With summer quickly approaching, it’ll be the optimum time to get out and explore the city and get a little exercise at the same time! Like the rest of the county, Auckland has been transforming over the past decade to accommodate cyclists and utilizing its popularity to get people exploring the city in new and inventive ways and to locations that cant be reached by car. Here are a few of our favorite tracks to help get you excited:
Te Ara I Whiti – Lightpath
We start off the list with one of the newest paths and easily one of the most famous – the lightpath. This one’s great to impress the kids and to get them excited about cycling, it’s also Auckland’s most ambitious cycle path to date –
Starting at Upper Queen and twisting around the city center, it makes for an easy ride, and one where you can easily stop to check out hot-spots in the city such as K Road and Silo Park.
Woodhill Forest
One for all the adventure seekers out there, for the daredevils who like to get down and dirty in the mud, this track is for the mountain bikers out there.
Riding fast down steep hills in the forest and attempting not to break another bone is one thing, riding through the forest on a path that has twists and turns and the odd jump if you dare is another. Woodhill Forest caters for both and would have to be one of the most accessible selection of mountain biking tracks in the city.
Britomart – Half Moon Bay – Auckland CBD
Another ride that is for the more experienced, and very popular with groups, head from Britomart along Tamaki Drive towards Mission Bay and basically just keep going as you follow the shoreline past St Heliers, along Riddell Road and take a left onto Roberta Ave once you get through Glendowie. Follow your nose – or the trusty Google Maps – towards Point England Reserve all of the way down to the water at Lagon Drive near the Panmure Basin. From there cross over the water and follow the shore line left all the way past the Pakuranga Sailing Club and down and around until you make to the Half Moon Bay ferry terminal. It’s a great Sunday dedicated ride, but well worth the reward if you can commit!
Waiheke Island
Jump on the ferry with your bike at no extra cost, or hire a bike once you hit land and step onto the wharf (Hiring a bike means you’ll get all the comforts of a mountain bike and can have a trusty little map mounted to the handle bars, how’s that for convenience?) There are also great maps available to help you find your way around and if you plan out your day in advance you can make sure to take the right paths to lead you to wherever your heart desires, be that an art gallery, beach or vineyard. The ‘Beach/Wine Lovers Trail’ will take you about three and a half hours through the vines to Onetangi and once again is one of those rides that can end in a swim if you so desire. Further rides include the Easy Life Loop, Nature Trail, Stony Batter Trail and the Rangihou Mountain Bike Track.
