Initial results from an online women-only survey show that an incredible 90% of respondents rank health as the number one reason why they choose to cycle.
The survey, created by the Wisconsin based Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals and distributed through social networking sites, has already attracted 7,300 respondents and till has until 15 May to run
Women ranked ‘to be in the outdoors’ as the second most important for cycling (88% of respondents saying it came in second on the list of reasons).
The APBP published a wideranging set of interim results which make interesting reading
Respondents’ top 5 reasons for cycling
- 90% - It’s great exercise and keeps me in shape
- 88% - I enjoy being in the outdoors
- 73% -Bicycling reduces my stress
- 72% - It saves me money
- 70% - It’s very green and I’m doing my bit
Other results
- 59% of respondents use their bikes for some of their daily trips
- 44% had freedom to ride alone from the age of 7-10 years
- 1,114 of participants, some 15%, do not have a car
- 11% percent of all participants are riding more than 80 miles per week during the summer months when the weather is good.
However, research from Sustrans in the UK has shown that women are less likely to cycle than men and that a staggering 79% of women in the UK don’t cycle at all.
Lack of female cyclists at the competitive level too appears to be a problem. In February, British Cycling launched an online survey in response to the fact that, although participation in cycling has increased at an unprecedented level over the past months, female participation has decreased. They say that the level of female participation in cycling is a significant 17% lower than female participation in all other sports.