On a sunny summer morning in 2008, there was a Bike To Work Day breakfast put on by the local council. In the sea of commuting cyclists in Wellington’s Civic Square, a handful of women caught each other’s eye – they stood out as unusual in the crowd.
They weren’t men, and weren’t wearing high-vis, lycra or mountain-biking gear! No, they were wearing what they wanted to wear at work that day. Dress shorts, some trousers, a skirt, and one was in a dress.
“Why are there so few of us?” they wondered. “We’re pretty normal ladies, and we enjoy everyday convenience, freedom and even fun getting from A to B on a bike. Why aren’t more women doing this?”
They swapped numbers, kept in touch and did a bit of research.
News flash: Women are different from men! There are particular barriers that keep most Kiwi women from jumping on a bike, and some stem from New Zealand’s contemporary “cycle culture”. Traditional cycle advocacy isn’t reaching most “non cyclist” women, and they don’t feel bikes are an option for their day-to-day transport.
They Wellington founders called this new thing “Frocks On Bikes” because a frock is the antithesis of what Kiwis tend to think of as “cycle wear”. It’s a great symbol for this new attitude to transport: regular, stylish women choosing bikes as one of the ways we get around everyday.
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Frocks On Bikes’ focus is getting more women cycling in everyday life, as a means to all the great benefits.
Frocks believes in “show, not tell” to change people’s attitudes: being seen on the roads riding bikes in everyday life and dressed like “regular” people is steadily mainstreaming and normalising cycling as transport.