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Bicycling through the life course: the start-stop-start experiences of women cycling (Australia)

This research paper by Jennifer Bonham and Anne Wilson from the University of Adelaide was published online in the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation in October 2011. The paper reports on a qualitative study into Australian women's experiences of cycling through their life course. It focuses on the circumstances in which women start and stop cycling and the spatial contexts in which this occurs. 

Forty nine women participated in the study. The study found that all respondents learned to cycle between the ages of 5 and 12 and most stopped in the early years of secondary school. Almost two thirds of the respondents had returned to cycling several times through the life course. Women took up or gave up cycling through a conjunction of circumstances but women in their early 20s emphasised the importance of social relationships in taking up cycling and women in their late 30s (and older) focused on health and fitness. Becoming mothers or grandmothers was given as a reason for starting, but also for stopping cycling. Moving house, changing jobs or changes in personal relationships also led to changes in cycling. As a small scale study, the findings of the research are limited but it does suggest productive new ways of thinking about and researching everyday mobility. Rather than assuming a linear view of everyday mobility – i.e. that people tend to walk/cycle as children then catch public transport/drive as adults – this study suggests that women are quite open to incorporating bicycling for transport (mixed with other purposes) into their lives at different times according to their circumstances.

Link to article in the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation (Volume 6, Issue 4, 2012)

Link to full article in academia.edu