5-7 day cycle from Sydney.....any suggestions?

[EllenOnHerBikeInOZ]

Hey,

I want to spend 5-7 days doing a cycle around/from Sydney in December.

At the moment I am pretty comfortable cycling around 120km a day, but I iwll have been backpacking for a few months and not on my bike when i arrive in Sydney so looking for about 60km a day bike route that takes me to some scenes around Sydney.

At the mo I have looked at a route from Sydney to Mittagong to Berry and back to Sydney but this isn't as long as I would like..... any suggestions?!

I will be staying hostels and will be on my own so I don't want to be going anywhere remote or not safe. Also open to the idea of cycling somewhere and hoping on the train back....any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.!

Thanks Ellen

[mikesbytes]

Hi Ellen, the route you have suggested is one of the more popular ones. Road selection is important and some of us can help out.

Perhaps the touring guys/gals could advise further if you write up a bit about your previous touring.

[il padrone]

Hi Ellen

There are no doubt lots of options around Sydney and I'm not a local so others will have better ideas. However here is a route I used when doing a tour of northern NSW 10 years ago

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Ma ... Palm-Beach
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Pa ... -Macquarie

I left Sydney on the ferry to Manly, cycled along the northern beach suburbs to Palm Beach, then took a ferry from Palm Beach to Patonga Beach and rode on from there. First night's camp was at Umina Beach. They had plenty of on-site vans. This route took me out of Sydney with very little traffic stress. The only area wherre I had some busy traffic was from Umina Beach to Terrigal. From here on I cycled almost entirely on quiet country roads through small towns. There is one section of gravel road at Monkerai north of Dungog, but despite local misgivings it was lovely. There was another gravel road climb to the Comboyne Plateau. It was steep. If you get this far allow a good 4 hours for the 25-30 kms from Wingham to Comboyne! It took me 10 days to get to Port Macquarie, with one rest day at Gloucester, and another at Laurieton. You could probably cut off after 7 days at Taree where you could catch the north coast train.

Beware, NSW trains only carry two bikes, packed into a box and you must book them in advance. For the best bike/rail touring in Australia come down to Victoria