For Beat the Bus no 6, I thought I would include an interesting not so obvious 20 minute ride starting behind Wolli Station in Earlwood.
I have always looked at the wild forests where the M5 Motorway goes underground at Bexley North in Sydney’s south as a place that we really should have built a cycleway above the M5. Alas this didn’t happen. I have ridden the roads from Bexley a few times and I hate them. So when I found a little path near Turrella across the railway and river into a big park, I realised that there was an opportunity for locals to ride to work from Earlwood. I also knew how poor the traffic is in that region so I guessed the buses and cars were going to suck. And they do.
This beat the bus is simply a ride from the Earlwood Post Office to the giant Ikea store in Tempe.
The trail is all pretty fun to ride except for the hill upto Earlwood Post office which is quite steep. My trail relies on a really small footpath called Finlays Lane and then a footbridge over the river. To get through Turrella, you also need to duck under the pipeline using a tunnel and ride a dirt track to skip a couple of roads. Its actually quite easy to get to Wolli though it looks complicated on the map. Cross the busy highway carefully and then go the back roads to Ikea behind the giant golf tee. And you are there. I don’t recommend carrying too much shopping when riding home.
Summary – EARLWOOD TO IKEA IN TEMPE 25 minutes by car in peak hour, about 35 minutes by bus and 20 minutes by bike – easy win
Find the full ride of 34 km on Strava Here and the actual 6km trail on RideWithGPS here
Overview: I am writing a series of articles called Beat the Bus in Sydney. The purpose of these articles is to come up with popular ride where you can easily beat public transport whilst not riding too fast. To qualify, a ride needs to be going to a place with a decent sized working population, the roads need to be shared path or at least a decent enough well marked council road. Average speed must be under 20km per hour. And the whole journey needs to be under 45 minutes.
Anyone can do this in any city, just study your maps, do a few practice rides on Sunday morning, get fit and ride some or all the way to work if you can find decent enough roads. If you can’t find a way, can you ride to a station or take your bike part of the way in a car. Give it a go.
Find Turrella on the map here >>