I’ve been riding up Pitt St and George St in the city and even though I’ve been riding slowly, nobody honks or puts any pressure on me to go faster.

If it is too difficult, you just get off and walk until you reach flatter ground.

The downhills and flats are super easy, and while the uphills are hard, they’re still pretty fast to get up. It’s so much easier than walking, and you can ride at a very slow pace and still get somewhere faster than if you ran.

You really don’t need to be very fit to ride a bike. Besides, if you’re worried about breaking the law, just get off your bike and walk it along beside you for that stretch of road. I know, I know, it’s illegal, and I definitely don’t recommend riding on busy footpaths, but if there aren’t many pedestrians around and the traffic on the road feels dangerous, I’d rather risk getting fined (which I never have been) than risk getting hit. There’s a huge network of bike paths around Sydney - and a huge number of bicyclists too if you’re riding to/from work and keeping regular hours, you’ll probably have a bunch of other riders for company, which makes it feel even safer.Īny time you don’t feel safe, you can just switch to the sidewalk. I’m a very casual rider and I’m not super confident, but I stick to bike paths and quiet streets and I’ve never felt like I’m in danger. The thing I’ve realised, however, is that those fears stemmed from the fact that I always see those really intense bicyclists riding on high speed roads - but most of the bicyclists I know don’t do that. This was my primary concern, because riding along with cars seemed a lot like playing Russian Roulette. Let me address your woes, dear reluctant would-be bicyclists: Concern #1 - It’s not safe: But, as I’ve discovered, bicycling is not actually as hard/expensive/dangerous/sweaty as you might think. I totally understand those concerns and I had them too. But I keep getting hit with the same bunch of excuses:”I’d love to, but it’s too dangerous”, “I’d love to but I’m not fit enough”, “I’d love to but it’s too expensive to get a bike”, or “I’d love to but I don’t want to get sweaty and look disgusting every time I go anywhere”. You can fit so much more than you can carry in your hands, and it’s so much less effort to take things anywhere.īut there’s a lot of misconceptions around bicyclingĪs you can probably tell, I’m a huge fan of bicycling as a mode of transport, and I’ve been trying to convince my friends to bike with me. If you don’t have a car, a bicycle basket and pannier racks are a wonderfully convenient way to carry things. Carry your grocery shopping/beach bag/everything else You can read more about bicycling’s health benefits here. It’s not just good for your legs and butt, either - it also works out your core. I usually bike to work at a very moderate pace, which is super great for helping me to wake up in the mornings but doesn’t leave me feeling tired or sore, and then I race home in the evening, which lets me work off the day’s stress. It’s low impact, there’s not a lot of technique involved, and you can make it as easy or hard as you’d like. There’s this lovely sense of camaraderie with every other bicyclist you pass, you see some wicked graffiti that you wouldn’t notice from your car or bus, you discover new cafes and shops, and you can stop any time you see something that catches your eye (I stop a lot to play with puppies). It’s such a lovely way to interact with your surroundings too.

Nunnery bike workshop