Last Sunday, a group of us from Women on Wheels rode up to Vancouver, WA to support the first Open Streets event in that city. It was a beautiful day for a ride, sunny and 80 degrees, and a fun way to spend the better part of a weekend afternoon. While it might seem like nothing more than a handful of friends getting together for an enjoyable activity, I was reminded many times throughout the day why it’s important to ride with other women.
We had a variety of riding styles in our group. Some women used to riding distances at speed wanted to go ahead of the group, zip through the Open Streets route, and return to Portland. We had some newbies venturing out with us for the first time. On our short-ish route (it was about 15 miles for the round trip) we encountered a variety of bike terrain. A busy higher speed road on MLK with lots of bumpy pavement and a bike lane. A crazy, circular but completely separate and well-signed multi use path near the I-5 Bridge. A very narrow and long sidewalk across the I-5 Bridge into Vancouver. Quiet, wide, calm residential streets on the Open Streets route in Vancouver. Barely visible signage on a very confusing and busy intersection at the base of Interstate near Delta Park in Portland.
My confidence level goes up the more I become familiar with the bike infrastructure in the city. Even though there are some really good bike maps available, there is no substitute for real life encounters with various riding conditions. Yes, there is a bike lane on MLK but I still don’t want to ride on that road. Ever. Cars are moving way too fast for my comfort level and there is too much debris in the bike lane for me to feel like it’s a good choice. Knowing this helps me plan routes that will work for me.
On the return trip from Vancouver, we took an alternate route through Delta Park and then onto Interstate and Denver. This was a much more pleasant route and one I would opt for on future rides to Vancouver. The biggest challenge was coming out of Delta Park and not seeing any obvious bike signage or markings that would lead a rider to the next bike-friendly connector. Fortunately, one member of our group was able to spot something that looked promising and it turned out to be what we needed to connect up to Interstate.
The way we navigate through anything, bike routes included, is very personal. My comfort level is my comfort level, not someone else’s. Women’s riding groups are often safe spaces to talk about the things that concern us as riders. At the Women’s Bike Summit in Washington, DC last March, a woman told me she’d felt very vulnerable stopped at a red light on her bike late at night in DC. Despite the wide open streets and the really good visibility, I could relate to her feeling. Maybe if I was a fast rider I wouldn’t feel that way. Or if I had a really good way to defend myself. I voiced a similar concern recently in a co-ed riding group about how I don’t feel safe on the Esplanade at night which was met by a sheepish reply from a male rider. There’s just a gap there, despite good intentions to understand. This is why I advocate so strongly for maps and mapping tools that show bike infrastructure based on comfort level ratings, not just simply where the bike lanes and sharrows are. I would even advocate for a rating system that marks certain routes as “kid friendly” (when they are on greenways with no major crossings) and “women preferred” or something like that when they’re well lit at night and/or have a lot of bikers and pedestrians on them. But that’s just me.
Women riding routes together makes me aware of what other women struggle with in terms of biking, especially what types of things present as barriers. It makes me take note about what we need to advocate for. More obvious signage. Lighting. Accessible bike racks on the MAX. Getting more women to ride is the most important part of making biking better for women who already do ride. It will take a lot of voices asking for the types of bike improvements that women especially want to see.