# Any female commuters (a sociological question)?



## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

Are there any female commuters? 

I was thinking about this this morning when my fiancee was getting prinmped and ready for work (she's pretty low maintenance) and I was drinking coffee wearing my tights. I show up at work and throw pants and a shirt on and make sure my hair is not too bad. Done. Women, however, seem to have so much more to worry about as far as appearances go in our society. I was curious if this keeps them from commuting?


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

There are lots of women bicycle commuters in DC-most buildings have locker rooms of some sort. 

Miss M gets in a little early and showers at work. If there is an early meeting or the like she just shows up in her riding kit and dares anyone to have a problem with it.


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## Becky (Jun 15, 2004)

Heck no. I keep all my girlish nonsense (makeup, hair goop, etc.) at work, and primp when I arrive. My commute is short, so deodorant and baby wipes address the stink factor, although I do keep shower stuff here as well. I have the luxury of my own office and a locker in the locker room, so plenty of space to stash stuff. Wrinkles in clothing are dealt with using a spray bottle and a fan. Mist lightly, hang up, and turn on fan. By the time de-stinking is done, clothes are dry and wrinkle-free.

My only concession to commuting was to chop off my shoulder-length hair, and rock a pixie cut instead. Getting rid of helmet hair when it's long sucks.


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## Chain (Dec 28, 2006)

My wife commutes in the summer. BC - before child - she used to commute as long as it was above 25 degrees. Now she commutes when it's warm enough for our daughter to ride to school and then continues on to work. Over the weekend our daughter asked when they would start riding to school again. That's a good sign.

She uses her mountain bike with panniers to carry all her stuff. Her office has locker rooms so she just showers and does the makeup thing there.


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## Scot_Gore (Jan 25, 2002)

I helped with a bike census here in town with counters set up at about 20 intersections for a week. This is off memory but as I re-call it was a 65-35 split by gender (more men).

Scot


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## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

I'd estimate in London it's about 30% women - mebbe a bit higher during "fair weather" moths


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*two*



Pablo said:


> Are there any female commuters?


I've seen only 2 here in Fresno (pop. ~500,000). One a younger lady who worked at a children's hospital, and other headed to the local university. Don't even see them all that often. Could be others I don't encounter, but I cover a good deal of the city in my commute.

I think women typically are much more concerned about safety. Still, I think that the number 1 hesitation to commute by bike for anyone is the perception that it is not safe, not necessarilly all the other logistics. All it takes is 1 cyclist being run over and people are afraid of it for several years, despite dozens or hundreds of local auto occupants being killed during the same time. 

Here in Fresno, as may be contrasted from some of the East Coast cities, roads are wide, flat, straight, and cars are whizzing by you at 50+ mph on city streets. That probably doesn't help.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

I think the number of female commuters depends on the area. When I was commuting in Norfolk, the commute was really unfriendly and only the most hardcore opted for the daily car fight. I did share my commute with one female rider some mornings, she was a triathlete and not a fairweather commuter. She was also a Naval Officer so she had facilities at her office. I think on the average, women probably do have more concerns about the logistics of commuting. Even offices with business casual dress still means that a woman will need more articles of clothing than a man. More stuff to carry or keep at the office. Most of the female cyclists that I have known have been low maintenance with shorter hair and seemed to prefer little or no makeup.

Commuting is about living a simple life.


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

Pablo said:


> Are there any female commuters?
> 
> I was thinking about this this morning when my fiancee was getting prinmped and ready for work (she's pretty low maintenance) and I was drinking coffee wearing my tights. I show up at work and throw pants and a shirt on and make sure my hair is not too bad. Done. Women, however, seem to have so much more to worry about as far as appearances go in our society. I was curious if this keeps them from commuting?




prob a good point, but I would also think that (more importantly) if women feel unsafe- either riding in traffic or in a certain area of the commute- they would opt out... and then there's the issue of being able to handle typical roadside repairs.

you might ask in the women's forum


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

Truthfully, I've never seen a female commuting by bike.


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## pyrtwist (Feb 5, 2008)

Wifey has a 12 mile commute and she does this on a C-Dale road bike (refuses to use the panniered 520) with a back pack. Fair weather since she hates cold weather riding. Never seems to worry about appearance--school teachers aren't reknown for dressing well as it would kill their image as member of the oppressed.


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## chatterbox (Nov 19, 2006)

Count me among the women commuters. I can get away with my hair in a ponytail most of the time, and if I were to need it, I could shower at the gym. (benefits of being on a campus) I leave my makeup in my office during the week, and haul my clothes in on panniers and change once I've cooled down a bit. I see tons of women commuters around me, but most of them are pretty short distances - fellow graduate students who live within 2 miles. They generally just wear their regular clothes. I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that, though.

I will admit to playing with the curling iron before I leave on some days, but that's mostly to prevent complete smashage from the helmet.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

At the office I used to work at, we had a woman who commuted pretty regularly. She was probably mid-late 50s, and rode a nice Bianchi. She had about a 15 mile commute, but only rode in good weather, although she wasn't afraid of slightly lower temps.

Other than her, I never see any female commuters on my rides. I rarely even see women just out riding. The ratio of men to women is probably 10 or 20 to 1.

This is in the VA 'burbs about 15 miles west of the DC beltway.


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## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

Lots of female commuters in Vancouver. Can't even say I have noticed that males are particularly over-represented. Men tend generally to be somewhat more active in sports, which may explain why a greater portion of them commute by bike.


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## lspangle (Aug 30, 2004)

*I think you've got the safety thing right!*



bigbill said:


> I think the number of female commuters depends on the area. When I was commuting in Norfolk, the commute was really unfriendly and only the most hardcore opted for the daily car fight. I did share my commute with one female rider some mornings, she was a triathlete and not a fairweather commuter. She was also a Naval Officer so she had facilities at her office. I think on the average, women probably do have more concerns about the logistics of commuting. Even offices with business casual dress still means that a woman will need more articles of clothing than a man. More stuff to carry or keep at the office. Most of the female cyclists that I have known have been low maintenance with shorter hair and seemed to prefer little or no makeup.
> 
> Commuting is about living a simple life.


When I first moved to Austin, my apartment was a 5 minute ride or a 20 minute walk from work (depended on lights). My husband and I only had one car, so I had to do one or the other. I walked most of the time because traffic was horrible -- narrow lanes, no shoulder and the speed limit was 45 -- so you know that means people are going 50-55, especially in the morning.

Then the company moved to a different location and we got a house -- it was only a 5.5 mile commute but I only did it a few times -- would have to work up the courage to do it because of safety issues -- as in, I'd arrive to work with my nerves fried. Tried many different routes, couldn't avoid a mile or so of hair raising not-so-fun along a stretch with poor line of sight that was near a major highway intersection -- had to make a left across it to get to work. They have since added bike lanes and added signs, which help a little, but people on workday mornings are generally grumpy on that road. Riding it on the weekends doesn't bother me nearly as much.

I can change flats (I'm the "mechanic" in the house), don't wear makeup and my hair is pretty basic, if that adds to your data points.


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## commutenow (Sep 26, 2004)

I have commuted for many years and not always the same distances as jobs have changed. I have ridden ss and geared. I have short hair so that works for me and I now have a short commute and wear what I will work in. However I am an art teacher so I can get by with not dressing up.


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## slowtrevor (Jun 11, 2007)

I see quite a few when it is warmer, but I am in college and I don't think it is the same as going to work......


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## filtersweep (Feb 4, 2004)

I see them all the time-- all year long. Even the building receptionist commutes... and a cute coworker.


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## wayneanneli (Jul 8, 2004)

Agree with filtersweep, it must be a Scandinavian thing. Heaps and heaps of female commuters here in Sweden, mostly riding the upright city bicycles. And year-round too - luckily, our weather is condusive to year-round riding.


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## bas (Jul 30, 2004)

Pablo said:


> Are there any female commuters?
> 
> I was thinking about this this morning when my fiancee was getting prinmped and ready for work (she's pretty low maintenance) and I was drinking coffee wearing my tights. I show up at work and throw pants and a shirt on and make sure my hair is not too bad. Done. Women, however, seem to have so much more to worry about as far as appearances go in our society. I was curious if this keeps them from commuting?



Hair? What hair? haha

I just towel off and change.


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## djg (Nov 27, 2001)

There are several women commuters at work. We have locker rooms, so folks can shower and change before heading up to the office.


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## rlmeskimen (Dec 16, 2007)

My wife and I work in opposite directions both about 13 miles from the house. I commute on a regular basis. She would as well (and has when I am on vacation) but my daughter (4 y/o) goes to school within a block or two of her work. That's a long haul with a child at 0600 in the morning so she drives and I bike. I would argue that more women don't commute because of the children. Just a thought. 

We were talking tonight how we look forward to a couple of years when she rides the bus and my wife and I can both commute.


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## 7rider (Oct 19, 2005)

I commute a few times a week, generally.
I don't care for temps below 25, snow/ice, or cold rain. I have a fairly safe route - off major roads, some bike path, neighborhood streets.
As for primping, we have a locker room with showers at our office and I keep toiletries and sundries in a locker there. I keep shoes at my desk, and take Metro (the subway) if I have to attend an important meeting where the "power suit" is required. Otherwise, I shop for clothes that are relatively wrinkle resistant and pack easily in panniers.


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## nepbug (Jun 6, 2006)

I've only seen one, and she's a regular. Though I don't see many at all on my route from 5-6:30 a.m. and mostly recreational cyclists on the ride home.

The one woman I've seen is an excellent rider; she commutes on her old mountain bike and works at our fitness center facilities so she has showers really close to her office. Oh yeah, she won the female division of the Leadville 100 MTB race a few years ago too.


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

Out of the four obvious commuters that I see regularly on my route, one is a woman.


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

I've seen plenty in Wisconsin, through the winter.

The only time I don't see Women commuting is when it is obviously smarter to drive/bus/not ride.


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## PdxMark (Feb 3, 2004)

Here in Portland the male-female ratio seems to be about 50-50 for an inner-city commute (usually less than 6 miles for most) heading into the downtown core. City statistics about ridership says it's more like 65-35, male-female, but on my route it looks more like 50-50. The commuting women almost all look to be younger than 30, whereas the men range well up into the geriatric level. The result of those different age ranges is that it looks like fewer sub-30-something men are riding than women.


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## thinkcooper (Jan 5, 2005)

Out of the six bike commuters I saw this morning, three were female.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

There's a whole forum dedicated to commuting on the Team Estrogen message boards


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## bas (Jul 30, 2004)

MB1 said:


> There are lots of women bicycle commuters in DC-most buildings have locker rooms of some sort.
> 
> Miss M gets in a little early and showers at work. If there is an early meeting or the like she just shows up in her riding kit and dares anyone to have a problem with it.


I hang my clothes in my cube with skirt hangers. Is this rude?
(REI sport underwear/shorts/shirts)

I don't have a locker.. and I want the stuff dry for when I head home.


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## SantaCruz (Mar 22, 2002)

East of Seattle (Redmond - Woodinville) I would guess maybe 10% - 15% of MUP commuters are female.


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## RoadLoad (Jan 18, 2005)

In my office there are a handfull of year round commuters of which a number are women. In the summer, there isn't enough room in the bike room for all the bikes and women are no minority as far as I can tell when I'm coming and going.


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