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Sydney MTB Riding
Hi guys,
I'm moving to Sydney next year, and am addicted to mountain biking, riding most days where I live (NZ). I'm working in the Sydney CBD, but do not want to live there, preferring somewhere where theres some sort of trails around, otherwise I'll go crazy! Does anyone have any suggestions of suburbs to look at? I'm keen to live near(ish) a beach as well, and don't mind commuting. I've been trying to look at maps on here and other sites to get an idea of potential areas, but its hard to look when I don't know distances or how long it takes to get places. In terms of what I ride, I prefer DH, but lately have been mainly riding general XC, so either way, I'm not too fussy.
When I've talked to people over here, most of them seem to suggest throwing away my mountain bike and learning to like road, as the general reputation of Sydney is that its pretty much roadie territory only. If anyone has any suggestions of suburbs that I should be considering, it'd be much appreciated.
Thanks guys.
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... right next to Manly Dam, just a few minutes away from the beach and Red Hill. It has a great school if there are kids in your life, as well. The loudest things here are the rainbow lorikeets and magpies singing in the morning.
You've come to the right place and you'll no doubt get the same answer from everyone on this site, ie The Northern Beaches
Pretty much any suburb on the Northern Beaches is a good place to live and Mountain Bike. From North Shore (Mosman) up to Palm Beach any of the beach suburbs will satisfy your MTB/Beach criteria. Me, I live in Manly Vale, right next door to Manly Dam.
No, no no... there are lots of top trails here. <sarcasm>oh wait... they are all off limits at the moment</sarcasm> Sorry - a bit political
OK, OK - clearly you've seen the rides section and there is a good selection, it's just most of the legal riding here is your basic XC firetrail. Lots of people have enjoyed unfettered access to lots of cool technical and more freeride-like areas (eg. Oxford Falls, Bantry Bay) in the past but these are now off limits. Don't worry - a lot of people are working on sorting that out, maybe it'll all be good by the time you arrive? 
If you don't mind driving for an hour or so you could probably put places like Yellomundee (great XC single track course), Menai (top freeride area), Ourimbah (excellent DH + XC courses) in the 'within easy reach' basket so there are good options on any weekend. Visit these when you can and hit the local trails when short on time or for mid-week night riding and you're set.
A word of warning - Australia seems to be in general rather anti-bike. A lot of Sydney drivers are terribly anti-bike and hate people who commute on bikes. I'd imagine this is mainly due to them being stuck in snarl ups. That said - Sydney drivers complain too much IMHO. I can drive the 20-odd km from home (St Leonards) to Terrey Hills in around 30 minutes for a night ride (eg. when people are commuting home that way), much less early on a weekend morning. Try driving that far in just-after-rush hour in any other major city and see how long it takes!
Now, I'm bound to tell you this, but living in St Leonards is a good option. It's 5 train stops from the City (door to door commute to Town Hall was around 25 mins for me when doing that), has loads of eateries and is close enough to the trails and beaches when you need them. You're basically next to the M2 (Lane Cove Tunnel) and Pacific Highway so out of town rides are easier to get to. This is classed as Sydney's Lower North Shore if you're looking at areas.
Yes - living on the Northern Beaches is closer to the beaches and some trails, but will put you a tiny bit further from places like Yellomundee, Menai, Ourimbah, etc. It will also make your commute to the city more troublesome (no train line, although the ferry is nice and you could always ride).
Well, that's my 2c... good luck with whatever you choose and see you on the trails next year
Yes yes..
all of these suggestions are ok, but these guys know secretly know that Frenchs Forest is the best place to live for biking.
Oxford falls just over the road for your DH needs.
Ride the trails all the way to Manly dam to put some distance in your legs before you get there.
Forget the car - you are right in the middle of stacks of trails (and great road rides). You can mix and match any of these trails into what ever you want, and when you are done ride home again. Choice! Look on this site at the Northern Beaches rides... you are within riding distance to them all.
If you are interested there is the scumming... (road riding). You have some great national park road and hills, Akuna Bay, West Head (just resurfaced and awesome), Church Point, Bobbin Head but you can make these into a loop to make a great road ride
10 mins to the best beaches (and a good hill to ride back up on the way home).
What are you waiting for?
and his tainted view of living in gods country- listen to ladytoast - anywhere on the norhthern beaches will keep you happy - red hill will keep you entertained for ages alone!
some of us dont scum at all and we manage to train OFF road for hundred k races as well as 24hr races... join the club on the beaches, surf, bush, it's great!!
we have loads of tracks to use!
and buy a chopper. Then you can live in Canberra and a) not risk daily death by riding on the road (you don't have to a lot of the time), because cycling is pretty well embedded in this glorious nation's capital's driver population, b) enjoy Australia's best mountain biking trails concentrated in one area. I reckon flight time (post pre-flight checks, dressing up in your flying suit and driving to airport) would be about 45 minutes.
Oh, you'll also have to save up for a house in each city, plus it gets unbelievably hot in summer (though nice dry hot, not that drippy humid Sydney shit!). But you'll be used to the cold winters, which is a plus.
Oh, and also, don't go beating up any bus drivers in Sydney. It's been done already and is so passe.
PS - the others are all correct - the north shore is nicer to live on than daahn saaarf.
Trains: http://www.cityrail.info/stations/network_map
Real Estate: http://www.realestate.com.au/
Calculate Travel Distances: http://www.whereis.com/index.htm
Public Transport Planning Page: http://www.131500.com.au/
Good DH & XC trail about 1-1.5 hours drive from Northern Beaches: http://nobmob.com/rides/ourimbahstateforest you can race there too (club: http://www.ccomtb.com.au/ ) or ride there just about anytime you feel like it.
Travelling to work is far more important then travelling to a mountain bike circuit (I hate to admit). With an average time of 45hrs per week spent at work why wouldn't you want to live closer to work (can change instantly), save travel costs/time and cycle it?
Weekends get out early hit the trails and travel with less traffic. Most of the time you would want/need to drive or catch public transport to different trails, rather then the same trail every weekend!
I'm based in the Parramatta Region and its takes me 25mins to drive to the city (M4 and Parramatta Rd - no traffic at all 17mins)! Menai - 30mins, Manly Dam - 40-50mins, Blue Mountains 35mins, Lake Parramatta 10-12mins, Castle Hill 20-25mins all which are my regular Trails. Don't venture into Northern Beaches that often to remember the drive time.
I'd estimate just over an 1hr with no traffic.
For those why suggested throwing away the Mountain Bike, they should be made to place their noses up against a dirty street pole and belted in public.
I reckon Jeeten is right, unfortunately, you do need to consider commute to and from work in the equation. If you're working from home, who cares about the commute. Otherwise, it does add up.
Travel time, public transport vs car vs bike, etc. Travel time depends a lot on time of day and weather, too. E.g. from where i live in Ryde, it's 13km to the CBD. somewhere around 30-45mins in all weather on a bike depending on the bike and how you push it. In clear weather with no traffic, it's an easy 20 minutes to town by car or express bus. In peak traffic on a clear day it's about 45-50 minutes by car or bus. when it rains, you'll usually sit for between 70 and 90 minutes in Australia's biggest carpark. Biking is a much better option all round.
Then if you're still looking at car vs public transport, remember the cost of carparking as well. "early-bird" specials seem to start around $20 per day. the worst parking building I've seen is one I've actually backed out of twice (yeah, I know I'm a slow learner) - $35 for the first half hour!
So much as the local trails count, remember the commute when you figure it out. I personally reckon somewhere like Allambie heights looks like a pretty good balance, although I've not moved there yet...
And I'll second the public flogging to anyone who suggested throwing away the Mountain Bike!
Get yourself a rented place anywhere on the north shore of Sydney, like North Sydney or further north. Then you are within 30 mins of most trails of the northern beaches. There are lots of XC and DH trails to ride. Some legal, some not so much. But take your conversation offline and you can get heaps of info about great places to do XC, freeriding and DH. A small word of warning. I suspect the lush enzud trails you are used to will be quite different to the dry and dusty trails you will find dotted about Sydney.
Hey guys,
Thanks so much for the feedback, its quite hard looking at where to live moving over from NZ as there's so much to consider and I really know next to nothing about the areas! And I've never had to deal with commuting before, the biggest I've had was about 20 minutes so nothing at all compared to the possibilities in Sydney!
I think I'm keen to live out northern beaches way, either in the northern beaches or lower northern beaches, but need to look train routes and bus routes, 'cos I won't have a car initially and even if so given the parking prices wouldn't want to be driving into town! I'm guessing biking into town from the northern beaches is way out of the question.. although guess I could probably bike to a train station if need be rather than bussing, and just combine cycling and the train as my commute.
I imagine the trails will be quite different, but its always fun riding different types of terrain and trails, so am looking forward to coming over! If anyone knows of NORMAL people (e.g. clean, tidy, preferably into riding or anything outdoors) looking for someone looking for housemates that are advertising on gumtrees etc, please let me know so I can have a look at their ad! I have a feeling finding accomodation is going to be harder than I initially thought. But at least I have a vague idea of suburbs, riding trails and where to find info on public transport now, which is making the process a bit easier.
Cheers!
of the boys ride into the city to get to work from the Northern Beaches so you can still think about that, they have 'safe' routes they go along and - however, we don't have trains!!
I ride to work every day, but i live in the inner city just 3k from the CBD. Of course i pay more rent for that
. Anyway, I used to live farther away and i wanted to combine train and bike but bikes were not wellcomed in trains at peak hour. Just keep it in mind if you are thinking of that.
oh sweet, cheers for that. I'm guessing theres place to lock bikes up at the stations though? my work is pretty close to Wynyard so no real need to have my bike in the CBD.
Out of curiosity how long would it take to bike from the northern beaches into the CBD? Given everyones commuting speed is different etc.. rough guide/suggestion anyone? Appreciate all the feedback!
Hey powdery
I'm old and slow and it takes me 45 - 55 minutes from North Curl Curl to Wynyard. I usually take the most direct route but don't run red lights or ride on footpaths. . . .
It's pretty hilly but then again I know guys who do it on a singlespeed. It's a pleasant ride by Sydney standards. Nice view from the climb up Parriwee Rd. and you get to ride over the Harbour bridge every day.
CB
from where I am up on the northeastern corner of Manly Dam to Martin Place, door to door, including traffic light stops. Faster than bus, car, or ferry. Being an old fart, I'm far from fit. I'm sure you could do it much faster. Distance is about 19km.
The traffic may take some getting used to, but since you're travelling faster than it on average it's reasonably safe. The slow uphill grinds on the route are well away from the main traffic flows, so you don't have to worry about some distracted mum on the phone in a 4WD going like the clappers running up your clacker.
My work is quite bike friendly and your new employer may be the same. If not, get yourself a beater: there are lots of bike parking "rings" welded to lampposts or fixed into the ground all through the CBD - Sydney City Council is very keen to promote the use of bikes as it means less cars. You just need a shower and somewhere to hang clothes and you'll be right.
I wouldn't lock my bike on the street. It may be safe for a few days but once it got somones eye it is a matter of time before it disappears. I got 2 bikes stolen from my building's car park. My current employer is not very bike friendly but I lock my bike in the building's garage anyway. I don't recomend to leave the bike locked on the street.