Author: Bicycle NSW

The ‘Cycling and Women Survey’ is the third annual survey conducted by the Heart Foundation and The Cycling Promotion Fund.

Gear Up Girl program, run by Bicycle NSW looks to help ladies overcome their Attitudes, Perceptions, Barriers and Enablers.

Riding a Bike

• Close to one in three women surveyed reported they had ridden a bike in the past six months. In comparison as children, close to 90% reported they had ridden a bike.
• Women aged 18 to 39 were three times more likely to have ridden a bike in the past six months than women aged 60 and over.
• For women who reported they have ridden a bike in the past six months, the majority did so for either fun or exercise. Overall, only 7% of women surveyed rode a bike for transport purposes.
• Women who reported not having ridden a bike in the past six months were more than twice as likely to report they were dissatisfied with their health and their health was fair or poor. When asked whether they participate in indoor cycling, more than one in three respondents reported they cycle indoors (i.e. exercise bikes), with women living in metropolitan areas significantly more likely to do so. Furthermore, more than 60% of respondents who reported they participate in indoor cycling do not ride a bike outdoors.

Overall, 60% of women reported they would likely to cycle more than they currently do. More than three quarters of women with 78% of those who currently cycle and more than 50% of women who hadn’t cycled in the past six months would like to cycle more than they do.

 Attitudes and Perceptions

• Respondents ranked ‘health and fitness’, ‘getting outside’ and ‘fun and enjoyment’ as the most important factors in why they would ride a bike.
• Fashion seems to have a bearing on women’s perceptions towards cycling, with the majority believing its hard to cycle in skirts/dresses. In addition, one in three women perceive cycling clothes as unfashionable and a similar proportion feel wearing a helmet ruins a woman’s hairstyle.
• The overwhelming majority feel its socially acceptable for women to ride a bike.

More than half of women surveyed stated riding a bike is seen as acceptable by their friends, with younger women under the age of 40 and those who currently ride more likely to agree their friends see it as acceptable to ride.

 Barriers and Enablers

There was not one clear stand out reason that women believe prevents them (or other women) from cycling:

• One in ten women reported lacking confidence in riding a bike, along with lack of time to get on a bike. When asked to nominate all reasons that prevent women from cycling, traffic and aggression from other road users featured prominently.
• The main safety concerns amongst women associated with cycling (aside from personal safety) involved traffic and cars, with speed and volume of cars/trucks, and distracted drivers being the major safety concerns.
• Women generally feel having more as well as separate bike paths to cycle on would entice women to cycle more.
• This view was consistent amongst all women, irrespective of whether women had cycled in the past six months or not, their age or residential location.
• The overwhelming majority of women agree that government should improve cycling facilities by providing more bike paths and/or lanes, consistent with the view that having more bike lanes and off-road cycling paths would entice more women to ride.

Find the Survey here

Find more about Cycling Resource Centre here

Fundraising event helping Australian Cyclist Sarah Roy represent in Europe.

Sarah Roy, certified coach and current NSW Road Champ and NRS contender, is running a female cycling workshop at park bikes on June 1. She will be covering basic mechanics, skills, nutrition etc etc.

This workshop is perfect for riders of all ages, abilities and disciplines.

Please click on the flyer for more information.

Lastly we would also like to extend a very warm thank you to all the lovely ladies who attended the Gear up Girl workshop.  We hope you all enjoyed the day.

Gear up Girl Event Team

A huge thank you to 635 ladies who took part in Gear up Girl on Sunday March 3. The rain held off and we had a beautiful rainbow to greet us at the start as we headed out to Olympic Park towards Parramatta and back.

The volunteers once again outdid themselves and showed us all how valuable they all are. Without them events like Gear up Girl would not be possible. Big thanks must also go out to our two Gear up Girl charities The Kids Cancer Project and TAD Disability Freedom Wheels Program, if anyone still once to fundraise or donate check out http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/gearupgirl_2013.

Hundreds of photos were taken by our official photographers on the day. To see the full catalogue, click here to go to the Epsom Rd Studios Website.

There are some great photos that really capture the fun and enjoyment had by hundreds of participants, so be sure to check them out and thanks to Epsom Rd Studio for providing this service to all the ladies who took part in the Gear up Girl Ride.

To improve the event for 2014 we would like to gain your insight into the event and find out ways we can make the 2014 Gear up Girl an even better cycling experience. Please take 10 minutes to complete this short survey and help us improve the event for 2014.

Head to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GearupGirl2013Survey

The feedback we have already received has been fantastic with the majority of ladies commenting on the volunteers, ride and the atmosphere that is Gear up Girl.

From all of us at Bicycle NSW thanks for taking part in Gear up Girl and helping us create a better environment for cycling – Love your Ride!

The Gear up Girl will be back in 2014. The Event will be held Sunday 2. March 2014.