on speed and risk, it is just who they are. Bike stores and bike clubs need to understand this in order to get women riding. And from what I can see in my area, this is not happening.

Bike stores should get women working in them, bike clubs should be promoting rides that encourage women to take up bike riding. If we want biking to become a commonplace activity, we need women doing it. It seems having women on bikes says more about a community than seeing a group of guys on bikes. Sorry guys!