Ever ridden in Australia?

[BearPear]

Mr BP and I are off to Oz in September and I was wondering if we, or more likely he would get a chance to do a bit of riding while there. We occasionally ride together but he easily does 50 miles whereas I'm trying not to think about the 50 mile sportive I've signed up to in June!

We will be in Sydney, Cairns and the Gold Coast - I'm hoping that there will be somewhere to hire decent bikes and lots of routes to have a go at. All I have to compare with is our annual trip to Lanzarote where he hires a road bike from Revolution Bikes and goes out each morning and I get a hybrid and we take a ride out to Arrecife and back. In my head Australia is going to be just like that!! Clearly I'm delusional.

I'm a bit OCD when planning trips to unknown places and like to have everything in place in advance, or at least know where to go when I get there - any positive bike riding experiences would be appreciated!

 

[ianrauk]

@victor may be the man to help you with some information

 

[welsh dragon]

Hi @avalon may be able to help as well. Good luck.

 

[Hacienda71]

I used to ride in Melbourne as a kid. Just like the UK but with wider roads and far better weather.

 

[Saluki]

We cycled when we were in Darwin. Hiring was really expensive so we bought 2nd hand bikes from a cash converters equivelent and then sold them when we left. We sold them privately too so 'bike hire' only stood us $20 over the whole month.

It was really humid when we were there, but we did a lot of cycling on the coastal path, we took camelbaks with us and took regular breaks and had a great time.

 

[heliphil]

don't forget you have to wear a crash helmet !!!

 

[jarlrmai]

Helmets are mandatory and the drivers are really, really bad, from what I hear.

My brother lives in Sydney.

 

[BearPear]

thanks for the info - didn't know about helmets. I always wear mine at home but wouldn't necessarily do so on a coastal path or dedicated pootling cycle lane.

 

[HLaB]

When I was in Cairns I got out to the Atherton Table Lands and liked cycling there, the only other time I've cycled in Oz was Melbourne.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Helmets are mandatory and the drivers are really, really bad, from what I hear.

Unfortunately, both of these are true . I don't know how our drivers compare with UK drivers (particularly since I've never been a car driver myself), but I think you'll feel right at home, as the traffic will probably be similar to that in the UK, except there is a smaller proportion of cyclists out of all road users here.

Sorry, I can't help the OP with directions for cycling in Sydney, as I never did much cycling there despite living there for over 10 years, something I sorely regret (all those lovely hills! ). Best of luck with the trip, anyway.

 

[DiddlyDodds]

Ive never cycled but have done a fair bit of driving south of Melbourne, it did not fill me with joy as the roads seemed to be very straight and featureless, perhaps i was just in the wrong place

Although i did go up the Dandenongs (oh er missis) and it did look a good cycling place


Oh and it was 40+ deg , so glad i was in an air conditioned car