A while ago I started a series called Bike Talk, where I wanted to seriously chat about some issues that women are afraid to speak out about. My first post on Bike Talk was about bicycles & embracing my inner quirky girl, where I personally dived deep into the first myth of 10 Myths About Women & Cycling, "Women Don't Like Bikes." My point was to express that every woman has her way of expressing herself on her bicycle, if it doesn't look like bike culture or a race team, then there is no shame in embracing and liking the way you bike! Keep in mind... this is a personal perspective rather than expressing and explaining that "82 percent of women having positive views of bicyclists," of course we do, however, women aren't positively accepted or represented as bicyclists.

When it comes to women and cycling, there's so much work to be done. Unfortunately, women continue to be underrepresented in the world of cycling and planning which persists the misconceptions of women and cycling. The League of American Bicyclists recently shared information around the myths about women and cycling in hopes that it will demystify misconceptions of women and cycling. City planners, industry, and policy think tanks can really benefit from the information about women's cycling behavior which here is provided for them. Thanks League of American Cyclist!

When your an activist weaving through the streets on a bicycle, you see the way cities and minds work without rose colored lenses. Perhaps the world becomes to us more crass and less romantic in that we are aware and confronted with the reality that surrounds us. My growth as a bicycle activist and social activist has led me to think differently in how I read the bicycle industry, urban planning, and women's roles in these realms. 

It's not everyday you'll hear a woman's voice representing a bicycle corporation or leading planning developments. They are very few and hardly listened to. One thing that I do know is that women have something to tell us about the city and life we share. Women spend a lot of their time out on the streets, in parks, talking to neighbors, shopping for groceries or household goods, sustaining neighborhood communities, and piloting their children around. Women know what it is like to live in cities, street by street, day by day, better than the men who plan and build them. There is a lot to be said by women in ways that we can nourish communities and bring life to them over the stale roads and concrete pavements. 

Women have always found creative ways to be active in these realms but mainly through the use of blogging while being fashionably comfortable on their bikes, which has reached more women in cities. Parts of this blog hold this to be true because bicycle lifestyle and activism encompasses our comforts, beliefs, and personalities as well. Exploiting women for their bodies or getting women to become consumptive shouldn't be the aim of the bicycle industry or planning. For too long cities and industries have ignored them and thus have impoverished our lives and cities by not listening to them. Although we aren't always heard in these institutions, we at least have city streets that serve practical activities and our sense of happiness and community.

image @cyclovoalicia