WellBeing’s Guide to Sydney’s Best Bike Rides for Natural Weight-loss and Holistic Fitness

Sydney’s cycle path network is best described as fragmentary – surprising in a city where over 50% of residents are obese and over 60% wish to achieve weight-loss goals! Each council builds a new fragment of cycle path whenever there is some development money to do so, so cyclists end up hopping from cycle path to road to footpath in a constant on/off game. There are plans to improve, such as the NSW Government’s Bike Plan 2010 and Sydney City Council’s 200km scheme – and these will be a boon for beginner riders. If you are starting out in bike riding with a weight-loss, stress relief or fitness goal, then keep at it – avoiding traffic and finding paths does become easier with fitness and confidence.

Another recommendation from the WellBeing bike riding community – join Bicycle NSW, or your local Bike Users group (BUG). In addition to lobbying for cyclists, Bicycle NSW puts on hundreds of organised rides each year which is a great way to learn the trails and ride with the company of other members of your community. Also, it is ESSENTIAL to get copies of the RTA maps (available free in most cycle shops) and to get to know the signs so you’re not always stopping to navigate. White bikes painted on the ground or blue on white signs tell you where to go on each of the trails below unless there’s a special link for a map. Navigation is required for all of these.

Natural Weight-loss Experience #7 - Centennial and Sydney Park Weight-loss Cycle Route

Length: 12km

Why? An easy flat one to get your holistic fitness regime started, mostly on sealed road or cycle path

Start: Bondi Junction Station

Finish: St Peters Station

Centennial Park is a short cruise from Bondi Junction Station via Oxford St and is one of Sydney’s original best cycling destinations. Once you’ve done a lap (or two) take the Cleveland St exit and head west crossing South Dowling St then on to Zamia, Young and the arty Danks St. This is a great route to the west and helps avoid busy streets. Go down Morehead and then Wellington, Buckland and Mitchell which will get you to Sydney Park. Aside from an old brickworks and the well-known 3 chimneys, Sydney Park has several hills which provide great views of the city and the West. St Peters Station is across the Princes Hwy from the park.

Natural Weight-loss Experience #8 - Cooks River Cycleway

Length: 20km

Why? Almost all-cycle trail – more weight-loss, less navigation

Start: Tempe Station

Finish: Sydney Olympic Park Station

From Tempe, the route is mostly cycle path along the Cooks River which, although a muddy canal for most of the way, still provides a chance to cruise through some beautiful parkland. There is some riding on quiet suburban streets through Strathfield and Homebush but keep your eye on the bike signs and you’ll rejoin the cycleway as you enter Sydney Olympic Park.

Natural Weight-loss Experience #9 - Sydney Olympic Park Cycleway

Length: 24km of trails, plus extra road cycleways

Why? Easy-peasy flat, you-own-the-road ride

Start at Olympic Park Station or Ferry Wharf and explore up The River Walk and back, along Louise Sauvage Pathway and through the Olympic Stadium precinct itself. You will also come across circular look-out points designed especially for cyclists who want to increase their hill fitness by gradually riding up to the top on spiral roads – very thoughtful and great for natural weight-loss. For maps, go to www.sydneyolympicpark.nsw.gov.au

Natural Weight-loss Experience #10 - Salt Pan Creek

Length: 22km

Why? Short, sweet, easy, mostly cycleway, and some good authentic Vietnamese food on Chapel Road South in Bankstown

Start: Bankstown Station

Finish: Como Station

Follow the old town centre plaza to Bankstown Memorial Park and cross Macauley Ave to Ruse Park where the cycle trail begins. The trail is well sign-posted to Padstow where you use Henry Lawson Drive to get into Peakhurst. Follow the signs through Peakhurst Heights and then drop from Beatty St back into Parkland around Oatley. From here, climb back up to Oatley itself and take the Oatley Como Cycleway over Como Bridge to the station. Includes some nice hills for natural weight-loss efforts.

Natural Weight-loss Experience #11 - Bobbin Head

Length: 26km

Why? This one is totally for fitness and weight-loss, plus you go through one of Sydney’s most beautiful National Parks

Start & Finish: Turramurra Station

The large Northside cycling community can be seen out in force on this route which is loved as much as hated for its big steep climb in the middle. From Turramurra, head down Turramurra Ave and Brentwood to Bobbin Head Rd. This will lead you through the National Park entrance down to the waters of Bobbin Head. From here it is a slow steep climb back up over the freeway and to Mt Colah Station. From there it is a fairly flat suburban ride through Hornsby and Waitara back to Turramurra.

Natural Weight-loss Experience #12 - Prospect Reservoir & Waterways Cycleway

Length: 38km

Why? Possibly not the prettiest, but a good place to get some weight-loss happening on uninterrupted pure cycleway kilometres. Also, good views in parts.

Start & Finish: Fairfield Station

Initially you follow the Parramatta-Liverpool Rail Trail to Canley Vale where you drop by Green Valley Creek. Follow the cycleway up to Orphan School Creek and across Cowpasture Rd to the Western Sydney Regional Park which offers some nice hills and pure uninterrupted cycle path along the Water Supply Channel to Prospect Reservoir. From here the cycleway is well sign-posted through suburbia and some bushland back to Guildford and the Parramatta-Liverpool Rail Trail.

Natural Weight-loss Experience #13 - Tempe to Captain Cooks Landing Place in Kurnell Cycleway

Length: 47km

Why? Cycleway and some (fairly quiet) road. Stunning beach and views. Take swimmers and make it a day. Burn some calories for your weight-loss goals on the ride up to Kurnell.

Start: Tempe Station

Finish: Cronulla Station

From Tempe follow the signs around Sydney Airport to Brighton-le-Sands cycle path. Here you ride right along the beach so bring swimmers for a bonus dip. The ride takes you over the Captain Cook Bridge at Taren Point and through a small industrial area before joining Captain Cook Drive out to Kurnell. The drive is a nice slow ascent – great for weight-loss – which arrives at a place of spectacular scenery at the Whale Watching platform at Cape Solander in Botany Bay National Park.

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