Lower town, old Quebec

Skirtchasing

I've been fielding a number of questions about riding in a skirt, so I thought I would provide a few tips.

In general, cycling in a skirt is no different from wearing anything else. Sure, if you're planning to ride more than 20 miles at one go, I would change into some cycling-specific clothes with padding and no oddly placed seams. But if you are going 5 or 10 miles around town, it's all about the same. It just seems unfamiliar.

Some outfits may give you trouble on a bike. But this is no different from finding that your new skirt bunches up when you walk down the hallway, or gets twisted, or tends to snag on furniture. The only thing that really doesn't work is a tightly-fitted pencil skirt, unless it has a major slit (preferably in the back) or a kick pleat. This black shirt is fairly straight, but the material stretches and there is a 4 inch slit in the back.

A-line skirts, flared skirts, and full skirts are great. I like skirts just above the knee, preferably with a built-in slip. This places silky smooth fabric against your skin for total comfort, and the maximum in coverage. But you still get good air circulation, which is really important in the summer! My cream skirt has a soft slip under a lightweight embroidered cotton fabric with a gentle drape.

I no longer wear the very short skirts that I could get away with 10 years ago! But if you do like short skirts, rest assured that the saddle will keep most things covered. If you are nervous about riding in a skirt at first, or you aren't sure how your shorter skirts will behave, you can always layer a slip, fitted shorts, or even bloomers (a split slip) underneath. I used to wear some fitted ballet shorts under my skirts. But I eventually realized that I had nothing to worry about - nothing above mid-thigh ever seems to show.

If you have a very long, full skirt, there is a chance that it could get caught in your brakes, chain, or wheel, which could cause a crash. A full chain case and skirt guard will prevent this, and may be a good investment if you wear long skirts a lot. If you just need a one-time solution, you can simply gather up part of the hem and secure it with a know, a rubber band, or a hair clip. I prefer clips because they look nice and don't damage fabrics. They can also secure gauzy fabrics that fly around too much.

Having a step through frame makes it more brainless to ride in a skirt, but it's entirely doable on a diamond frame. You just need to keep your knees together as you mount the bicycle, and to have enough fabric to go over the top tube when your feet are on the ground or extended. It's easy!

Go Girls

The cooler weather has brought forth hordes of new riders - or at least folks that I haven't seen before -  particularly women. Trust me, for each picture that turned out decently, there were at least five that I missed, or that didn't come out.

Boys and Girls

I went to dinner at a friends' house on Sunday night. It was a quiet evening of delicious home cooking and good friends. Among other things, we all share an abiding love of good food and nice bicycles. Now, in some crowds, you might find that the guys are really into bikes and their female consorts just put up with it. But in our group, the women were clustered around Colleen's new Brompton (hopefully to be seen in action soon) while the men prepared dinner. Good times!

Overall, I continue to see more women bicycling. With better fitting bikes and a wider variety of frames and accessories, in lots of different settings.

Party Time!

My friend Katie has set the bar pretty high for bicycling around Atlanta in style. But don't worry, there will be plenty of opportunities to show off your own style this weekend, starting on friday... So put on your party clothes, grab your bicycle, and scroll down for a couple of options.

Any time on friday, swing on over to Loose Nuts Cycles. It's a new bicycle shop in Grant Park, and they are having an opening party with free New Belgium beer! Allegedly, one of the owners is the "best wheel builder in Atlanta." Also, they list vintage bikes as one of their specialities. Looks cool. You can stop at Grant Central Pizza for dinner across the street.

On saturday, the Brickstore Pub is having an anniversary party - 13 featured casks to celebrate 13 years of business! It's a great pub and Decatur is a relatively good part of Atlanta for cycling - but be sure to call up the city staff and let them know that they need more bike facilities on their major roads.

Heels with our Wheels

On Saturday, we enjoyed a hot but precipitation-free Heels on Wheels ride.

A small, well-attired group of gals rode from Woodruff Park, up Peachtree Street, through midtown, and along Ponce de Leon Ave., and then promptly headed over the "King of Pops" homemade popsicle stand at the corner of North and Highland Avenue. Nothing beats the heat like a pineapple-cilantro popsicle bursting with flavor!

One of the goals was simply to be "seen" by the afternoon crowds out shopping and dining, to leave them with an impression that riding a bicycle could be stylish and relaxed. So, after popsicles, we meandered around Little Five Points and Inman Park, passing all of the shopping districts and restaurant patios we could find.

We ended the ride with a cool drink and some snacks at Sauced. The conversation was informal, but touched on many of the issues women face when riding - pedals that don't get slippery under your favorite pair of dress shoes, routes for avoiding hills, lighting. I learned some great tips, and I think everyone else did too.

PS: This is a Let's Go Ride a Bike Summer Games post!

June 5: Heels on Wheels ride and Women and Cycling meetup

 Hey gals!

This Saturday is a "Heels on Wheels" ride (Atlanta's version of cycle chic). We'll meet at the northern end of Woodruff Park (corner of Peachtree Street and Auburn Ave) prior to 6:30 pm, at which time we will ride stylishly around town for about an hour and wind up at Sauced for a beverage. The pace will be fairly leisurely and we'll make sure everyone can stay together.

Once we reach the restaurant, we'll have a conversation about women's issues related to cycling. If you just want to come for the conversation, expect to meet at Sauced around 7:30 pm, and please understand if the touring group is a tad early or late getting there! Talk may revolve around clothing questions, sweat (yuck!), bicycles and equipment, advocacy, safety, information and resources, and how to support other women in their bicycle-riding interests.

If there is heavy rain (and who can tell these days), the entire thing will be postponed until June 12th. Please check the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition event page for current updates. Whatever the weather status, a rain jacket or poncho might be a good idea. Bring your lock, too, so you can stop at the restaurant with us.

All women are welcome. Dressing up is strongly encouraged. Nothing makes people look twice - or think twice - like a group of well-dressed friends out for the evening entirely on pedal power. If you ever wanted to try riding in a skirt or your favorite pair of heels (or wedges as shown), this is the time to do it! And check out the Evoluer blog for some inspiration. And remember, riding in heels is way easier than walking in 'em!

See you there!

Family Time

Alright, I'm making my run at the "Summer Games" from Let's Go Ride A Bike. It's not that I need any motivation for social, stylish bicycle riding - it's the awesome prizes! I'm hoping Dottie and Trisha will accept a ride with by boyfriend's family in the "Ride with your family" category.

On Memorial Day, I had a lovely dinner with the Beau's family. What better way to follow up a summer supper than a trip to the ice cream shop? Ma Beau, Beau, and I hopped on our bicycles while the rest of the family walked. His mom has a brand new Breezer that isn't even broken in yet, due to the lack of widespread bicycle parking in Decatur.

In this case, the bicycle contingent served as scouts as well, as we got to the ice cream shop first and discovered it closed. So, we zipped back, alerted the walking group, and then zoomed around to find an alternative choice. Plenty of other folks were out on the same mission. We wound up running a traffic light that doesn't change for bicycles to reach the Dairy Queen, where we locked up to the one available railing and tried not to block the store entrance. Fortunately, the Breezer comes with a wheel lock, sufficient for short stops.

Women for Cycling

A few of Atlanta's female cyclists and transportation leaders met on Sunday to talk about cycling promotion. Well, when I say transportation 'leaders', I mean the director of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, the regional bicycle planner, and me. Women hold a number of other influential transportation positions in the Atlanta region (from the director of MARTA to the city transportation planner), so we hope to hold future meetings with a larger group. Brunch was followed by a short field trip to see a new "art" bicycle rack.

Rebecca and Lyuba discuss a new bicycle rack installation at Georgia State University

While eyecatching, the rack had very few places to securely support and lock a bicycle, especially with racks or fenders mounted.

Why women? The question I often get is, why should we worry about this? There are so few cyclists in Atlanta, compared to other places, shouldn't we worry about total numbers rather than these little details? But that's the point. If women rode bicycles at the same rates as men, total ridership numbers would nearly double. Well, in most cities. Actually, Atlanta looks pretty good in this respect. Measured ridership in 2008 was about half a percent for both men and women (figures from the 2008 American Community Survey -see link for more info).

Other reasons include equity and social justice, the potential influence over kids (the next generation of bicycle riders), and the idea that true bicycle culture can't evolve unless everyone can do it. If women don't feel comfortable riding under current conditions, what about children and the elderly? Ironically, TV and print ads that show bicycles tend to show female riders. This seems to signal a safe and pleasant community.

Expanded ridership also brings cycling into a social realm. Can you ride with your friends, family, or colleagues? If three people want to go out to dinner by bicycle and the fourth person objects, the whole group may default back to driving. Also, many women approach me with questions about clothing, children, and personal safety. I'm always happy to share my opinions, but we also need a more permanent resource.

However, the simple desire for safe, equitable, and efficient multimodal transportation is still seriously misunderstood. A little controversy erupted recently over national transportation commissioner LaHood's recent suggestion that USDOT stop marginalizing pedestrian and bicycle travel. The arguments bordered on silly - are we going to start shipping freight by interstate backpack? They were also clearly misinformed. For one thing, a significant amount of freight transport does occur by 'alternative' modes - think of freight rail, postal routes on foot, bicycle couriers, or the light vehicles (from ATVs to golf carts) used on farms and campuses.

More seriously, these arguments fail to acknowledge serious problems in the current transport system that do affect efficiency, economic stability, and even the trucking industry. Freight trucks all over the country contend with traffic every day. Sometimes they get stuck in hours of rush hour traffic, surrounded by motorists who might prefer to be on a commuter train or a cycle track - but there isn't one. Other trucks get stuck in line with hundreds of cars waiting to drop off or pick up children from school, that happens to be along the route to a distribution center or factory. Many of those children may live within a few miles of the school, easy cycling distance even for a child. But their subdivision and their school probably don't connect. If they're like most developments, they can only be accessed from the local major road or highway, and that road probably doesn't have a sidewalk or bicycle facilities. So even though it is in cycling distance, they would have to go out and ride their bike on a busy highway with trucks and high-speed traffic. 

So no, equalizing bicycle traffic does not mean eliminating motor vehicle facilities. Actually, it means enabling trips to be made by the most efficient mode possible. For many short personal trips, that may be cycling, walking, or heading over (by whatever mode) to the transit station. And many freight trips can continue to be made by foot, bike, or train as well. Maybe some urban deliveries will be taken up by light vehicle - which is okay...who wants to navigate a semi truck downtown anyway? And all those freight trips that are an appropriate distance and location for trucking can be made more safely and efficiently, drivers' time on the road can be more predictable and less frustrating. Crazy, huh?

So, we'll keep meeting, keep explaining, and keep pedaling until our trips are taken as seriously as any other.

Posing with Rebecca and Everett (in the trailer)

Women of Philadelphia

One of the most heartening aspects of my trip to Philly was the ladies. I was so happy to see an established culture of cycling women, wearing everyday fashion. Philadelphia sets the fashion bar pretty high anyway, so the ridership was a real example of 'cycle chic'. Cycling has become an everyday part of life in a city that already embraces public life, sociability, and unique local culture.

But again, no one seems to know about it. It didn't make Copenhagen Cycle Chic's list of cycle chic cities from around the world. Not even runner-up. All the comments on here, and all the comments I've heard from my friends, have been total surprise. No one has heard anything about bicycling in Philly, or about culture and fashion and streetlife in general. I did an internet search before going there, and pretty much came up with a blank. There was a little something about making bike lanes on Pine Street permanent. Not much else.

I also have a vague recollection about Philadelphia being used as an example of unequal male-female cycling ratios, based on data from last year. I tried to look this info up for this post but couldn't find it. There were more men than women, but the share was much closer than Atlanta. Of course, in Atlanta, it would be hard to measure the ratio at all, due to the small sample size...

Well, cycle chic is alive and well there. And while this is not a cycle chic website per se, I do like to see ordinary women riding in ordinary fashionable clothes, the way I do. So here are a few of the coolest women I saw, including the businesswoman from earlier in the week. This first photo is at Pine Street and 23rd.

My Hero

I'd like to take a short break from the Philadelphia story to point out this awesome Atlanta gal. What my hasty snapshot doesn't show is her cute bicycle, smashing stiletto heels, and ability to work a button down shirt without bunching - something I haven't gotten the hang of. She was leaving a downtown office building at rush hour. Totally made my day!

Field Trip: Philadelphia!

You may have noticed that I haven't posted for a few days...the reason was a short business trip to Philly. Now, I'm sure it has it's own problems that aren't apparent on a short visit. But I fell in love.

I was planning to keep my eye out for bike lanes. It would have been easier to look for a street without them! Every street, other than local side streets, had a bicycle lane. And bicycle traffic. Even the access road to the airport had them.

My next few posts will be about my trip. First, I'd like to introduce the fabulous woman who pulled up in a business suit and pumps. She chatted with a man - neighbor? husband? sitting on the front stoop of her building. He offered her his beer, she took a sip, talked for a few more minutes, then rolled her bike inside the building. Awesome.

The Fair Came toTown!

Sure, we may have big amusement parks and tourist attractions and all, but nothing is quite as fun as a small traveling fair! Real carnys, rattletrap rides that make you feel like you're going to die, short lines.

 

The Atlanta Fair is here for about a month each year, and close to downtown. That puts it in bicycle riding distance, so some friends and I rode on over. Security let us lock up right next to their office. We had a blast riding the rides and eating some fried stuff. I was sure I was going to plunge to my death on the "Ring O Fire"! We had fun for a few hours and then road home.

It's Good to Feel Needed

The bicycle buzz continues. USDOT Secretary LaHood announced his commitment to bicycling and alternative modes of transportation at the National Bike Summit, followed by a statement that federal transportation priorities were changing for the better. This year also saw the launch of national movements Cities for Cycling and People for Bikes.

Several themes pervade the discussion: differences in cycling from country to country, safety issues, how to redesign bicycle facilities into existing cities. And women. Why do fewer women currently ride bicycles than men? What does this say about bicycle infrastructure, equipment, and culture? And how can we change it?

The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals is conducting a survey to find out. Women and girls: be heard! Take the survey and forward it on to everyone you know. It's not just for women who cycle; they want to hear from people who don't ride, or who no longer do.

Then, sign up for the free webinar: Writing Women Back into Bicycling. Wednesday, March 31, 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. EDT. There may be a local viewing party - I'll keep you posted.

Experiencing Atlanta

Oh, Atlanta, you silly silly city. Sometimes I hate you but I have to love your quirks.

I didn't do a single train commute this week, so I saw a little more of the city than usual. Bicyclists are out in record numbers. In the few minutes that I'm not cooped up in my office, sleeping, or baking something, I encounter dozens of people on bicycle. It's very satisfying. Just a smidgen are shown here...

On Wednesday, I had dinner at the recently-franchised Flying Biscuit café. I was there to have dinner before meeting a guy about a bicycle frame - yes I have a new project bike. More on that some other day! There was an adorable vintage Schwinn Le Tour mixte parked out front. With an umbrella stuck in the saddlebag. The Beau stalked went out to talk to the owner when she came along to retrieve it. She turned out to be the wife of the guy who was selling me the bike frame - but he wasn't coming until later.

On Thursday, I made a trip to the natural foods store, Sevananda. I only needed a few things, but they were having a sale on 5-pound bags of organic flour. So...

On the way home, I rode slowwwwwwly, using my low gears.

Finally, I had the weirdest transportation moment of the week as a guy pulled up next to me on a three-wheeled motorcycle. I nodded hello, he looked at me like I was crazy, then a horse-and-carriage came around the corner. These circulate around downtown, offering quaint carriage rides for sightseeing and romantic dates. The carriage stopped to ask the motorcyclists about the vehicle. It was really a fascinating multi-modal moment. We have a lot of these in Atlanta, really. There are places where you can see freight trains, pedestrians, trucks and cars, MARTA trains, bicycles, and the occasional horse-drawn carriage pass by, all at the same time. It makes you realize how poorly equipped our siloed, highway-oriented transportation agencies are for dealing with cities!

Belated International Women's Day

Yes, the rest of the world celebrated women on March 8th. Tech Square (and I) came to the party late. After a depressing dearth of female bicyclists, four women came along - one right after the other - to represent Atlanta. These weren't the only people I saw yesterday. In fact, the streets were full of bicycles and I encountered real bicycle traffic on the way home from work.

One woman waited for the light to turn.

One was arriving on a pretty teal Kona.

One was riding right off the curb to go.

The fourth rode down to the corner.
[Disclaimer - I'm not endorsing riding on the sidewalk here... She went half a block to get to the nearest curb cut from her parking place - something to consider when placing bicycle racks.]

A Little Attitude

On Friday, I took a walk down Peachtree Street. Bicyclists were definitely strutting their stuff. The hands-down winner of the attitude and style prize was also apparently the quickest - all I got was a colorful blur as she sped by...

But the boys were sporting some attitude as well.