HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMAN'S DAY!

On international woman's day, it's good to remember the connection the early 20th century's woman's movement had to bicycles. They got us out of the corset, provided mobility and independence, and were a symbol of freedom and modernity.
 
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom by National Geographic. I haven't read this book myself yet, but I want to, especially with the author Sue Macy giving rad answers like this:

Q: Why are bikes still important to women?
A: I think that Leah Missbach Day does a great job in the foreword to Wheels of Change of explaining how bicycles are still important to one population of women--those in developing countries who are able to increase their mobility astronomically with the bicycles they received through World Bicycle Relief. But today in the U.S., bicycles are important to everybody. They allow people to do errands without using fossil fuels, to get great cardiovascular exercise, to see their surroundings in a whole new way. My neighborhood isn’t great for cycling--too much traffic and too many hills--but I try to ride at least once a week in the spring, summer, and fall, usually stopping at a nearby farmers' market to restock on fruits and vegetables. It’s a healthy way to live.  

Here are three rad rad female and bike related videos for your eyeball and ear pleasure.


This week at the National Bike Summit, Veronica Davis, the founder of Black Women Bike, gave this inspiring talk about her background, community and passion. I took away many tid-bits of insight and wisdom on unconventional engagement and breaking down barriers, along with being inspired by her incredible work ethic and dedication.

Ladies Army 5 from Geoffrey Tomlin-Hood on Vimeo.

Next up- Ladies Army 5. This year it's in Vancouver- sorry, EastVan. If you can get your gears to Vancouver, do so. It's beautiful, laid back, and beautiful. But watch out, the beauty is going to cost you. Rent, food and alcohol are more expensive in Beautiful British Columbia. Some say BC stands for bring cash. So plan ahead ladies.



Last, but not least, the incredible Jenna Marbles on "Why Girls Hate Each Other." Don't think it belongs in with this other list of awesome I just put above?  Let's be real here girls. Jokes like this don't take over the internet for no reason. We got to address some things. In throwing off the shackles of oppression, it's good to throw out the BS that came along with it, like comparing, competing and judging each other. When we do that "...we can just be b*tches together... you know, vaginas unite!"

Think about it. If you disagree, the comment box bellow is a safe space to say so.

xo

Women Mean Business

photo of Deadly Nightshades by Miguel Jacob

The League of American Cyclists have a new free webinar series. The first one was a great talk on "How to Start and Sustain a Women's Bike Club", which featured a talk by our lovely friend Sarai at GIRL BIKE LOVE. This Wednesday, February 27th, anyone around the world can join in on the topic of Women Mean Business: The Economic Impact of Women Bicyclists.  

 "Though underrepresented in many aspects of the bicycle movement, there's growing evidence that women hold the purse strings when it comes to the future success of the bike industry."

Women Mean Business also happens to be the theme of the upcoming Woman's National Cycling Summit on March 4th in the 'Murican capital of Washington DC.

"The Forum will include keynote addresses from industry pioneer Georgena Terry (pictured), Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, as well as break-out sessions, lunch plenary, networking and so much more."

The cycling industry may be the last one in the world to get that women have money, like to spend money, and will spend money on cycling products when given the proper chance. Even the PGA, the grand-daddy of Golf (a sport also referred to as the second board room), just announced it is targeting women to ensure the fiscal sustainability of the sport. Time has painted the picture of the growing spending power of women. Lil Wayne can sit down. Ladies are the ones making it rain.


It's time we had that talk Cycling Industry. It's not us. It's you. We have money. We want to bike. So if we aren't biking and we aren't spending, you're doing it wrong. That means you're not giving us good products, good prices and good distribution. It's not just making pink bikes with flowers. Or putting a model on a bike to pose in your ads. Or making biking to women only about being"fashionable". (I understand the irony of a Deadly Nightshade writing this.) Marketing lifestyle choices and marketing fashion apparel are different things at the end of the day.

Maybe some of you bike companies could take a hint from Elen DeGeneres.


But before products, women cycling is about advocacy and government lobbying. The car industry does that right. At Velo-City 2012,  I got to learn the hard data of getting more women cycling. It's all about safety, or perceived safety. Marisa Espinosa- Senior Manager of Service Planning, Translink BC, pointed out that their data shows that the cycling "gender gap" is also due to women being the primary child care providers in Vancouver, which means transporting young children. It means curating families and raising the next generation of citizens, and shaping the transportation choices they make in the future. Without proper cycling infrastructure like separated bike lanes, reduced car traffic speed and laws, few women are willing to look past the dangers of cycling on our car-ruled roads.

Let's take a minute to remember the late Jenna Morrison, her son, her husband, and her unborn child. Our traffic system, transport truck laws and justice system completely failed this family. How can we expect to get more families cycling when we don't address this? Ironically, cars kill more children via collisions and lifestyle diseases caused by sedentary lifestyle. (That's not even getting into environmental factors like local air pollution causing childhood asthma, or catastrophic climate change.) In the long run, we are hurting ourselves and children more by sticking to cars thinking they are "safe."

So it is a combination of solid safety infrastructure creation, and addressing the issue of the perceived safety issue. Throw in some pretty girls on bikes to make people smile, sure! I'm all for it. Let's be real for a minute; biking can be dangerous. We can fix that. Car culture, grid lock, and auto emissions are killing us everyday. Bikes can fix that.

Watch this speech by the Queen Elizabeth II - Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient Gil Panalosa. He is the executive director of 8-80 Cities, based out of Toronto. Wouldn't it be swell if our city actually took his advice? To bring it back, he talks about sustainable cities, children, the need for "complete street systems", proper road design, and the incredible force that is NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.



Let's do this ladies. xo