It pains me when people ostensibly on my side are thoughtless.

[sara]

I was liking this opinion piece by Robert Gottlieb, in the LA Times today, about making cities more bicycle-friendly, until I got to this part:

We need to reach out to those who think bicycles aren't for them. Copenhagen has been a leader in prodding women, seniors and others who have not been part of the bike-riding world to make the transition to everyday bike use.

Who is this "we," who'll be reaching out, exactly? Both the people Gottlieb cites who're leaders in making cities more cycle-friendly are, er...women.

*sigh* Women and seniors have been "part of the bike-riding world" for quite some time now, Mr. Gottlieb. No, really. That guy up in my icon, who's now eligible for Social Security? Still puts in fifty miles most weekends.

Comments

[sara]

I'm not sure who his "we" is at all -- I mean, locally, I see a lot of women and seniors on bikes. And when women aren't biking, I think maybe that has more to do with public safety issues (not wanting to be out after dark on foot or what have you) or being responsible for transporting children or other people for whom one is caregiving than with bicycling somehow not being intrinsically sufficiently appealing to women.

[daedala]

Maybe "we" are the people he sees....

[forthwritten]

Or transporting other things - my housemates and I usually cycle to the local supermarket with a rucksack and buy only as much as we can fit in the rucksack (and maybe a bag hanging off the handlebars). It works for us because we're cooking only for one or two people and if we shop carefully, we only have to make one or two trips a week. This doesn't work if you've got a family because a) the amount you'd have to buy means you'll be going every day or every other day b) carrying bulky things on a bike isn't very easy and c) you'll have to make a special trip for shopping or plan your day carefully - you don't have a boot to keep your shopping in while you do something else and you may not want to carry a heavy rucksack around.

ETA: which is not to equate women with being the one responsible for food shopping, but it is a dynamic I'm familiar with.

[sara]

*nods* Yeah, I have a big set of panniers, and I regularly collect a week's CSA share (which is enough veg to completely fill both bags) and less-regularly buy serious groceries, but...I would have a very hard time doing the household shopping for a family of four without a car. Some of that's because we buy in bulk a lot (we bought a whole ham at the end of last month and are still eating off it, for example), but some of it would be a problem for any household with more than a couple of folks.

ETA in response to your ETA: Yeah, I think it'd be great if we didn't live in a world where women do most of the shopping, but goodness knows that's how it works for most of the households I know, including mine.