Cycling in SYDNEY

Sydney roads are not exactly ideal for cycling, but that hasn't stopped me riding for the last 2 years.

I live in the Northern Beaches. There are not many bikelanes/bikepaths, the traffic can get busy at times & it has a tendacy to be hilly. But I love cycling anyway - I'm only 7.5Km from Manly (which is a great place to spend an afternoon). There are also some good hill climbs in the nearby Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.

Your idea of Kensington sounds alright. The area is very close to Centennial Park. The Park has wide bike lanes & allows for stress-free riding. Alot of cyclist do their training there. You'd also be very close to the city. There is a shared pathway following Alison Road/Anzac Parade & there are a few side roads you could use - so the ride into the city shouldn't be too bad. I'd keep of the major roads if possible, the traffic can get quite heavy in the inner city.

Being near a train line would come in handy. The northern beaches lack a train service, and we're limited to buses & the Manly Ferry - not the best.

Anyway, you're more than welcome up our way. We need more "regular" cyclists on our roads, there's not much of us as it is.

Happy Riding

Hi

Just a warning, Kensington is NOT really near to a railway station. It is about 2.5km (as the crow flies) to Green Square Station (from UNSW).

Even then, that entire line is full of premium stations (privately owned) where you need to pay several dollars more as an access fee - on top of your regular fare. Total rip off.

Also, if you're looking for hills, Kensington is probably not your cup of tea. If you're looking for a flat training track - you'll love Centennial Park (next suburb).

If you want hills, you're best bet would be Northern Beaches, North Shore, Hornsby, Kur-ing-gai or Ryde council areas areas.

If you're looking for social rides (from dead easy to pretty damn hard) then have a look at.

www.bikenorth.org.au

Scotty

Kylie-Anne said:

Hi,

I am moving to Sydney in a month. I want to move somewhere that is good for cycling. What I mean by good is hills, reasonable roads to ride on (however that works for Sydney I really don't know). Any feedback will be appreciated. We have a reasonable price range for rent so please throw up any options. ATM we are looking Kensington just because it is between the Sydney and Airport and on a rail line. However, is it good for cycling? Or would the north be better?

kylie

Kylie-Anne said:

Hi,

I am moving to Sydney in a month. I want to move somewhere that is good for cycling. What I mean by good is hills, reasonable roads to ride on (however that works for Sydney I really don't know). Any feedback will be appreciated. We have a reasonable price range for rent so please throw up any options. ATM we are looking Kensington just because it is between the Sydney and Airport and on a rail line. However, is it good for cycling? Or would the north be better?

kylie

check out sutherland shire. Particularly Cronulla.
best roads for cycling in Sydney for sure. close to the royal national park, can ride to wollongong, or Kurnell. There is a world class triathlon club there, a good cycling club in Sutherland Cycling Club. There are beaches here, there is a train line with a direct line to Sydney CBD. Everything you need is there. Big shopping centre at Miranda.

Kylie, where in Melbourne do you live? Might give people a better idea of what sort of areas of Sydney to recommend.

MPCRUSHER said:

check out sutherland shire. Particularly Cronulla.
best roads for cycling in Sydney for sure. close to the royal national park, can ride to wollongong, or Kurnell. There is a world class triathlon club there, a good cycling club in Sutherland Cycling Club. There are beaches here, there is a train line with a direct line to Sydney CBD. Everything you need is there. Big shopping centre at Miranda.

We ride through Kensington regularly and it seems like a nice suburb. Close to lots of cafes and places to eat. If you want hills, there are plenty around the eastern suburbs or you could ride over the bridge and head to Balmoral, Manly or Narabeen depending on how far you want to go. Plenty of rides down south to waterfall.
People from the shire tend to be a bit insulated from the rest of the world. It's their own little world.

Sydney isn't like Melbourne to cycle. The traffic is much more unforgiving however if you ride defensively and think parallel universe it can be a great place.

Cheers

Geoff

I live in Surry Hills [inner city] and it's a snip across Moore Park to Centennial for a 6am ride - a Nice cruise to La Perouse and lots of local rides / clubs. Sydney City/ Randwick Botany and informal rides like Bar Coluzzi.

Sutherland is definitely the best for riding as riding - but not close to the city.

Northern beaches is also cool - but I am not a really Suburban guy - cycling goes along side walking to a dozen cafes, 100 restaurants in my Suburb, 400m walk to a Swans home game and walking / biking distance to the CBD.

So I personally like the inner east. There are hills is you want them. Nature I can visit on the weekend. :-)

Oh, and Sydney drivers are all angry sociopaths.

Kylie-Anne said:

Hi,

I am moving to Sydney in a month. I want to move somewhere that is good for cycling. What I mean by good is hills, reasonable roads to ride on (however that works for Sydney I really don't know). Any feedback will be appreciated. We have a reasonable price range for rent so please throw up any options. ATM we are looking Kensington just because it is between the Sydney and Airport and on a rail line. However, is it good for cycling? Or would the north be better?

kylie

north of parramatta river tends to be hilly

you really should consider where you are working before deciding on where to live

plenty of hills up in hornsby, plenty of hills down sutherland way... take you pick

i find my area hilly.... ryde/eastwood area... compared to inner city or parra area

Kylie-Anne said:

Hi,

I am moving to Sydney in a month. I want to move somewhere that is good for cycling. What I mean by good is hills, reasonable roads to ride on (however that works for Sydney I really don't know). Any feedback will be appreciated. We have a reasonable price range for rent so please throw up any options. ATM we are looking Kensington just because it is between the Sydney and Airport and on a rail line. However, is it good for cycling? Or would the north be better?

kylie

Hi Kylie-Anne, what kind of riding do you do? Do you ride the packs on the weekend? Where will you be working?

On Sundays, there is a large (by Sydney standards) number of riders in various groups that mainly start in Centennial Park and ride south to Waterfall and back. They (including me) ride on busy roads, but the packs consume the left lane, providing safety. The route has some hills and if you want real hills, some riders turn off at Waterfall into Royal National Park and reappear at Loftus. Check out some Sydney maps for an explanation of these rides. Also within reasonable distance from Keningston is Heffron park where citerian races are conducted on Saturday afternoons and Tempe velodrome, where there is track training on Monday and Wednesday night.

try out

glebe -
for closeness to the city
cycling for hills - little but not many
lots of cycling tourist routes

cronulla -
for beaches
not many cycle lanes
high speed roads so if your unsure of topography might not be your cup of tea
can be hilly

manly and Northern beaches -
???????

parramatta -
close to trnsport by trains
suffers from having no other viable form of transport other than car
some cycleways
keep off main and major roads - lots of blackspots out the western way

where in melbs did you use to live i was in lilydale

pixelmill said:

...Oh, and Sydney drivers are all angry sociopaths....

I are not!!!

But seriously, that generalisation has some merit. The roads around Sydney aren't particularly suited to cycling, so it's pedal to the metal to try an keep up with the flow if you use major arterial roads. If you don't fit into the flow drivers will soon let you know via horn or intimidatory driving tactics.

But if you can integrate with traffic then you won't have any problems, save for the odd w.anker that has a gripe against cyclists being on the road.

actually Jock that's probably a better way to put it. sydney has about 12cm at the edge of the road, usually where people fling open car doors, for cyclists to ride. I find people get impatient trying to "go around" cyclists - and you usually see then at the next red light.