Bike to work

The Marrickville Bike Bus (a group who bike to work together, to a set route and timetable like a bus), is as great a way to get to work as it sounds.

And, even if you’re an avowed critic of early starts, it’s actually a relief to slowly wake up as the morning does, chatting to friends while getting in a bit of exercise, as opposed to wedging yourself into a peak-hour train carriage listening to your neighbour’s ipod!

The Marrickville Bike Bus was started by cycling advocate Fiona Campbell as a way for people to feel comfortable and safe riding their bikes to work. Those who ride in the Bike Bus – many of them inexperienced cyclists when they started – can vouch for its success. With a caveat (of sorts!): it’s actually quite a lot of fun!

Each morning, the Bike Bus travels from Marrickville into the city, picking up people at designated “stops”. It starts near the Henson Park Hotel in Illawarra Road just before 7am and collects fellow riders as it heads through Newtown (stopping at the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre at 7.09am) and Redfern (George/Wells Street). The Bike Bus then rides from Redfern past Central Station and breaks up after reaching the fountain at Hyde Park – where it meets again at 5.15pm for the trip home.

The benefits of cycling are heard often enough – it’s good for the environment and it helps you get fit as you pedal along – but the best things about the daily bus are the friends you meet along the way and the confidence you develop in riding along Sydney streets. Come along – you might like it! For more information, go to www.bikebus.org.au.