Tag: cycling

It didn’t take long for me to log my first observation of the new academic year. I was out taking a bike ride and all of a sudden a 2 seated bicycle and its passengers passed me going the other way. I’ve seen many of these bikes over the years, but today for some reason I noticed something different. Those of you who’ve been reading this blog might find this ironic, but today I noticed that when 2 people ride a 2-seater….the woman is ALWAYS riding behind the man (see picture). When I noticed this today, I shuffled back through past bikers and thought…I don’t recall ever seeing the woman riding first, and a man riding behind. I’ve seen 2 women, 2 men, an adult/child…but when the twosome is man/woman, the woman is always riding second. Is there some kind of physics, momentum, safety, or scientific explanation that I’m not aware of, that dictates why the woman rides in the second seat? Please enlighten me, I’ve never ridden one of these bikes, so perhaps I’m missing something? It appears to me as another inane example of outdated, status quo gender roles which place men in the forefront and women following behind and not in charge of steering their own destinies. The analogies and metaphors are endless…..