Wakehurst Parkway at night

[2wheels]

Hi everyone, wondering if people commute to city using Wakehurst Pway in Sydney Nth? Thinking of moving up Frenchs Forest way and want to avoid Roseville Bridge. Only problem is visibility on Wakehurst at night cos no street lights. Wht kind of light would be adequate?

[Aushiker]

Hi everyone, wondering if people commute to city using Wakehurst Pway in Sydney Nth? Thinking of moving up Frenchs Forest way and want to avoid Roseville Bridge. Only problem is visibility on Wakehurst at night cos no street lights. Wht kind of light would be adequate?

Hi

Not familiar with the area so can't help on that, but with regards to the lights, there are numerous threads on lightening options. I have a bit of a summary here which might get you heading in the right direction and the latest thread on lights can be found here.

Regards
Andrew

[familyguy]

Hi everyone, wondering if people commute to city using Wakehurst Pway in Sydney Nth? Thinking of moving up Frenchs Forest way and want to avoid Roseville Bridge. Only problem is visibility on Wakehurst at night cos no street lights. Wht kind of light would be adequate?

Wakehurst Parkway can get very dark at night.

You've got two problems with travelling down there:
1. Being seen
2. Seeing with available light/s

By your locations you'd only be travelling the stretch from Warringah Road to Seaforth, which is probably the better part for riding at night. The stretch from Warringah Road to Narrabeen gets DARK with a capital F. What times would you be travelling along there? Peak hour in darkness (6pm or so) would be interesting, but not any more or less unsafe than any other main road. I've ridden it at nights after 7.30pm or so, and its not worried me more than any other road. The shoulder is decent, if a little rough, although the 80km/h speed limit is more of a minimum than a maximum along there. That'd be my only concern, especially in peak hour, and if its been wet.

I do see riders regularly along that stretch though, so it cant be all bad. None appear to have particularly strong front lights, but enough to be seen and noticed by oncoming cars. They all seem to loaded up with rear flashies though. Two or more.

Hope this is of some help.

Jim

[2wheels]

Thanks for that - I intend to riding to work, ie from Warringah road to seaforth in daylight, so no problems there. I'll only be riding in darkness coming home during the winter months. And this will typically be between 6-8pm. I guess I will be getting a rear light for the helmet and seat post and a strong headlight... and given what you've said, this might be ok. The alernative is going across the Roseville bridge on he footpath; which is a real pain.

[familyguy]

Thanks for that - I intend to riding to work, ie from Warringah road to seaforth in daylight, so no problems there. I'll only be riding in darkness coming home during the winter months. And this will typically be between 6-8pm. I guess I will be getting a rear light for the helmet and seat post and a strong headlight... and given what you've said, this might be ok. The alernative is going across the Roseville bridge on he footpath; which is a real pain.

Its only a hill, good training. Plenty of people ride towards Crown of the Hill on the footpath of an evening, its almost some sort of a bicycle highway. Though the loop under and onto the bridge is real dark, and the bridge footway itself is finished with cross-wise concrete slabs that are quite bumpy. Climb that, work your way round the back streets to Forest Way/Warringah Road intersection, go over the footbridge, and you're set. Not knowing the rest of your route, I cant say you wont be knackered by the time you get home.

Whats your start and end point (approximate, dont give us your addresses!)? There's a few on here who come from over that way and end up at North Syd/City and destinations to the west. Maybe they could help a little more.

Jim

[baabaa]

Yep, WP is dark, very dark but at 6-7 the traffic is slow because it is so heavy.
Lots of bikes, but my call for winter is need to have at least two rear lights one on flash, one on full time.
If you ride an roadie then your stuck on the tar, but if you have a mtn bike you can peel off onto the fire trail which runs parallel to WP leading into bantry bay road.
Could be a bit more fun that the traffic or the Roseville bridge.

I agree with Jim what is your starting point?

[2wheels]

Thanks for all of that. I will be coming in from the city, so it will be around 20kms. Haven't moved to the area yet, but thinking of Frenchs Forest, Forestville or Killarney Heights. I currently cycle 11km from Lane Cove to town everyday, but will cut this down to maybe 2 or 3 days a week after I move. Either that, or slow down the pace so recovery is quicker. I've tried Roseville Bridge several times now, and done the run on the road on weekends, but I really don't like it just doesn't leave much room for error. The run up the bridge footpath is a pain cos of the slabs, and I would rather be going up towards forestville from the bridge than going down towards it.

[trailgumby]

An alternative to consider is to go a little further north and snake your way up Allambie Road. Quite a popular hill for training cyclists, there's plenty of room for most of it, the speeds are lower and I've very rarely felt threatened.

I live at Frenchs Forest East, and much prefer Allambie Road to Wakehurst Parkway for the ride home.

I used to ride 4 days a week to the CBD. The trick to make sure I didn't cook myself by the end of the week was to keep the exertion down on the way home. This meant cruising to keep the HR to less than 140 except for the steepest bits, and try to average around 130. This meant I got a good night's sleep with no interruptions. The mornings I went as hard as I was able - 53 minutes on average. The trip home with an extra hill and the more relaxed pace was an hour 5. It took real discipline ot keep the pace down, but if I went harder I'd end up with interrupted sleep and spend most of the weekend sleeping to make up the deficit.

At the moment I am commuting to Sydney Olympic Park via Roseville Bridge. Due to the nasty pinch climb at the eastern end with traffic skimming past at 80km/hr I wuss it and take the SUP. It's not actually too bad, and the steep ramp back up from underneath to Babage Road is a bit of fun but yeh, it definitely needs major work. Even trimming the shrubbery would be a major help. I just wish the drongos would stop punching the footpath panels out on the bridge.

I'll probably be in the city for a month or two starting late June so if you're looking for a riding buddy give me a holler.

[2wheels]

Hi - thanks for the offer and I may take it up sometime after I move. I'd like to know the way over the Spit Bridge as well, but will work this out later. At least I know the commute won't take too much longer than one hour, which is ok. 55mins to work is longer than my current commute of 30mins, but I think I will adjust. I might contact you later for riding tips again closer to the time I move. thks

An alternative to consider is to go a little further north and snake your way up Allambie Road. Quite a popular hill for training cyclists, there's plenty of room for most of it, the speeds are lower and I've very rarely felt threatened.

I live at Frenchs Forest East, and much prefer Allambie Road to Wakehurst Parkway for the ride home.

I used to ride 4 days a week to the CBD. The trick to make sure I didn't cook myself by the end of the week was to keep the exertion down on the way home. This meant cruising to keep the HR to less than 140 except for the steepest bits, and try to average around 130. This meant I got a good night's sleep with no interruptions. The mornings I went as hard as I was able - 53 minutes on average. The trip home with an extra hill and the more relaxed pace was an hour 5. It took real discipline ot keep the pace down, but if I went harder I'd end up with interrupted sleep and spend most of the weekend sleeping to make up the deficit.

At the moment I am commuting to Sydney Olympic Park via Roseville Bridge. Due to the nasty pinch climb at the eastern end with traffic skimming past at 80km/hr I wuss it and take the SUP. It's not actually too bad, and the steep ramp back up from underneath to Babage Road is a bit of fun but yeh, it definitely needs major work. Even trimming the shrubbery would be a major help. I just wish the drongos would stop punching the footpath panels out on the bridge.

I'll probably be in the city for a month or two starting late June so if you're looking for a riding buddy give me a holler.

[baabaa]

I'd like to know the way over the Spit Bridge as well, but will work this out later.

This is my choice of route. Best to avoid Spit and Military Roads. Via beauty point is a marked out bike route so far less cars but a few hills.

http://www.citybikedepot.com.au/UserFil ... ike-it.pdf

[trailgumby]

I know quite a few guys who use that route. If you don't mind a few hills, it's good fun.

I'd be more inclinded to use it in the mornings - on the return trip my aim is to keep the HR down so that I'm not too revved up when I get home. I like my uninterrupted night's sleep. So I'm more inclined to stay on Military and Spit Roads of an evening.

The transit lanes and congestion in the other two mean you're reasonably unmolested in the curbside lane during peak hour. You're usually going much faster than the sheep in their single occupant smoke boxes. The main traffic issue in the Transit Lanes are the buses. Military Road can be just one long bus queue of a morning. Some sections of the footpath are designated shared use paths.