Why not ride around Sydney? Hopefully this page will inspire you to ride around the worlds premier city and see lots of places you probably have never seen close-up. Here is the map, use the legend in the map to see other ways to do the ride (also available in RideWithGPS here). Join the 2900 folks in the FaceBook group and ask questions. Read about the shorter 150km version
Lets talk motivation ? The reason is not the journey it’s the completion of the journey. It felt so good to turn the corner at Milsons Point and see the Sydney Harbour bridge. I had made it, 5 days, 6 train journeys to get to start and end points and lots of negative thoughts were behind me. Better riders have done it in just a few days (or even one).
Note: All links to Google MyMaps are shown with a >> You will need either a PC or a Google Account to make this work
The First Trail Around Sydney
I have spent the last few years learning the shared paths of Sydney and this trail follows a loop around the outer edge of many of those trails >>. Apart from 22km of road riding in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, the rest of the trail has a few 2-3 km sections of back roads to connect the shared paths. The paths that are connected travel through Centennial Park, upto La Perouse, around Botany Bay, the Menai Cycleways, Chipping Norton, Glenfield Railway, the M7 Cycleway, Old Windsor Rd, Parramatta River Cycleway, Shrimptons Creek, Lane Cove National Park, Epping Rd and a ride across the Harbour Bridge to complete the journey. There are a lot of good things to see.
See all the videos of different versions of the trail here
See photos of the trail here or read about the the 150km further down the page.
Statistics Distance 230 km Shared Path 190 km Total road riding 39km Total Climbing 2000m
The Sydney 150 Loop
There is a shorter way to loop the city and it takes about 150. It is called the Sydney 150 or the Orbital. See it below. See both rides together with Google Maps in the background >> or in RideWithGPS
Check out photographs taken whilst riding around the 150 in a clockwise direction. This will show you the route conditions if you are keen to stay on as many shared paths as possible
The Rules for riding around Sydney
These apply to both the longer and shorter versions or any variation you may decide on.
1. You go around Centennial Park
2. You go under the Woronora bridge
3. You go around Lizard Log or Sugarloaf Ridge (m7 or Prospect Reservoir will cover that)
4. You go north or thru Lane Cove National Park. You can use PlasseyEntry Rd to exit the park halfway if you want to use Epping Rd.
5. You likely pass over the harbour bridge and see the Opera House
6. You take as many days as you need to enjoy Sydney and you may put your bicycle on public transport as long as do these four things.
The Hills and My Bike Usually I will tell people that Sydney bike trails are generally flat but this ride goes through a few big dips along the waterways and that causes the climbing numbers to escalate. I rode most of the trail using an eBike with pedal assist. This ironed out the steep sections but trail took me about 13 hours in total riding time and many more hours commuting back and forth from start points. That equates to an average speed of about 17.5 km/h.
What Sort Of Bike to Take ? Most of the trail can be done on any bike but a gravel bike would be best for the road riding guys as it’s a little more robust. There are quite a few bumps on the bitumen path in Chipping Norton and the Ramsgate brick paths are pretty bouncy as well. The rest is pretty smooth and the M7 Cycleway is very clean
What about the logistics of this ride ?
There are a few hotels on the trail though half decent ones are far apart from Cronulla through to Liverpool and then not many till Parramatta. They can be found on the map here but you need to turn on Accomodation in the legend >>. Trains are the best way to manage a multi day, Sydney trains allow bikes on for free and most of the stations now have lifts. Important stations to get around are Green Square, Wolli Creek, Sutherland, Revesby, Glenfield, Edmondson Park, Rooty Hill,, Bella Vista, Westmead, Meadowbank, North Ryde and Central. See the main ride ideas here >> Once again use the legend
Getting from Cronulla to Sutherland I did it by train the first time but with an ebike or strong legs, you can ride from Cronulla up to Sutherland mostly on roads See photos of this section
Stop Press This great ride was featured in the Sydney Morning Herald in November 2023 and an article by Bicycle NSW