S.P.L.A.I.N. 2021 Survey

What is it like navigating cycling in Seattle if you are outside cisgender masculinity? Please add to conversation, share your experience, and make the community safer.

Take the 2021 S.P.L.A.I.N. Survey

Two years ago I conducted a survey of trans, transgender, two-spirit, women, intersex, non-binary, femme, genderqueer, and gender nonconforming cyclists on Duwamish territory now known as Seattle to understand the cultural climate of bike shops. I chose to survey bike shops because they are discrete and are usually the place where many people begin their cycling journey. I was teaching a class on an introduction to bike touring and got nervous for my students. I have had really negative and clearly misogynist experiences in bike shops. What if they were to pick a shop that is not culturally competent, or actively exclusionary, they may end up abandoning cycling altogether because of a bad interaction or experience?

The 2019 survey had about 90 responses and generated a lot of thoughtful discussion in the bike community, and I believe woke some shop owners up to the need for more cultural competency across the board. I thought that a biennial survey would be a good rhythm based on the natural frequency with which many people visit bike shops. One year felt like too soon since many people don’t go to shops that many times in a year. Since 2019, I have updated the survey to reflect shop closures and included a section to collect demographic information which should inform a more robust analysis.

You can read about the 2019 survey and methods here!