Sydney Olympic Park

After my lame efforts at Lawson'd Ridge - I decided that I needed a nice flat easy location to crank out some km on the bike. I enjoyed my ride along the nice flat gravel road a couple of weeks ago simply because I could cover more distance than other locations. Granted - it was not the rugged mountain trails I really want to be riding, but all things in their time.

I need somewhere I can cycle constantly for a good hour without tiring. I hope this will help me build fitness, endurance in my legs and more than anything - self confidence that I can tackle a ride of more than a few km.

So with a little more research I  decided that I would aim to complete Winmalee as my first 'recognised MTB trail' - but before that I would throw the bike in my car on work days and take advantage of all the nice flat cycleways around Sydney Olympic Park (which happens to be where I work).

This was a great move. I have ridden every few days at Olympic Park over the last couple of weeks, covering almost 20km some days. While this may not sound like much - it is a big step up for me, and the confidence boost I needed. I can definitely feel my fitness and muscle endurance improving.

There is dedicated cycleway all through Olympic Park, and you can ride through the wetlands, or along Paramatta river (below), or even around Bicentenial Park. This would be a great place to take your family for a ride - I highly recommend it for befinners or just a relaxing day out.

I even dropped by Winmalee one afternoon and rode about 3km out along Shaws Ridge and back. I didn't want to ride the full loop for the first time in the fading afternoon light, but I had great fun and now feel I am ready to tackle the Winmalee trail in the next few days.

I think it is a good idea to ride new trails for the first time in the morning rather than the afternoon - just in case it takes longer than expected or I get lost. Although from what I read the Winmalee loop is very easy to follow.

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