M5 - M7 - M2 route ?

[jimsheedy]

Sorry if this has been posted before, ive searched but couldn't find anything.

I want to ride the M5 from arncliffe the M7 themn M2 and return to Balmain. Not sure where the M5 path starts and is it a continuous path all that way to the M2 or do I have to weave in an out other roads? Very comfortable on the road, I just want to try something different and ride at pace over a reasonable distance.

[find_bruce]

It would be a great loop if achievable, but ...

I am not up to date on the state of the M5 & whether it is rideable again, but in terms of the path, you will be on the roads from Arncliffe until Bexley Rd, it is a bit of a hodge podge of a path with quite a few level crossing roads which take a while for the lights to cycle & it peters out at Riverwood

I'm not aware of any link between riverwood & the M7, but I would be happy to be corrected.

[jimsheedy]

Happy to ride to the bexley rd entrance on the rd. That’s not an issue.

[Philistine]

Happy to ride to the bexley rd entrance on the rd. That’s not an issue.

Sorry to be late to the party but I have only just read this thread. When I am driving on the M5, I am constantly trying to assess when cyclists will be allowed back on the shoulder at the Bexley end. Six months ago it looked about to happen but six months later there appears to have been no progress whatsoever. The bike path from Bexley to King Georges Road is less than ideal but usable. Once you reach King Georges Road, the M5 Shoulder is available, and is a far better bet than the disjointed bike path, provided you watch out for the debris.

You can stay on the motorway shoulder all the way to the M2, should you so desire, but, if you want to ride on the M7 Cycleway, you need to take the M7 / Beech Road turn off. Stay on the far left, past the M7 starting ramp, until you reach the T junction at Beech Road. Turn right (north) and continue along Beech Road until you reach an island. Turn left a full 180 degrees (back in the direction you just came from) along a bit of pavement that opens into a minor road, and about 100 metres farther on you will reach a bike path. Turn right and this leads you direct to the M7 bike path.

Edit. Getting my right and left mixed up.

[jimsheedy]

Thats great info. Thanks very much.

[brumby33]

There is a Bike Path that goes from the Kingsgrove Road and is supposed to come out on the King Georges Rd Intersection BUT...some time ago there's been extensive works around near where it joins up near the Kingsgrove Industrial estate (Garema Crt) are and there's a crazy wooden maze of ramping that had been constructed and it's very tight. I barely could get my Touring bike around the multiple 180 degree switchbacks but managed somehow without putting the foot down...I guess some see it as a nice little challenge but it's a bit of a PITA as a regular commute.
I hadn't gone that way for about 4 months now but I think it's more or less a permanent structure now. It's a bit of a hotch potch structure considering it was a nice bikepath a few years back.
About 10-13 years ago when I was much younger and fitter, living at Macquarie Fields, I used to ride from Kingsgrove back to Mac Flds using the M5 shoulder, it was 26kms one way. It was pretty good going, took me exactly an hour on average including the negotiating the very busy KGR & M5 Intersection.
Never been on the M7 cycleway yet but it's in my plans...soon I hope.

Cheers

brumby33