Journalism and cycling

tomasrojo

A med. stat.s person on Twitter points out:
https://twitter.com/lycraolaoghaire/status/1137717388210839553
(1) of those presenting with any injury while cycling more wore helmets than not & (2) those wearing helmets who presented with injuries, had a LOWER rate of head injuries.

Which is consistent with
1) high background rate of helmet wearing, very effective against head injuries
or
2) Some people lie about helmet wearing to avoid disapproval (in the scenario where they feel they'll be believed)

magicbastarder

Women outline barriers to commuting by bike
The number of people commuting to work by bicycle increased by 44% between 2011 and 2017.

But despite the rise in popularity, women represent just one in four people who travel by bike.

The Dublin Cycling Campaign carried out research and spoke to a number of female cyclists about their experiences, to find out why women represent such a low proportion of those travelling on two wheels.
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/0609/1054355-cycling-women/

Fighting Tao

I am one of those stats too I think. Well if 2 weeks concussion are considered serious enough. I fell on a manhole on the luas tracks in the rain in 2015.

eeeee

magicbastarder wrote: »

Women outline barriers to commuting by bike
The number of people commuting to work by bicycle increased by 44% between 2011 and 2017.

But despite the rise in popularity, women represent just one in four people who travel by bike.

The Dublin Cycling Campaign carried out research and spoke to a number of female cyclists about their experiences, to find out why women represent such a low proportion of those travelling on two wheels.
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/0609/1054355-cycling-women/

Shouldn't they be talking to women who don't cycle for the answer to this? Those of us who do are only guessing really at what's putting everyone else off.

I think it's women of a certain age too. I'd see a few on my travels but not nearly enough but rare I'd see any between say 12/13 and maybe mid 20's. I'd see plenty of boys / men of the same age though.

tomasrojo

Fighting Tao wrote: »

I am one of those stats too I think. Well if 2 weeks concussion are considered serious enough. I fell on a manhole on the luas tracks in the rain in 2015.

I think that counts alright! Sorry to hear that.

magicbastarder

nee wrote: »

Shouldn't they be talking to women who don't cycle for the answer to this? Those of us who do are only guessing really at what's putting everyone else off.

my wife being one. to cycle to work, she'd have to go through phibsborough, and down onto the quays; and with us living in a place served by five different bus routes, she's taken that option instead.

tomasrojo

That reminds me: the news reports only mention head injuries in the association with helmets, not serious head injuries. I don't know whether that means they didn't find much of an association for serious, or they're implying serious. There are an awful lot fewer serious head injuries than general head injuries though, so it's harder to find statistically significant associations.

Rechuchote

nee wrote: »

Shouldn't they be talking to women who don't cycle for the answer to this? Those of us who do are only guessing really at what's putting everyone else off.

But any woman who cycles constantly has conversations with other women who say "You're very brave to cycle, I'd be afraid to" and then gives their reasons - whether you want them or not.

Lumen

Rechuchote wrote: »

But any woman who cycles constantly has conversations with other women who say "You're very brave to cycle, I'd be afraid to" and then gives their reasons - whether you want them or not.

Eh, and men! Except they tend to phrase it differently.

Chips Lovell

Fighting Tao wrote: »

I am one of those stats too I think. Well if 2 weeks concussion are considered serious enough. I fell on a manhole on the luas tracks in the rain in 2015.

(Looks at dates). Me too!

eeeee

Rechuchote wrote: »

But any woman who cycles constantly has conversations with other women who say "You're very brave to cycle, I'd be afraid to" and then gives their reasons - whether you want them or not.

I don't.
It rarely comes up to be honest.
And as someone who cycles daily, races etc. I'm not qualified to speak on why women don't cycle.
Cos I cycle.
Should be reaching out to people who don't cycle for the answers... to why people don't cycle :pac:

Rechuchote

nee wrote: »

I don't.
It rarely comes up to be honest.
And as someone who cycles daily, races etc. I'm not qualified to speak on why women don't cycle.
Cos I cycle.
Should be reaching out to people who don't cycle for the answers... to why people don't cycle :pac:

I've also spent a little time canvassing people on particular streets about how they feel about cycling infrastructure - this is an answer I get all the time.

eeeee

Rechuchote wrote: »

I've also spent a little time canvassing people on particular streets about how they feel about cycling infrastructure - this is an answer I get all the time.

My point is that if they want to find out why people don't cycle, they need to ask people who don't cycle, not those who do.

voluntary

I started cycling recently. Far too many car/bus/taxi drivers do not respect the 1.5 meters distance rule. Not sure what could be done about this but start driving to close to cyclists in Europe and you start collecting fines and penalty points. Irish traffic rules enforcement ignores the issue.

voluntary

nee wrote: »

My point is that if they want to find out why people don't cycle, they need to ask people who don't cycle, not those who do.

1. Safety concerns.
2. ****ty weather most of the time.

Two biggest concerns on top of a regular laziness.

Rechuchote

People who don't cycle also think it's more vigorous than it is and that you need to be strong and sturdy.

CramCycle

Rechuchote wrote: »

But any woman who cycles constantly has conversations with other women who say "You're very brave to cycle, I'd be afraid to" and then gives their reasons - whether you want them or not.

I would disagree for at least a portion of people, some people, don't want to cycle, it has nothing to do with infrastructure, weather or anything else, they simply do not want to do it as part of their routine. Something many campaigns fail to accept. I had a drawn out conversation with a close friend on this, about the reasons he doesn't cycle,he used to as a teenager and kid but stopped. He says he can see the benefits but then started listing the reasons he wouldn't. In the end, he turned to me and said, listen, I just don't want too, I never realised but it's just not for me. He even believed his reasons until I explained why they were pretty poor excuses and he came to the realisation that he simply did not want to cycle and that was that. This does not apply to everyone but it applies to more than many campaigners are willing to accept.

Rechuchote wrote: »

I've also spent a little time canvassing people on particular streets about how they feel about cycling infrastructure - this is an answer I get all the time.

And its another fair point. From a personal perspective, I don't give a sh1t about cycling infrastructure, it doesn't help me, it is often not even close to what I would like, and the problem is, what I would like is not what most people campaign for. I don't want segregation, I don't want separate lanes or lights or anything else. I am happy with infrastructure the way it is, I just want either respect or the long arm of the law to come done full whack on assh*ts but the infrastructure thing means nothing to me and probably never will. I see the benefit of it, and happily support it for others if asked but in reality I don't care or want it, I already cycle as much of the time as is possible for me. All more infrastructure does is create the impression I should be somewhere else and increase anger towards me when I am not far off the speed limit in a place I am legally allowed to be.

Grassey

voluntary wrote: »

I started cycling recently. Far too many car/bus/taxi drivers do not respect the 1.5 meters distance rule. Not sure what could be done about this but start driving to close to cyclists in Europe and you start collecting fines and penalty points. Irish traffic rules enforcement ignores the issue.

There isn't a 'rule' yet
Just back from 2 weeks in France, drivers there (in general) made Irish drivers look like paragons of space giving on the roads! That was typically on the main roads though with plenty of sketchy overtaking. In the towns everyone was much more relaxed.

hesker

CramCycle wrote: »

From a personal perspective, I don't give a sh1t about cycling infrastructure, it doesn't help me, it is often not even close to what I would like, and the problem is, what I would like is not what most people campaign for. I don't want segregation, I don't want separate lanes or lights or anything else. I am happy with infrastructure the way it is, I just want either respect or the long arm of the law to come done full whack on assh*ts but the infrastructure thing means nothing to me and probably never will. I see the benefit of it, and happily support it for others if asked but in reality I don't care or want it, I already cycle as much of the time as is possible for me. All more infrastructure does is create the impression I should be somewhere else and increase anger towards me when I am not far off the speed limit in a place I am legally allowed to be.

That sums up my position exactly.

Don’t need to spend millions on infrastructure where a bit of periodic law enforcement would solve 99% of my issues.

voluntary

CramCycle wrote: »

some people, don't want to cycle, it has nothing to do with infrastructure, weather or anything else, they simply do not want to do it as part of their routine. Something many campaigns fail to accept.

No money can buy more sunny days and less rain/wind. If you cycle to work on a nice morning you never know if you will cycle back home on a nice evening as well. And then, how many nice morning do we enjoy?

Then you finaly decide to get on that bike regardless of the uncomfortable weather, just to realize every cycle is basically a fight for your life, so unless we have safe cycle paths then majority of regular people won't ever bother. It's simply too dangerous.

meeeeh

Something that might be relevant is that Irish women are expected to wear more make up than especially women in countries where cycling is more prominent. Lower density means schools are further away and it's more awkward to get kids to school.

I run between 25-30k per week ofren before the work. On top of that I take dog on 4km walk most days in the week and cycle with kids. I could easily cycle to work but I have absolutely no desire to. I'm not prepared to adopt my clothing, it's easier and safer to drop kids to school with the car and I can wear high heels. Cycling to work is just too much hassle for me.

However me being lazy or not fit enough is definitely not the reason.

Hurrache

meeeeh wrote: »

Something that might be relevant is that Irish women are expected to wear more make up than especially women in countries where cycling is more prominent.

I know this is posted by a women, but I find this completely bizarre. Who expects women to wear make up, never mind a certain amount of it?

meeeeh

Hurrache wrote: »

I know this is posted by a women, but I find this completely bizarre. Who expects women to wear make up, never mind a certain amount of it?

Irish women wear way more make up than women in a lot of continental countries. There will be some companies which will advise on make up but even without that it's one of those things that it's just done.

Mickiemcfist

voluntary wrote: »

Then you finaly decide to get on that bike regardless of the uncomfortable weather, just to realize every cycle is basically a fight for your life, so unless we have safe cycle paths then majority of regular people won't ever bother. It's simply too dangerous.

Yea I took up cycling to work because there's a cycle lane the entire way in, I wouldn't have otherwise. Now I'd cycle anywhere, but starting out - the segregated cycle path was a lot less daunting.

Hurrache

meeeeh wrote: »

Irish women wear way more make up than women in a lot of continental countries. There will be some companies which will advise on make up but even without that it's one of those things that it's just done.

Very odd, maybe it's related to your career path or something but it's not something my wife or I ever encountered outside of aviation/some retail/customer facing.

meeeeh

Hurrache wrote: »

Very odd, maybe it's related to your career path or something but it's not something my wife or I ever encountered outside of aviation/some retail/customer facing.

I think you are not getting what I'm trying to say. I'm not claiming Irish women are oppressed into wearing more make up but if you live in a country where majority wear make (or more make up than in othee countries) you will a lot more likely wear make up. And I can guarantee you that many women would rather ditch the cycling than not use make up especially when raining. (I'm not being judgemental because clothing and make up are among the reasons why you won't see me cycling to work).

silverharp

does twitter count as Journalism :pac:

https://twitter.com/SafeCyclingEire/status/1137780548603142144

Rechuchote

hesker wrote: »

Don’t need to spend millions on infrastructure where a bit of periodic law enforcement would solve 99% of my issues.

As they say in Tipp, I'll be waitin'…

voluntary wrote: »

No money can buy more sunny days and less rain/wind. If you cycle to work on a nice morning you never know if you will cycle back home on a nice evening as well. And then, how many nice morning do we enjoy?

Then you finaly decide to get on that bike regardless of the uncomfortable weather, just to realize every cycle is basically a fight for your life, so unless we have safe cycle paths then majority of regular people won't ever bother. It's simply too dangerous.

This is an attitude that stems from the notion that Ireland is particularly rainy. The west may be rainier, but in Dublin anyway, there are few days in the year that have heavy rain.

07Lapierre

meeeeh wrote: »

I think you are not getting what I'm trying to say. I'm not claiming Irish women are oppressed into wearing more make up but if you live in a country where majority wear make (or more make up than in othee countries) you will a lot more likely wear make up. And I can guarantee you that many women would rather ditch the cycling than not use make up especially when raining. (I'm not being judgemental because clothing and make up are among the reasons why you won't see me cycling to work).

Totally understand this. I think better cycling infrastructure would go a long way to getting more people to cycle. Also, having to wear cycling specific clothing, helmets etc. is a big disincentive to a lot of people.

Have a look at this video. it shows people (as opposed to "Cyclists") using bikes to get from A to B, as it's the most convenient and easiest option.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpi01x_DgDY