Category: General bike news

Cycling’s gender gap in Metro Detroit

The Detroit Free Press recently ran an article about an o2WomensRide for novice women cyclists in suburban Detroit.

E.J. Levy, 56, of Bloomfield Hills noticed that the local cycling community didn’t offer many group rides for novice women, [so] he started one.

The cycling community tends to cater to a hard-core, competitive crowd. Often, that’s guys who enjoy going fast, Levy says.

That’s great. Oakland County needs more slower rides and not just for novice women.

But perhaps what’s most striking about Levy’s comments is they are not accurate within the city of Detroit.

The cycling community in Detroit offers many rides for novice women and does not cater to the competitive, lycra crowd.

In fact Detroit rides are far more inclusive of all types of riders when compared with the suburbs. The speeds of the Detroit Synergy, Tour de Troit, and Wheelhouse Detroit rides are slower than the o2WomensRide. Normal cotton clothing is almost de rigueur on Detroit rides, and on some, helmets are optional.

And you can ride a old Huffy on a Detroit ride without fear of a snarky comment.

The result is there’s a seemingly higher percentage of women on the Detroit rides.

[In fairness, we must add that Defying the Law, a Ferndale-based ride also caters to novices, as did Royal Oak’s now-defunct Motor City Motorless ride.]

Similar Gender Gap across the U.S.

Metro Detroit’s gender gap is not alone. This New York Times article discusses the gender gap on rides in the Big Apple.

In the article, John Pucher, a professor of urban planning at Rutgers, notes the lack of a gender gap among European nations.

“Someone was telling me, maybe American woman don’t like to sweat as much as European women. Maybe that’s why American women don’t cycle to work, but Dutch women do,” Mr. Pucher said. “But I think that’s a bunch of baloney.”

“I think the No. 1 reason you have so few women cycling in New York City is because it’s seen as a dangerous activity,” Mr. Pucher said.

With the exception of areas like Central Park and designated bike trails (which female cyclists populate almost as zealously as their male counterparts) bike riding in most parts of the city is hardly leisurely. “It’s like going into battle,” Mr. Pucher said. “You need a helmet and gloves.”

Certainly safety is a determining factor in Metro Detroit’s gender gap as well. And studies show that women have greater concerns about perceived bicycling safety than men.

While rides catering to women are a start, to truly close the gender gap, we need to continue pushing Metro Detroit governments for bike lanes and other safe bicycling facilities.

Jackie Phelan in Detroit

Speaking of women bicycle advocates, Jackie Phelan was recently in Detroit. Among other things, she’s the founder of WOMBATS (Women’s Mountain Bike and Tea Society). There’s more information on her visit on the Wheelhouse Detroit blog — one of Metro Detroit’s few if not only women-owned and managed bike shops.

July 9, 2009
Bicycle Film Fest comes to Detroit
Mark your calendar. The Bicycle Film Festival is coming to Detroit on July 17th and 18th.

The films will be shown at the Downtown YMCA’s Boll Family Theatre at 1401 Broadway, just a couple blocks south of Comerica Park.

Friday, July 17th
- 6:30 PM – Opening reception in the theatre lobby
- 7:00 PM – Program 1 – Where Are You Go – Premiere
- 9:00 PM – Program 2 – Fun Bike Shorts
- 10:00 PM – Goldsprints at The Park Bar (2040 Park Ave.) with “real cheap drinks” and DJ Haute To Death
SATURDAY JULY 18
- 6:30 PM – Opening reception in the theatre lobby
- 7:00 PM – Program 3 – Road To Roubaix
- 9:00 PM – Program 4 – Urban Bike Shorts
- 10:00 PM – After party at the Cass Cafe (4620 Cass Ave.) with the bands bands Pedal Shop, Steven And The Reelers and The Reverend Robert David
Program 1 & 3 are full length feature films while programs 2 & 4 are shorts.

Tickets are $8 dollars per program and are now on sale.

There are also plans for a 30 mile Saturday morning ride, a picnic at Campus Martius, and a late afternoon Alleycat Ride before the Saturday reception.

Bike parking will be available.
July 8, 2009
Nothing says independence like a bicycle

Started in April of 2001, the Frazz comic strip from time to time reflects author Jef Mallett’s love of biking. Today’s Fourth of July strip is a great example.

Jef was raised in Big Rapids and his addiction to cycling began with riding to school because he despised taking the bus. Jef now lives in Lansing, where his cycling addiction continues.

For those less familiar with the strip, Frazz is a thirty-something school custodian who lives an idyllic life being around well-behaved kids and getting plenty of time to ride both on-road and off.

“Frazz is who I want to be,” says Jef. “Frazz is a just a regular, likeable guy.”

You can catch your daily dose of Frazz at comics.com/frazz.

Jeff’s also written some Frazz books, which are available at Amazon.com.

July 4, 2009
Pro-bicycle pitches for conservative ears
Bicycle facility funding often takes verbal punches from some conservative voices who don’t consider it as a valid transportation option as driving.

Here are a couple advocacy approaches that might be more successful when appealing to conservative audiences.

Increasing National Security

William Lind, director of the Center for Cultural Conservatism at the Free Congress Foundation, was recently intereviewed in the Infrastructurist. And though he was talking about public transit, one could easily substitute biking into this same argument.

National Security is always a big interest to conservatives and any time you can talk in those terms, you’re going to have their attention. Virtually every American knows that our greatest single national security vulnerability at the moment, the one that has enmeshed us in the middle east, is our dependence on foreign oil, most of it coming from unstable parts of the world. And this can drag us into unwanted wars, as it has it can result not only in high gas prices, like we had last summer, but in complete cutoffs like we had in ’73 and ’79, where events halfway around the world suddenly leave our gas stations without any gas to sell. And at present, if that happens, most Americans have no backup.

Reducing Public Health Costs

The Associated Press recently noted a new report on obesity in the U.S. and its affect on Medicare costs.

Health economists once made the harsh financial calculation that the obese would save money by dying sooner, notes Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit public health group. But more recent research instead suggests they live nearly as long but are much sicker for longer, requiring such costly interventions as knee replacements and diabetes care and dialysis. Studies show Medicare spends anywhere from $1,400 to $6,000 more annually on health care for an obese senior than for the non-obese.

“There isn’t a magic bullet. We don’t have a pill for it,” said Levi, whose group is pushing for health reform legislation to include community-level programs that help people make healthier choices like building sidewalks so people can walk their neighborhoods instead of drive, and providing healthier school lunches.

“It’s not going to be solved in the doctor’s office but in the community, where we change norms,” Levi said.

Making our communities more bikeable can play a major role in reducing obesity and reducing public health care costs.

Where does Michigan stand? Here are some health statistics from the report:
- 29% of Michigan adults are obese
- Michigan has the ranked ninth in the percentage of obese adults
- 12% of Michigan high school students are obese
- On average, this obesity costs Michigan residents $291 per person in medical expenses. This is $33 per person above the national average.
Which state is the fattest? Mississippi has the highest obesity rate at nearly 33% — a title they’ve held for the past five years.
July 2, 2009
Promoting Livability and Livable Communities
Back in January, we reported on one of President Obama’s urban policy goals, which should push our local road agencies and elected officials to build more bike-friendly communities:

Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities: Our communities will better serve all of their residents if we are able to leave our cars to walk, bicycle and access other transportation alternatives.

In March, the Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood further addressed livable communities in his blog by saying, “One of my highest priorities is … to help promote more livable communities through sustainable surface transportation programs.”

LaHood reiterated that message at the National Bike Summit since livable communties are bikeable communities and Complete Streets.

Again from his blog:

The upcoming reauthorization of DOT’s surface transportation programs provides an opportunity for us to feature bicycling as part of a new American mobility within livable communities.

Now more recently, LaHood outlined six livibility principles that “help us coordinate federal transportation, environmental protection, and housing investments at our respective agencies.”
Clearly, at least for most of Metro Detroit, the federal government is taking the lead promoting livable communties. How that filters down to our local level remains to be seen, but certainly transportation funding will play a major role.

And for now, it seems bicycle advocates need to start using the terms “livability” and “livable communities” when we push for Complete Streets, bike lanes, etc.

We have friends and support in Washington D.C.

We need to take advantage of that as we try bringing Metro Detroit’s transportation priorities into the 21st century.
June 25, 2009