Bicycle Touring Isn’t Just For Men
September 12, 2011 by Darren Alff
For the past month I’ve been traveling across 6 western US states on my motorcycle (yes, my motorcycle) and along the way I’ve been paying attention to the number of bicycle tourists out there on the road. Because I was on my motorcycle and traveling relatively fast, I didn’t have a chance to stop and talk with each of the cycle tourists I ran across, but I did notice one thing – there are quite a few women out there riding bikes!
The readership here at BicycleTouringPro.com is largely men, and cycling in general seems to be a sport that is largely dominated by males, but this trip reminded me that there are actually a large number of women who like to travel by bike.
Below you will see two groups of female cyclists I happened to run across on my recent travels.
The first set of photos show a group of five women I passed on my motorcycle while in Western Idaho. I stopped to take a few photos of them as they passed, but never found out where they were from, where they were going, or anything about them.
This last couple is a pair of young Canadian women (with French names) that I ran into at a gas station just north of Whistler, Canada. At the time I ran into them, they were on day #4 of their long-distance bicycle tour and they had plans of riding all the way to Mexico.
This post doesn’t really have a point, per say, other than to remind you that there are women out there who like to ride bikes… and that bicycle touring isn’t just for men.
Looking for the very BEST bicycle touring articles? You can find them right here!
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24 Responses to “Bicycle Touring Isn’t Just For Men”
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As a women cyclist I have over the last 4 years cycled alone in various parts of Scotland I recently cycled from Glasgow to Inverness and it has been great!
So get out there women!
Susie
It is so hard here in Indonesia to find such bicycle tourists.
I personally admire women who just take their own initiative and take off on their bikes to tour. Every Dec., I leave cold/wintery Colorado and fly to Bangkok, meet up with a UK friend and we cycle through the winter in Asia. A year ago, I was cycling alone through Bali, having ridden from Bangkok/Malaysia/Indonesia/Java/Bali. I was sitting on Kuta beach in Denpasar Bali and saw this woman pushing a fully loaded mountain touring bike with a ton of stuff on her bike. I approached her, and learned she was from New Zealand but had been working in London, and on the spur of the moment, took off on her bike and had ridden from London, through France, northern Italy, Macedonia, Greece, Albania, the Balkans, northern Turkey, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, across China, down into Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and had ended up in Bali. Her goal was to be home in NZ for Christmas and she had been gone almost a year. Her goal would not allow for any plane flights, only boat, bus or train. She ended up getting a ship to Australia, rode from Perth to Sydney, then waited for a boat to take her to New Zealand. And she made it. One gutsy woman, all alone. That’s what I admire about the women I see out on the road cycle touring alone.
Yes, I do think there are many more of us women bike tourists out on the road. However, it depends on where you go. I did a 48 day solo ride along ACA’s new Sierra Cascades route this last summer. In the Sierras, I did not see another female touring. However, I only saw three touring cyclists total until I got past Lake Tahoe. I didn’t see another women until just before Bend, OR and she was with her husband. After that, I saw more women, but never a solo woman.
Non-cyclists I talk to always ask me if I’m ever afraid being a woman alone on the road. So far (after two long distance solo tours), I have to say no. In my experiance, people have been nothing but kind. I think, in many ways, I am more approachable because I am a woman. Generally, people don’t hesitate to come up and talk to me, ask me questions about touring and ask me if I need anything.
As for drivers on the road, I have a theory. I have long hair that I usually wear in a ponytail. I think drivers come up behind me, see the ponytail flapping and think, “Oh my God, it’s a woman! I don’t know WHAT she is going to do! I’d better give her a wide berth!”. It’s just a theory, but it seems to work for me!
The one thing I always tell young girls when I am talking about my bike tours is to never let the fact that they are female define what they can and can’t do. I certainly don’t!
I live next to Glacier National Park, Montana. I see women bicyclists.
I do not know if they have travelled far.
However, I also see women bicyclists on Highway 2. I only see long distance cyclists on Highway 2 because Highway 2 traverses the prairie and there can be strong winds. No one rides their bicycle there, unless they are travelling long distance. I would think Highway 89 would be more scenic, but it is not an East-West highway and it has more hills.
My nephew set out with his girlfriend to ride from Portland Oregon to Portland Maine. They had to stop in the midwest because she was in bad shape because she was so “picky” about what food she would eat. He was not.
I think it’s great also. I broke down once and the person that helped me and solved the problem was a woman. I think it’s great. Luis
Very good article, since I’m trying to get my girl into that. We own a tandem and
we take it with us on camping trips (trailer camper), but she is not ready for the big journey. This will help, Thanks.
fred
I truly hope you are right and that this is a growing trend. I have never had a girlfriend who would bike. Neither would my ex-wife. I was never competitive nor bullying in my zeal to share what has got to be one of the best pursuits ever invented. But I do think women have been held back. Somewhere something in their upbringing seems to tell them that they are less capable, not as strong, less than ladylike, too vulnerable, I don’t know, but SOMETHING!
The truth is, women BELONG out there. The smell of the wildflowers, a sky full of stars, the taste of water from a stream, eating a handful of grapes in the shade, soaking your tired bones in a lake, zooming down a long deserted road,making friends with a dairy cow, skinny-dipping under a waterfall, buying some fresh bread and local cheese from a farmer’s market, meeting local people and swapping stories, sharing a pizza after putting a respectable amount of miles under your belt, why would anyone not want to be a part of that?
The truth is, just the presence of women makes things better. We have to do everything we can to get more women out there. It’s in everybody’s own best interest to do so. They’ve been missing too much for far too long.
Darren
As I’ve shared before – I’ve recently fallen in love with cycling and my first tour last year (9/9-9/26/2010) pedaling 500 miles from Pittsburgh PA to Washington DC and seeing sites along the way.
I did it solo – at age 61 – and had the most amazing mental, physical, and spiritual journey ever. I’m hoping to do 4-5 day tour along the CA coast in October.
Also I’m planning to do a much longer tour in 2012, just determining when and where —- possibly up the MIssissippi following the Underground Railroad route or parts of the Atlantic coast ending in Florida for my 45th class reunion (my classmates say I need to save some energy for the dance floor too).
Thanks for all the information you share with us who follow your travels.
Be safe – hope you enjoyed Tahoe.
Cinda
Exciting to see all the responses popping up here – I do 98% of my cycling solo because my existing friends are interested. As I continue to ride and meet people along the way, I’m sure this will change. Meanwhile, solo rides are an adventure that can be beat – I’ve always felt safe – Darren has a great article with safety tips that helped me just before I left on my first tour. I only had one bad experience where someone intentionally tried to run me down with a car (scary, and I did come down but had no major injuries and no damage to my bike). I met so many trail “angels and heroes” that I get goosebumps thinking back on the experiences.
On my tour last year, I encountered many couples or groups of couples tourings, pairs of guys, groups of women, dad/son, pairs of women, one solo guy – but never a solo woman. All who I met couldn’t believe that I was traveling alone, camping out sometimes (no stealth camping though), and not carrying a weapon (I wasn’t afraid). I will do it more and if I am blessed to find someone who also enjoys touring, that will be icing on the cake!
Bicycle touring is an incredible hobby, passion, or career (as Darren has been fortunate to claim).
Why not? I am looking at touring next year, post-retirement and have cunning plans that involve my (female) partner. Might start going from B&B to B&B or hotel, etc. but would like to end up doing the full camping touring thing with my beloved. Very realistic!!!
Great work ladies !
Im a 68yo retired male,i would like to plan a world tour,female partner would be great. Anyone interested ? Contact me. Lets see the world !
I seen the same in the province of Quebec, Canada. I was really impress by the number of girl that did it alone. I saw mens together, couple, but 3 or 4 girls alone…
I wasn’t think that it will be possible but like you said… I think it’s a really good thing!
And like others said, I’m hoping cycling with my wife too!!! But that’s seems really hard to convice her for the moment… And because I have two girl… I havein reallity three girl to convince!!!
Math
P.S. I hop my Eglish is not too bad!
I have often dreamed about doing a tour with camping and will someday. But for now I have the rides all around my hometown to enjoy doing. I can take off with my bike and really see much of great folks we have and yes I will say that people have asked of my wheels if I have alot of travels under my belt. NO, I just enjoy riding everywhere I go. I look someday to ride to the Key West camping style when the I get the time to do it. I have purchased the supplies already just got to do it. Darren, thanks for your wealth of information you write on.
I am almost 68 years old , live in Anchorage, Alaska and I am passionate about riding (I ride year round). My best trip was Old Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica. I was with 3 other people but the riding was solo and I loved every minute. It took us 24 days, mostly camping at KOA othercampgrounds, some motels. During that trip I became addicted to touring.
I haven’t had the opportunity to repeat my earlier tour but I am planning several rides in the near future, they will probably be solo because everyone I kinow here in Alaska likes to cycle but they are into racing and sponsored events. I too am looking for a cycling partner who just wants to see everything in the world by bike. I hope to retire soon and I want to cycle around the world. Anyone interested? Darren has fed my dream with great information and tips, now I want to put them to good use!
it is good news
but in here (asia)we need more time that weman can use bike alone but in here same there inside of cities is nearly normal ride bike by women recent
Just got back from touring the Natchez Trace Parkway wiith two of my girlfriends. We had a blast. There is no reason for women not to tour though some people seem to find it more remarkable that we travel alone in such a small group. Everyone was nice to us and very helpful but we are also resourceful and self sufficient. Go tour, self supported, B&B however you want the world is beautiful from the seat of a bike!
Is it really a surprise that women enjoy touring too? Or that we go on cycle holidays?I can’t believe it’s such a rare sight!
I completed my first bicycle tour this summer. To celebrate turning 50, I planned a solo trip of 800 km up the Sunshine Coast of BC and throughout Vancouver Island Although I planned it solo, I invited friends and family to join me along the way.
In the end I was alone for 10 of the 14 cycling days traveling a total of 600 km. I adjusted my plan as I went along and cut out the sections that I learned were not safe roads to travel.
I met wonderful people along the way, saw so much more than I would have done traveling by car and treated myself to some fantastic experiences along the way. My trip was not just about cycle touring. I also spent a week and a half with family at a cabin near the beach and a few more days at a fishing resort on the west coast, I made sure to treat myself to some fun and fantastic experiences along the way (zodiac tour up Princess Louisa inlet, ferry down the Alberni inlet, a boat trip through the Broken Island Group to Uclulet).
My accommodations over the month I was away included lots of camping, a night in a motel, a treat in a luxurious wilderness lodge, a cabin with family, a fishing lodge, a B&B and I finished off the holiday with two nights in my favourite hotel in Victoria.
Thanks to Darren’s daily emails I learned how to plan and prepare for the trip and I was never concerned for my safety when cycling or camping alone. It was a fabulous experience and I’m looking forward to many more solo or group bike tours.
Forgot to mention a couple things that I found particularly useful. Before my trip I planned my routes by researching experiences of others and then creating electronic routes using mapmyride.com. The negative side of that was I didn’t print out the maps thinking I could view them on my iPhone.
Unfortunately my iPhone didn’t support the maps so I didn’t always have access to them. I used the GPS in my iPhone constantly to check my directions along the way and it helped get me back on track a few times when I went off the beaten path or needed to find a place to stay.
I also used my phone to send daily notes to friends and family so they would know where I was, that I was safe and to inform them of any changes to my planned itinerary. There were only a couple of days when I didn’t have cell service but made a point when I could to let others no I would be offline for a period.
awesome! It’s alway inspiring to hear and see that some girl cycling alone and they made it! I’m one on the 2 french canadien girl in the last picture and i’m now by myself in san diego ending south of mexico. The other girl have to go back for the winter session of university but she made the first 3600 km with me! it’s good that you post a article about-it cause I hear a lots of prejudice about girl travelling alone. Rock-it girl!!
Hi Noemie,
I’m so glad you found this blog post and your picture! It sounds like you did a great job getting out of Canada and cycling south through Washington, Oregon and California. What was your favorite part of the journey? And where exactly do you plan on finishing your trip? At the Mexico/USA border? Or somewhere in Mexico?
A friend of friend find your blog and reconnaise us! I’m on Mecca, near of Palm Spring desert where a taked 2 weeks off. I’m going back to San Diego on Monday after what I’ll ending to the south of Mexico, Oaxaca. You can take a look on my blog http://www.lavidaesmejor.tumblr.com To answers at your interogation, I thinks the best was the first weeks in wild the BC mountain, but Oregon coast is beautiful, California too, specialy the strech beetwen San fransciso and LA.
It was great to find your story, I especially liked it since you wrote from the perspective of a cyclist with a motor! Everyone I’ve met on motorcycles has been fun to talk with, jokingly offering me a rope as I ride up high hills! Last September I rode (bicycle) from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean solo, across France through the Pyrenees and a bit of the Corbières. The year before my solo cycle trip was from Montpellier in southern France into the Cevennes and ending in Toulouse. Both were fabulous! For my pedals, and in my opinion, it is the perfect way to travel, meet people, stop in cafes, museums, historic sites, and experience the country, its landscape. I’m so glad to read other women’s experiences. My solo traveling has always elicited surprise … though I have always felt well supported, helped and assisted. Everyone I met was quick to help me move my bike and panniers on and off trains, up and down stairs, etc. without my even asking. Perhaps my gray hair played into that, but perhaps it is just that people really do help cyclists! Thanks for your post. Oh, by the way there is more about my trips on my blog http://www.susancycling.blogspot.com/. It would be great to continue this discussion, here, or to get some feedback there! Thanks again.