Steriotype - Skinny wearing lycra

Okay one of the things that drives me nut is stereotypes. Stereotypes is an easy way to simplify the world. While there is always some truth to them the truth is always the minority not the majority of what it is trying to describe.

While doing my morning reading over breakfast I stumbled upon THIS on the excellent blog "a view from the cyclepath". To most cyclists horror the new mayor of Toronto is viciously anti-cycling to the point where he is currently removing some bike lanes that the previous mayor had installed. Part way through the footage in the link the mayor complains about receiving emails from angry cyclists calling him fat. There is no doubt that the Mayor would be classified as morbidly obese (bmi greater then 35). But I wonder is the mayors hatred towards cyclists based around a stereotype he has of cyclists.

The stereotype of cyclists in Brisbane is this

• male
• 18 - 50
• wears lycra
• pencil thin.
• Rides a road bike

Well Lets break some of these with just me.

• Yes I am male but there is no way I am changing that fact
• Yes I am in my 20s but that is not my fault
• I do not wear Lycra. I find the idea of changing my dress just to ride somewhere ridiculous
• I am not pencil thin. My BMI sits at 24.5 currently. Healthy is 18 - 25. Only the fact I do weights is BMI altered.
• I do not ride a road bike

So with just me 3 out of the 5 do not apply

Now for general

According to counts that a friend has done on the Bicentennial & South East Bikeways it is true males still outnumber females 4 to 1. This figure also has alot to do with safety and a well accepted fact that routes must be safe and/or perceived safe for females to ride at the same rate as males.

Age well this one is also true but this is more based around the fact that this is the working age. The majority of people in cars getting to work is also between 18 - 50.

Wearing Lycra generally goes with the bike you ride but more and more people are riding in everyday clothes as they start to ride bike other than road bikes. Lycra I feel is more about a perception that if you ride a bike you must have that extra padding in the seat of your pants.

I have to say I see all shapes on bikes. There is a few really big blokes that pass me. Some have extra fat and some have extra muscle. Either way they are in no sense of the word stick insects.

According to the counts when combined it is pretty even between road and other bikes coming in during the morning peak hour.

As you can see that while there is some truth the stereotype, it does not hold true for the majority.