As a matter of principle, I avoid riding on roads…full stop. That’s why, until now I have avoided riding to West Head in Ku-ringai Chase National Park. However, I recently heard that traffic to West Head on weekdays is mostly cyclists, so yesterday I gave it a go.

It was a Monday morning and sure enough, over the 46km ride I passed about a dozen vehicles and felt safe the entire ride. I parked at the start of General San Martin Drive on the edge of Terrey Hills. The scenery remains constant: canopies of trees with glimpses of valley and peaks. The first change in visuals is Akuna Bay, then Echo Point.

From Akuna Bay it’s a steady climb to West Head Road, then several more hills to what must be one of the most spectacular lookouts in the country: the West Head view over Palm Beach to the East, Pittwater to the South, and Lion Island and the Central Coast to the North.

This is a great weekday riding adventure, but it does involve a lot of ascents and descents, with a total elevation of almost a thousand feet; that electric assist got a real workout.  Apart from Akuna Bay, the only real visual treat is the Lookout, but that alone makes it worth the effort.

This very short GoPro clip captures some of the visuals on this ride, and the Strava map provides a route overview.