'Helmet hair' fears put women off cycling - survey

Women are three times less likely to cycle than men because they are put off by "helmet hair" and getting sweaty, a survey said today.

Despite the golden heroics in Beijing by the British female cycling team, 64% of women said they never cycle, according to an online survey commissioned by Cycling England.

Citing the reasons for avoiding cycling, 58% said they would not want to arrive at work sweaty, and one in four (27 per cent) were too worried about helmets ruining their hair to risk a ride in the saddle.

Almost one in five (19%) of women even said they could not risk colleagues catching them without their make-up on.

And the miserable British summers might also be putting off the 50% of women who said they will not cycle for fear of getting wet in the rain.

Women were also concerned about safety with 53% citing it as an issue, and 42% said they lacked confidence in their own road skills to navigate the UK's congested roads.

Only 2% of women said they cycled everyday.

But Cycling England blamed women's "perceived affect of cycling on appearance" for their lack of enthusiasm for pedal power.

In fact, women were three times more likely to cycle indoors on exercise bikes than outdoors on the open road.

However, the survey results might surprise British cycling pursuit gold medalist Rebecca Romero who proved cycling can be glamorous by posing nude in a recent advert for a sports energy drink.

Fellow Olympic cycling gold medalist Victoria Pendleton also cast aside her clothes for a cheeky cover shoot for the Observer Sports Monthly magazine.

Glamorous celebrities, like Agnes Deyn and Elle Macpherson, have been snapped in the saddle recently; but even the fashionistas have failed to awaken a high-street passion for tight, luminous Lycra.

Phillip Darnton, chairman of Cycling England, said: "It's very worrying that we have such a gender imbalance when it comes to cycling in this country.

"Women, and in particular mums, have a key role to play in encouraging greater take up of cycling in general - so it's vital we get more women on their bikes."

Keen-cyclist Emma Osborne, from Exeter, is running a campaign called Beauty and the Bike to encourage more women to take up cycling.

She said: "Cycling from A to B doesn't have to mean you arrive dishevelled at your destination. You can take it at your own pace without having to work up a sweat or don Lycra cycling wear.

"Women who cycle regularly look and feel great, and with increasing numbers of celebrity female cyclists looking chic on a bike, we hope more women will feel inspired to take to their bike."

Cycling England was established in 2005 by the Department for Transport to encourage more people to cycle.

Research was conducted by YouGov, who interviewed 1,099 women online between August 11-13, 2008