Bloor Street bike lanes, Bad Girls Bike Club attracting female cyclists

Toronto cyclists are already callingthe Bloor Street bike lanesa "game changer," and some are hoping the lanes will get more female cyclists out on the streets.

City of Toronto statistics from 2010 showed that women made up just 38 per cent of cyclists in the city, while the others were men.

• Streetcar tracks major cause of serious downtown cycling crashes
• Female cyclists have lower hospitalization rates, study finds

YvonneBambrick, a cycling advocate and theauthor ofThe Urban CyclingSurvival Guide, told CBC Newsshe believes those numbers are balancing out these days and said building more bike lanesis helping.

"To see really well built infrastructure on a treacherous road is a really important step forward for the city," saidBambrick, who tested Bloor Street'slanes this week.

Studies have shown women cyclemore safely than men.Ajoint study from the University of Toronto and the UniversityofBritish Columbia released last year found that of the 3,690 annual hospitalizations for bicycling injuries among youths and adults, 76 per cent were men.

The study'sauthors believe the striking difference is due to female cyclists taking fewerchances on the road and opting to take safer routes for example, streets with designated bike lanes like Richmond and Adelaide.

Enter, the The Bad Girls Bike Club.

FriendsClaire McFarlaneLavinia Tanzim launched the club with the goal of creating a community of female cyclists.

McFarlane said when she started riding in the city sherarely strayed from the designated lanes, but now she bikes everywhere.

"It can be intimidating ... but once you get out there and know the rules of the road and you're paying attention it's really not that bad,"she toldCBC Radio'sHere and Now.

Group offers guided rides

There's fair reason to be scared. Cyclists have been involved in several crashes in this city this summer, including at leastone that proved fatal. And not all those crashes involve cars, SUVs,trucks or other motorized vehicles, as an estimated one third are attributed to bike wheels getting caught in streetcar tracks.

Bad Girls Bike Club is hoping to reducesome womens'fear of cycling in Torontoby guiding newer female riders recruited via Facebookaround the city. They also run workshops on bike maintenance and other key skills after the rides.

McFarlanesaid there are major bonuses to biking in Toronto.

"It's the most inexpensive and efficient way to travel around the city," she said.

"It's totally doable."

McFarlanesaid she's planning on incorporating the Bloor Street bike lane into an upcoming ride.

Bambrick said riding with an experienced friend is a great way to get comfortable in the city. She also recommends sticking to quieter streets while getting started, or riding on weekends when there's less traffic.