Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

I’m planning to commute from Pennant Hills near the station to North Sydney. It’s quite straightforward once I get onto the M2, but does anyone have any advice on how to get from Pennant Hills to the M2?

I take footparh from Pennant Hills station to Beecroft Rd, then on road down Beecroft Rd and then slip road onto M2. Since it is downhill it is easy to keep up with peak hour trafffic.
Return is footpath from M2 up Beecroft Rd till lights Cheltenham Rd. Cross here and join roadway to Cheltenham station, then the Cresent and Wongala thru Beecroft. From here up Albert st then back to footpath up Beecroft and along Pennant Hils Rd.
Alternatively follow Wongala all the way but some steps down and up gully.
On mtb or gravel grinder can go via bush to Browns Waterhole and climb up and join M2.

am50em wrote: Alternatively follow Wongala all the way but some steps down and up gully.
On mtb or gravel grinder can go via bush to Browns Waterhole and climb up and join M2.

You can go that way on a roadie.

Thanks,

I'll give the downhill to M2 via Beecroft Rd a go. Can you let me know what traffic is like there during the morning run (around 7-7.30am)?

Uphill from M2, I'll try your suggestion and through the 2 sections of footpath. The backroads through Beecroft don't seem to connect back to Pennant Hills and I'm no where quick enough to ride uphill along Beecroft in peak hour traffic.

Is the footpath OKish to ride there, or are there lots of angry pedestrian and police hiding to issue a fine?

I had a look at the Brown's Waterhole Track, there is a paved section. But the Lane Cove Valley section, when Brown's Waterhole Track finishes at Kissing Point Rd looks a bit too bumpy and pebbly for a roadie.

how about Sutherland Road on the return trip?

Exit at Beecroft road after the tunnel. Make a big loop , i.e.

- turn left at Epping Road and ride towards Epping Station (on the footpath on left hand-side)
- go through tunnel under the railway
- Surrey Street .. Derby Street ..
- end up at the tunnel under M2
- follow Sutherland Road all the way till Tristania Way
- turn left (follow the short offroad trail) until Azalea Grove

I did the above in reverse order once. Much quieter traffic. But Sutherland Road is a roller-coaster ride so take your time

Thanks for that suggestion.

I'll check out that loop, but from memory, its steeper than the footpath and longer too!

No problem with police re riding on footpath. Last week a motor cycle cop had stopped car on Beecroft Rd just up from M2, he was standing on footpath writing ticket so I got off and walk around him. He aologised for blocking path.

Firetrail from Pennant Hills to Browns waterhole is not suitable for road bike. YMMV.

Traffic going down Beecroft Rd in morning is heavy and can be slow. Main advice is NOT to ride in gutter. Ride in center of lane.

Return journey
https://www.strava.com/activities/18514 ... 3240f96abd

I do Dural to Nth Sydney and I have a couple of different routes that I have used over the years. I have ridden from Pennant Hills station a few times, but always through the backstreets. I have thought about the Wongala Cres "Hike a Bike" option, but I don't need to go that far North for where I branch off.
I use Victoria Rd and come up Loftus Rd, then about 100m on the footpath to the lights opposite Beecroft Rd (where the NorthConnex construction site is), then I use the footpath along side the school to get up to Beecroft Rd, then jump on the road for a fast downhill run along Beecroft Rd to the M2, or you can avoid the M2 and use Sutherland Rd if you like roller coasters (useless in the rain due to flooding in the M2 underpass though).
Other option when there is flooding is to use the M2 overpass from Castle Howard Rd to Kent St (Epping).

My "fast route" is just Castle Hill Rd -> Pennant Hills Rd -> M2 -> Epping Rd Path -> Pacific Hwy. Coming home is the same, except I use the footpath from the M2 to Castle Hill Rd to avoid the trucks. You could use the same route, then just use Victoria Rd to get up to Boundary Rd, cross over the Bellamy and then down the back to the station.

nkmlau wrote:I had a look at the Brown's Waterhole Track, there is a paved section. But the Lane Cove Valley section, when Brown's Waterhole Track finishes at Kissing Point Rd looks a bit too bumpy and pebbly for a roadie.

It’s perfectly suitable for a roadie.

AndrewCowley wrote:

nkmlau wrote:I had a look at the Brown's Waterhole Track, there is a paved section. But the Lane Cove Valley section, when Brown's Waterhole Track finishes at Kissing Point Rd looks a bit too bumpy and pebbly for a roadie.

It’s perfectly suitable for a roadie.

I do the browns hall track on my road bike all the time. Only time to avoid it is if the creek at the bottom floods in extreme rain conditions. I have ridden through about 4 inches of water once and was expecting it to be like that due to recent heavy rain. When you get to the top near kissing point road, there is a path to the left, or a driveway to the right. The path is fully paved and no issue.

Is am50em referring to the trails that come off the paved Browns Waterhole track?

tez001 wrote:Is am50em referring to the trails that come off the paved Browns Waterhole track?

I don't know the names of the tracks but from Pennant Hills station go down Britannia St thru Pennant Hills Park (including Croncrete Hill), then firetrail all the way to Browns Waterhole.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1578949228

am50em wrote:

tez001 wrote:Is am50em referring to the trails that come off the paved Browns Waterhole track?

I don't know the names of the tracks but from Pennant Hills station go down Britannia St thru Pennant Hills Park (including Croncrete Hill), then firetrail all the way to Browns Waterhole.
https://www.strava.com/activities/15789 ... 667223c604

Unfortunately the names are not marked on the track either. Most of them are 'unnamed'. The 'Concrete Hill' is a local name reflecting the surface, it was not always concrete nor known by that name.
A map may help? https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/-33.7526/151.0906 You can see all the trails and track there. Zoom in for more detail.

Once inside the Pennant Hills Park you go past the netball courts on your left (these are just after the soccer pitches and have a toilet in the car park), past 1 locked swing gate (track not shown on the map), but just past the next locked swing gate you take a dirt bypass path - narrow and windy but short say 6 metres. Then your on the right trail ... but need to swing right through the open swing gates on your right .. then get to the bottom of concrete hill and go left. And so on. Take a map with you the first time. Oh, the last soccer pitch has a water bubbler and tap. These tracks are NOT paved! Yes the 'concrete hill' has concrete. There for a reason - very steep. Coming down is not so much of a problem .. except where the concrete stops at the bottom and there is a large washer way, go to the sides. Before the concrete was there, going up, you 'd balance on your MTB, too far back and the front would come up, too far forward and the rear would slip. The concrete is there for erosion and has made the balance area a little wider on the bike. I'd not take my roadie on these trails. From M2 To Kissing Point Rd, yes - fine.. but east or west of there on the dirt? No.

Dirt will always be slower than a sealed road.