easygroove

You might ber able to tell from my profile image that i'm in to mountain biking, my SO would say it's more of an obsession!! For easy access to trails, i've been told the Manly Dam area is good and will also be a reasonable cycle commute to the CBD. Is this the case?

Manly area is probably where we will be living but i'm not sure which neighbourhood(s) to focus on. We will have approx $450-500pw rent to spend and need to have access to Beach and be within 1/2hr cycle/ferry ride
from CBD. We've been looking on the LJHooker website but without having any local knowledge it's impossible to know what the areas are like to live in.

Thanks

gedge

Manly Dam is said to be a good spot for mb'ing, and accessible to most on the north shore. Some guys I know cycle from Neutral Bay in about an hour, but the traffic along military road and the spit bridge can be a pain.

Manly is a great spot with the access you're after. I reckon that rent will get you a place - it does for us and we're 60 seconds from the beach with a great view. We're in Queenscliff, at the north end of Manly beach, quieter and possibly cheaper. I can get to the ferry wharf in 5 minutes on the bike.

Try having a look at:
domain.com.au
realestate.com.au

They seem to cover most advertised houses from all the agencies and have an email service which is great for cutting to the chase quickly.

Also have a look at the Manly Warringah Cycle Club as they cover mtb'ers. Bike Addiction is a good shop on the road from Manly to Warringah.

igual

hi easygroove, we did a fair chunk of the manly damn route today. FIona and i live in Frenchs forest which is about 15 minutes drive from manly and five minuts cycle form the mbr. Today we cycled to manly and did about 4 km of the circuit en route. The circuit itself is 11 or 12 km long, with some very tricky bits along the wakehurst parkway. Lots of rock drop offs and such. It seemed very technical but I have not ridden in a year or so and was never mad keen anway. Have done the Marin and karrimor routes etc but this seemed more difficult. The bit that we did was mostly single track with encroadching branches. I went out with spds on and half thought this was a good idea. However I do hold them responsible for my now tender testicular area.
Apparently there are lots of good routes around the blue mouintains area, many starting at one station and finsihing at the next.
If we go again after xmas and it looks good. we'll post some photos up.
Good luck
Nick

easygroove

Nick - are you from Bristol? If so where abouts? I live in St werburghs

igual

park street and then up on the downs. Used to be down your way twice a week climbing though!

great town. crap beachs!

The manly damn route is a little more taxing than the ashton court route!
Nick