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 The little dude abides. After the Women’s Cycling Forum on Wednesday, I posted about how some of the messaging made me rantier and more cranky than usual. There have been posts from people who attended who summarize some of the positive stuff said there, most specifically this post by new mom Tanya Snyder of StreetsBlog DC.
Because she’s a new mom, she refers to the issues of biking with a baby. I’ve certainly posted my share about biking with babies, because I have two kids under age four. As ever, some people bring up rigging a carseat into a trailer and other mayhem — something that makes carseat experts wince in horror, for the record. And it got me thinking.
Seriously: The only people who want to bike with infants are the already-converted. You are not going to address the “more women on bikes!” problem by focusing on the problem of biking with infants. The only people who ponder such shenanigans are people who bike regularly already, with a healthy side dose (from the ladies) of worrying about the recovery of both the abdominal muscles and the lady bits. (Both take a beating in pregnancy.) Yes, I know ladies (and gents) in Copenhagen and Amsterdam take very young children on bikes. These fine places are constantly cited for cycling bliss. But these places also have full cultural acceptance and infrastructure. We do not. Let’s stop pretending this is apples-to-apples.
If we want to talk about reasons more women aren’t riding, we should skip over the whole infancy stage of child care. Let’s skip straight to “kid is big enough to walk, use a sippy cup, and learn naughty words from drivers screaming at the bikers.” Why?
- Babies are fragile. One of the reasons for conservative advice on when to put a kid in a helmet and trailer is because kids are born with flexible skulls. Most natural-childbirth kids have coneheads for the first week, and the skull doesn’t just go round then harden up BOOM. It actually takes a while. It also takes a while for the neck and spine to really be able to support the head. Parental instinct is to protect small humans, because small humans are pretty useless at doing anything but eating, sleeping, and pooping.
- Ladies with very young children also tend to be fragile. I don’t care what celebrity ladies in gossip magazines are able to do to regain their figures after childbirth; they have personal trainers and nannies. Real women who have just output something the size of a large melon via their ladyparts have healing to do — their ladyparts need some recovery time, and their abdominal muscles have to re-merge — they kind of separate during pregnancy. And let’s not mention if the nice lady had to have two c-sections, okay?
- Equipment and prep for going with a kid tends to cost less. After a certain point, for short rides, the kid may even be self-propelled and not on a tagalong or in a trailer.
- As kids get bigger, there are more practical, trips-under-2-miles, applications of putting caregiver woman on a bike with the kid — sport practices, to and from school, off to playdates, etc.
Given that women are known to be more risk averse in general when it comes to biking, pushing cycling with an infant (her infant!) is simply not a productive approach for a woman already hesitant to ride. It’s not a good use of energy directed at what’s a real gender divide. Tackle the ladies who have bigger kids with energy to kill. These women take the majority of car trips under 2 miles, often with kids in tow. Estimates say that 10-14% of morning traffic in many residential areas are parents getting kids to school. Get them to do even some neighborhood trips by bike, and you have a huge increase in bike activity — and tons of traffic calming. It’s a goal that can be made realistic for the audience. Biking with a baby? Probably less realistic, and lower overall impact.
Let’s reframe the discussion. Let’s look at Safe Routes to Schools educational packages as not about parents letting their kids bike solo, but trying to get the parents — who are generally moms, let’s be honest — to ride WITH the kids. Let’s recruit the children of non-biking mothers as active partners in getting ladies on bikes. The resources already exist for all this. Seize ‘em. And roll.
 Today, at the National Bike Summit in Washington DC, bicycle advocates and educators present will be calling on members of Congress to urge them to adopt fair, non-partisan transportation bills and to preserve biking/walking as supported infrastructure options on the federal level. BikeMN is leading the Minnesota delegation, and has arranged legislative visits for all of the Minnesotans in DC for the event.
For those of us not in attendance, we can still help by contacting our Senators and Representatives via phone and e-mail, echoing the sentiments of the people showing up in person. It’s pretty easy to do. Each state/district has a factsheet online. BikeMN has also created a full-state factsheet. Take a look at these factsheets, then pick up the phone or fire up your e-mail and send a message to our legislators.
Minnesota Senators:
Thank the senators for the their leadership in preserving funding for biking and walking programs in the Senate Transportation Bill, MAP-21. Also, ask them to support a clean extension of the current Transportation Bill. Passing a short-term clean extension will allow the House to focus on crafting a truly bipartisan Transportation Bill. Anything other than a clean extension threatens to shut down transportation funding and slow down progress in advancing all forms of transport and transportation.
Minnesota Representatives:
Ask your Representative to preserve funding for biking and walking in HR7. The Minnesota delegation’s specific “ask” is for each to vote to maintain funding for the three core biking and walking programs” Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and the Recreational Trails Program. As with the Senators, ask them to support a clean extension of the current Transportation Bill. Passing a short-term clean extension will allow the House to focus on crafting a truly bipartisan Transportation Bill. Ask each to contribute towards efforts to come to such a solution.
As you call, it is worth noting that Representatives Cravaack and Walz are on the House Transportation Committee, Representative Paulsen is on the powerful Ways & Means Committee (and opposed a committee measure to prohibit transportation funding use for transit), and Representative McCollum is a member of the Appropriations and Budget Committees. Representatives Ellison, McCollum, Paulsen, and Walz are all members of the Congressional Bike Caucus.
So, go and check out the factsheets, and call or e-mail your representative in support of BikeMN and the other folks from Minnesota in DC today making in-person visits! (Not from Minnesota? Find your peeps here, and support your own delegation. We’re all one happy family, right?)
As part of this year’s National Bike Summit, there was an afternoon Women’s Cycling Forum. The promotional description was quasi-promising:
Women still cycle at much lower rates than men in the United States — making up just 24 percent of bike trips in 2009. But that trend is shifting. We’re eager to learn from our peers, share our experiences and explore ideas to engage more women.
Women cycling is a topic I have previously covered, and (shockingly) have some personal interest in. So I took a look at the Twitter stream from the event. Some of what I saw made me want to hork. Mightily.
Yeah. Please note, TLC was quoting a speaker, not espousing this themselves. They later said that the speaker said this with a laugh.
But in the midst of serious conversations about women being more hesitant to ride in traffic, a need for better cargo bikes, issues of women as caregivers to children… this kind of condescending crap? Let me tell you, the women doing 85% of household chores and errands are probably NOT doing it in heels already. And the women who stood up and discussed the need for cargo bikes and ways of carrying children? Yeah. Utility and safety, not “cuteness,” are going to be more meaningful. The profusion of minivans in the average elementary school car line should speak to that — no one ever drove a minivan for its “cuteness.” They ain’t.
It’s true that marketing to women is different and needs to be done differently. Bike shops populated by young men in spandex are not the most appealing for much of the women-not-yet-on-bikes audience. Having appropriately sized bicycles and bike clothing for the ladies is also necessary, and any bicycle — utility or racing — should be built with an eye for design and style, because it CAN be, and why build ugly if you don’t have to?
While I’ve never been a fan of women-specific instructional stuff (see also, what home improvement stores do, right down to pink tools), I get that they do it because it works, ladies like it, and I am a bit of a freak because of my upbringing (single mom in IT in a very male industry, so a somewhat unique role model figure). I’ve even taught a few courses for women (and girls) myself. I also understand that women, especially with children in tow, are more risk-averse to routing. But to turn it into shoes and fashion is a complete slap in the face of what women do daily for their families, and what their true barriers to riding are. It reeks of another round of white men in spandex who just don’t get it.
Alliance for Biking & Walking and Association of Bicycling & Walking Professionals? You can do better than this kind of bullshit message. Buck up and do so, please. Even as a joke, this is the very attitude that turns women away from cycling. To have someone spouting off like this on a panel is an insult to the thoughtful women who were also on the panels, and to the audience who came looking for a real discussion of issues.
I’ve got a new ravingpost up at streets.mn today: 4 Ways to Build a Better Advocacy Event
It represents a few thoughts from me based on my history as an event planner, a communications strategist, and an attendee at many of these events. Nothing explosive, and my froth level is fairly low on the Defcon Doolie scale. But, as ever, you’re invited to check it out (and check out some of the other awesome stuff being posted every day on that fine site.)
I realize I haven’t said much about the Bike Summit here at Ride Boldly! Which, let’s get down to it: It’s been bloody nice. I’ve been working something that semi-resembles a normal job during human hours. One that requires the wearing of pants. I’ve been busy, okay?
But. I provided a recap to our friends at BikeMN of this year’s event.
A few things I left unsaid in that piece:
- I’m glad BikeMN found the resources to schedule legislative meetings for attendees. This is a LOT of work for them. But in 2011, it was up to attendees, many of whom were novice citizen-activists. Making the appointments means more people ended up speaking to their legislators. This is good.
- Smaller crowd this year. I’m kinda delighted about that, because while the site for the Summit is the best available, with too big a crowd it sets off a slight case of claustrophobia, truly. The downside of a smaller crowd is, of course, a smaller crowd. Even as a delicate snowflake among delicate snowflakes, I have to grant that one.
- I was able to meet with my state Senator, Pam Wolf. I mostly spoke about the state Safe Routes to Schools proposal, which would make $3 million in state funds available for SRTS infrastructure projects, including for high schools. High schools are currently not provided for in federal Safe Routes (although some campuses benefit if they share facilities with elementary and middle schools, as is not entirely uncommon in smaller communities).
I did have a lot of fun this year. I think the shorter presentations and smaller crowd helped in that regard for me.
Anyone else in attendance is welcome to comment about what they thought.
 It is with sadness in my heart (really) that I offer up my Giant OCR1 for sale.
It s a 44cm (S) compact road bike, featuring a TIG-welded Giant Compact ALUXX 6061 T-6 aluminum frame, and a Carbon fiber composite, aero crown front fork. Color is Gloss White/Blue Mirror. Front stem and seatpost provide lots of adjustability.
Bike features an Shimano Ultegra triple, 27-speed drivetrain. All the components are Ultegra save the front derailleur, which is still a Shimano 105. Wheels are Bontrager Race Lites with snappy blue rims. Bike seat is a Terry Butterfly and is included if sold to a lady. (If sold to a guy, we can discuss.) Cyclocomputer (Vetta, wireless, no cadence sensor) is included; pedals are not.
Bike is best suited to road riding, intro bike racing, intro triathlon, and/or charity rides. This bike is NOT going to serve you well for loaded touring, winter riding, or unpaved conditions. I also wouldn’t recommend it to tow young children with a trailer or trail-a-bike, although that’s on you to decide for yourself.
 Ideal rider is probably under 5’5″, 200 pounds (due to the low-spoke wheelset and ultra-lightweight frame).
This is a great bike for the price. If you’re dreaming of a sprint or Olympic distance tri this year, or have a teen getting into racing, e-mail me to come and check this baby out: julieDON’TSPAMME@rideboldly.org. (Take out the part in all-caps.) Looking for a local (MSP) buyer only.
(Full disclosure: This is a nice bike. I am mostly selling it because I have my Orbea, which is completely unsuited to trailer use or unpaved conditions in its own right, and my Surly, which is a better all-around utility bike for hauling and use with my kids. I have limited garage space, and would rather send this on to a good home/good user who will ride it with love in his/her heart.)
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Minnesota Bicycle Event Calendar
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