My girlfriend needs to put some base miles in without any major hills. She needs to work on her average speed and these things, she’s a Triathlete. I was wondering if the M7 cycle path may be an option. Is it quite busy on weekends (we’d be there quite early) and is it suited for that kind of training? She’d be looking at the 100k mark so we’d need to find an extention but I guess that should be doable. It’s pretty much just training for her and I’m aware that there’s not much scenery to look at.
What do you guys think? Ideas for a ride are more than welcome too. Traffic and/or traffic lights should be avoided at any costs though, thats why I came up with the idea in first place. I’ll ride with her but just because we love to ride together 
I’d suck an old mans nuts rather than riding the M7.
why is that?
Where you at? Someone migt know a road route nearby.
Dont think theres light on the M7 path, but plenty of crap like throttle/choke points, gates, crossings, footpaths, broken glass, sometimes wire across it.
…seeing that Lorday would rather perform a sexual act on some random guy I guess I need to look at alternatives. Google did not tell me anything that bad btw. I live on the Northern Beaches which makes us look for less hilly and less trafic invested routes for her to train. We are not afraid of driving somethere as you can see.
What about the Hume hwy from where the m7 ends that’s pretty flat for a while.
Dunno about the gates and the wire, but this is an otherwise accurate description. The choke points are pretty crap and I can imagine wouldn’t be particularly fun on a TT bike. Add in lots of freds with questionable bike handling skills and it all becomes a bit of a shitfight. I was out there the other week (against my will) and yeh, it’s not awesome.
If you’re willing to drive, Old Windsor Road from Seven Hills out to Windsor/Richmond is flatter than the m7 path, has a nice wide shoulder (can ride 2 abreast) and not many traffic lights. 2 laps of that would get you your 100km.
Or why not just do a whole bunch of laps of centennial? Seems to be chock-full of triathletes most of the time…
Thanks mate, will keep that in mind. Been in the area a few times to get to the Hawkesburry area. I dont really like parks…we did this in Olympic Park but it just gets very boring very fast (for me).
Yeh, doing park laps is pretty shit.
Have you been on any triathlon forums to see what others do for flat miles?
All the hate on the M7. everyone is right, it’s not great, the scenery sucks and it’s fred central. BUT, if you go early enough, it’s OK to get some base miles in. End to end - Norwest to Prestons return will be close to 100. It’s 69 on the dot from Quakers Hill to Prestons and back.
I ride it semi regularly with my GF and if she can cope with the freds / idiots, then it’s all good. I think give it a go just once before writing it off completely.
^ This. The path is long enough that the Freds are sporadic, even in peak times. If you see the Pinoy Team Time Trialling Squad just wait 5 mins til they’re enough down the road.
Not sure why everyone thinks its George Street?
I ride it every week and it’s fantastic for what it is; it’s well lit, smooth and undulating, and importantly it is safe. When the alternative is riding on pot-holed roads and dealing with deadshit weekend drivers, I’ll take the Freds any day of the week.
I think we just give it a try this weekend. It sounds like what she’s looking for and dealing with freds is nothing new for me/her here on the Northern Beaches. She rides up to West Head three times a week and all she wants for now is less hills for a change.
Plenty of triathletes use the M7 as training, the owner of my LBS is one of them
pros,
no mixing with cars
uninterupted by traffic lights, and other intersections
it is lit
flat
80 odd ks for a return ride
Cons
boring
freds (especially ones who aren’t good enough on a bike to mix it with cars)
lots of chicanes to dip underneath M7 exits etc, (could be a pro if it weren’t for the tri bike)
poor/no/vandalised signage meaning it is possible to take an exit when you didn’t intend on doing so
Thanks guys! Any ideas where to park the car?
Depending where you are coming from, ideally at the start/end of the path at Norwest. Cnr Norwest Boulevard and Greenhill Drive.
Or near to any one of the ‘on ramps’ for the path. Quite a few suburban areas.
I usually park in one of these side streets and then ride to the m7 from there (about a 30 seconds)
its a good ride to throw some headphones in, and just ride…
TIP: where ever you choose to park try and make it towards the middle of the m7… this way you are always at most half the length of the m7 away from you car at all times
Did it, liked it. Not quite sure what peoples problem is with this path. Smooth riding, no cars, no traffic lights. I didnt see any glass on the path, didnt have any issues with freds whatsoever (and its understandable that beginners ride on it a lot and you need to respect that - its a good thing). Yep its boring but that was expected. Otherwise its a perfect path for training purposes. Did it on my track bike and didnt need to skid once 
Headwind was killing us though and made it way tougher than it is. I’d do it again.
Nice one Marc… Personally like the ride for the exact reasons you’ve mentioned and have always had the same exp you’ve shared also