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National Women Cycling Forum
View a video of the National Women Cycling Forum held recently in Washington DC. Click Here
This forum was billed as an iInaugural event to elevate conversation about women in cycling.
Read and hear coverage of the event from:
Women still cycle at much lower rates than men in the United States -- making up just 24 percent of bike trips in 2009. But that trend is shifting. This Forum will be the first national gathering specifically dedicated to raising awareness about and discussing how to engage more women in bicycling.
"This critical topic and rising energy is gathering momentum across the country as more women of all backgrounds are starting to ride or getting more involved in the movement," said Carolyn Szczepanski, Communications Coordinator for the Alliance for Biking & Walking. "We're eager to start a continuing conversation aimed at increasing the number of women who bicycle for transportation and recreation."
Sue Macy will provide unique inspiration to kick off that discussion. Among other accolades, Wheels of Change was named to the 2011 Best Books lists from the Washington Post and the San Francisco Book Review. "Ms. Macy wrote a captivating book about the bicycle's historic role in women's empowerment, and we hope this forum will be the catalyst to begin closing the gender gap in today's cycling environment," said Kit Keller, Executive Director of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals.
Women's Cycling Survey - Comment Summaries
In 2010, the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals posted a survey to gather information about women cycling. We thought we would receive a few hundred responses from members. Instead the survey went viral garnering more than 13,000 responses. Although not a scientific survey, the responses offer much interesting and useful information. Some of the questions included comments. Here are summaries in report format of comments received for three of the survey questions.*
- Why do you use your bicycle for trips? Question #8
- What reaction do you get when cycling for transportation? Question #10
- What would cause you to start or increase your cycling? Question #27
* Researchers interested in analyzing additional questions can contact APBP for further information.
(Top of page)Women Cycling webinar, "Empowering Women to Bicycle for Transportation"
If you missed APBP's third annual Women Cycling webinar, "Empowering Women to Bicycle for Transportation" you can now view it online click here.
Since APBP inaugurated the Women Cycling Project in 2010, tens of thousands of women have participated in the project. This year's webinar, co-sponsored by the Alliance for Biking & Walking, highlights programs and approaches that engage, empower and encourage women to bicycle on a more regular basis.
Speakers:
- Kim Cross, founder, Magic City Cycle Chix. This Birmingham group’s motto is "Building courage, confidence, and community…two wheels at a time;” it encourages women to mountain bike through clinics, trips and group rides.
- Julie Huck, Membership & Development Director, Adventure Cycling. Learn how this association educates women to travel by bicycle and to explore the landscapes and history of America for fitness, fun, and self-discovery.
- Gina Overshiner, Bicycle Program Manager, PedNet. Find out how PedNet is building the next generation of cyclists in Columbia, Missouri, with the Middle School Bike Brigade and cycle chic events.
- Claire Stoscheck, Bike Library Program Director, Cycles for Change. Cycles for Change in Minneapolis educates and empowers women of various cultures to use bicycles as transportation, helping to build a sustainable environment and community.
View Past Webinars:
- View 2012 webinar: "Empowering Women to Bicycle for Transportation"
- View 2011 webinar: "Women Can Change the World through Cycling"
- View 2010 webinar: "Writing Women Back Into Bicycling: Changing Transportation Culture to Encourage More Women to Cycle More Places More Often"
Photo Winners
Click Here for High Resolution Downloads of Winning Photos
Photo | Video Credits
- 1st prize: Beauty and the Bike (short) by the Darlington Media Group found in the PBIC Video Library at http://www.walkinginfo.org/videos/pubdetail.cfm?picid=39
- 2nd prize: 3 images of women in Portland, OR with or on bicycles: www.pedbikeimages.org / photographer Elly Blue
- 3rd prize: 2 images, little girl on bike near school and woman working on bike in bike clinic in Chicago: www.pedbikeimages.org / photographer Suzanne Nathan
- 4th prize: image of woman riding bike in Bremen, Germany: www.pedbikeimages.org / photographer Shawn Turner
Got photos? Your photos could help to convince a policy maker, planner, engineer, school superintendent, or police officer to make their community more bicycle-friendly. People who make presentations, create brochures, design posters, etc. need to have fresh, captivating images to turn heads and change hearts and minds. The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) seeks photos and videos for this purpose, especially if the images are of women and girls using a bicycle for transportation. To learn more about how to contribute your photos and videos, visit www.pedbikeimages.org and www.walkinginfo.org/videos/. To see what’s there now, enter “women” in the search field. We’d love to have hundreds of photos and videos to choose from! Thanks for your help.
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