Someone in Seattle took it upon themselves to add a little personal flair to a bike lane marking recently. I saw this stencil modification while riding up the south-bound side of Dexter Ave N near Fremont. Clearly they’re trying to even out bicycling’s gender gap. Male bicycle road markings DO outnumber female bicycle road markings by thousands, perhaps even millions worldwide.
Posted in Advocacy, Art, Everything Else
Tagged seattle bicycle, seattle bike lanes, women and cycling, women bicycling gender gap
Alfonsina Strada
Though today’s major European stage races like the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France are about as difficult as any form of bike racing, their early incarnations were brutal beasts in ways the modern races are not. Racers would set out for 300km stages over unpaved roads on single speed bikes with little if any organized support along the way. Winning was as much about surviving as anything and the winner would often finish hours ahead of the lanterne rouge. Simply completing these races was an impressive feat. To do so as the only woman in history to race in any of the three Grand Tours elevates Alfonsina Strada to “serious bad ass” status.
Adventure Journal posted a link to the Wikipedia entry on Strada last week. She was a dedicated racer in early 20th-century Italy known for winning nearly every race she entered against women and many of those against men. Her reputation once earned her an invitation to race the Russian Grand Prix. Thanks to some clerical slight-of-hand, Strada was able to enter to enter the 1924 Giro d’Italia.
Arleigh racing cyclocross in North Carolina.
Arleigh Jenkins, known to some as the Bike Shop Girl, worked in the bike industry for over a decade. From shop rat to manager to wrench on the pro mountain bike circuit, she’s had a hand in nearly every aspect of the cycling world. She’s since moved on from the bike industry, but Arleigh’s used her knowledge to help cyclists empower themselves, first through CommuteByBike.com and more recently BikeShopGirl.com. I spoke to Arleigh about the barriers women (and everyone) sometimes face in cycling, the need for independent bike shops to evolve, and her struggle to get back into the saddle after being hit by a car.