Urban cycling has become a major part in the city of Bengaluru where you can spot many male cyclists who have made cycling a part of their daily routine. In contrast to that very rarely would you see women cyclists on the road or even on cycling tours. We speak to a few cyclists to find out what is the reason behind this. Shailaja Parthasarathy, a radiologist who has been cycling for the past 5 years says that “I am doing a cycling tour at the Nilgiris next week and I was shocked to see only 6-7 women taking part in the tour. I expected at least 50.”
“The reason is that many women would not have the time to take out a few days to do a multi-day tour. Another reason is the safety of women cycling on these highways. It is a bit dicey being a woman and riding on the highway. No one wants to take that risk,” she says. Cycling every day can be quite a task but not for Parth Sarthy, a business developer who believes that, “Cycling makes you highly alert an as individual”. Partha cycles to work every day and covers about 34 kilometeres back and forth. He says that, “Safety in all forms is a huge concern for women or even for anyone else to be cycling on the road. The smallest vehicles are the ones who have to be careful amongst everyone else.”
He adds further and says, “Cyclists are usually not given much respect on the road. There are many eve teasers out there, who might say a few things if they see women cycle on the road.” But, now with more projects coming along the way to help cyclists get their own path to ride on. Many women are now excited to start cycling on the road. Partha says, “I spoke to some women in my society about this new project called the ‘Trin-Trin’ project which is collaborated by a start-up and BBMP. It ensures to create almost 80 kilometers of a path for the cyclists. And the responses I got from the ladies were quite positive and they said that they would love to start riding on the road after this”.
Whereas, there are some cyclists who are afraid to cycle on a daily basis is because of the lack of cycle repair shops in the city. We hear from Surbhi Gomes, a writer who cycles to work every Sunday. She tells us that, “I think the main reason I would not cycle, even though I cycle to work every Sunday, would be because of the lack of places to fix something as simple as a puncture.” She explains further and says, “One Sunday, I had a puncture and in these new age cycles, one has to change the whole tube, instead of like the olden days where you could patch it, which was also more eco-friendly. I didn’t find a puncture shop but found a friendly auto driver who took me to the only shop there. Most bike shops had sent us away, so in situations like this, many would prefer not to cycle. Of course, night cycling along in this city is a no-no, and there are no cycle friendly paths, so it’s a stretch.”
Could it also be a mental block that women have about performing any kind of sport in general? A Psychiatrist, Belinda Viegas Mueller who is also a passionate cyclist tells us that, “Cycling requires a lot of technical expertise that women are generally not into. There’s also this set mentality that many women have after getting married they can’t exercise anymore. A lot of my clients who I recommend to cycle and exercise say things like ‘Doctor, at my age’, when they’re actually half my age.”
