While researchers say that risk is a big issue that keeps women off bicycles on the road, a documentary comes to grips with another problem of perception — it's just not cool.
Says one of the subjects in a UK documentary about young women on bikes: “I thought it was just a little kid's thing.”
A study published in Scientific American in October noted that, in general, women are more averse to risk than men. In bicycling, that reluctance is overcome with good bike infrastructure, such as bike lanes, bike paths and a bike friendly atmosphere.
A project in Darlington, UK, finds there's more to it than that in “Beauty and the Bike: Why do British girls stop cycling?”
Says one of the you women interviewed in the documentary trailer above:
“The only reason I don't get a bike is it's not cool having a bike.”
The Darlington project seeks to unhinge the belief that you can't be fashionable when you ride a bike.
They supplied some teen-aged girls with stylish Dutch bikes and gave them the opportunity to ride around.
They discovered that they could look fashionable while riding, and they enjoyed the independence and flexibility of having a set of wheels to get them where they want to go.
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