Donna Savigni wanted to ride her bike to work when she moved to Canberra last year.
But she didn't want to ride on the roads.
It wasn't until she went on a social ride with Canberra by Bike that someone mapped out a route for her using the city's bike paths.
But if there were no bike-only lanes on her way to work, she said she wouldn't be cycling.
"I don't like the roads. I know what it's like when you're a driver, sometimes you just can't see," Ms Savigni said.
"I wouldn't be riding to work if I had to ride on the roads, especially these kinds of roads.
"They're not great roads. I always thought our roads [in Western Australia] were shit, but they're really crap. There's potholes, they're too narrow."
Only one in three cyclists are women, study says
She's not the only one.
A 2023 Australian study found that more than 60 per cent of women did not want to ride on roads because of motor vehicle traffic.
Women were also more likely than men to be concerned about getting injured while riding on the road (59 per cent compared to 43 per cent) and more wary of aggressive behavior from drivers (55 per cent compared to 44 per cent).
The researchers from Monash University concluded that lack of supportive infrastructure, such as bike paths or protected lanes, was the biggest deterrent to women riders.
Director of Pedal Power Simon Copland said riding on the road was a challenge for many cyclists in Canberra.
"We know that a lot of people don't feel comfortable riding on the road, particularly on those bigger, more direct routes that are often faster," he said.
"We understand that lots of people don't feel comfortable doing so and so people riding bikes have the right to also use the footpaths.
"Bike riders have all of the same rights to use the road as people driving cars, and that includes having to follow the same road rules."
Mr Copland said that many people don't realise that bike riders have the same rights to use the road as cars.
He believes protected bike paths, which are separated from the road by a barrier, are crucial to keeping riders safe.
"We have lots of missing links where that's not the case and that stops people from getting on bikes," he said.
Paths too dark to be safe
Bike lanes and roads aren't the only obstacle to women wanting to ride. Ms Savigni said the lack of street lighting at night discourages her from cycling.
The marshland she cycles through to get to work has no lights at all, and so she tries to only ride in well-lit areas like Kingston at night.
It's a fear familiar to many women - being alone in public, at night, in the dark.
"I think I would feel differently if I was a man. Being of my age, we've been brought up to not be isolated in case someone gets you," Ms Savigni said.
"So if you go somewhere alone, you feel nervous. You walk with your keys between your hands.
"[Going through the wetlands] I have to leave work by five o'clock otherwise it's dark and scary."
Two cyclists killed already this year on ACT roads
The safety of cyclists on Canberra's roads came into the spotlight in March when Alicia Celaya Jauregui was killed while cycling on Lady Denman Drive.
The 18-year-old driver who crashed into her was allegedly speeding, and on the wrong side of the road.
Ms Savigni was in the same tennis club as Ms Jauregui.
"She'd be there for about ten weeks, she was so sweet and so lovely. I went to her memorial and everyone said what a beautiful person she was and how she was throwing herself into life in Canberra," Ms Savigni said.
"And she wasn't doing anything wrong, it was just somebody on the roads."
"You can be right, but you don't want to be right and dead."
