With our free social rides being called off and people working from home or no longer working due to COVID-19, the one thing you can still do is go for a ride on your own.
Riding will continue to be an important transport option and recreational choice for many people wanting to stay active while social distancing. Check out our page on current restrictions affecting riding.
Bicycle Network’s tireless social rides leader Di Elliffe has spent a couple of years collating 24 low-stress riding routes around the state on our RidewithGPS Ambassador Routes account.
It’s available for any member of the public to read the route information, decide if the ride is for them, and download a map.
Routes can be found in the north, south and north-west of the state with distances varying from 10 km to 236 km. Some of the routes will need to be tweaked as the food and drink establishments featured won’t be open, but quite a few still offer good scenery along the way.
Members get more on RidewithGPS
Bicycle Network members get the bonus of being added to our Rides Club Account.
If you are a Tasmanian member and haven’t received an email with your login details, please let us know and we’ll send it out to you.
Club members can download audio prompts for the ride, as well as the map. So, you can set your phone up on your handlebars and get notifications of when to turn and stop without having to stop and look at a map.
Members also get many more route options than the public site as all our social ride routes are logged into the club, with close to 60 routes and ride leaders adding more routes regularly.
Routes can also be searched by “tags”, which include where in the state it is, whether it’s an Ambassador ride, if its suits experienced or inexperienced riders, or whether it includes unsealed roads/paths.
Touring options are also included where you can bike pack and camp overnight, again some routes may have camping sites listed at unsuitable venues, so you’ll need to make a judgement on where to camp.
Social rides on hold
Social ride leaders will be working on routes ready to hold rides when social distancing restrictions are eased.
If you have suggestions for routes, please let us know! We’ll pass them on to our ride leaders to investigate.
And if you would like to become a social ride leader once restrictions are lifted, please also let us know and we’ll add your name to a waiting list for training.