My Top Ten rides of 2015

I'm fortunate to have a job that allows me to travel extensively and, on most occasions, to take my bicycle with me. Here is a list of the Top Ten bikes rides I was lucky enough to enjoy in 2015.

10. Myrtleford to Bright, Australia

There are regular calls for abandoned railway lines to be converted to rail trails for walkers and cyclists. The Myrtleford to Bright rail trail proves the viability of such a project. My wife and I have ridden it many times and are always impressed with just how well-used the path is by locals and tourists alike. It�s a boon for the regional economy and this section is a thirty-kilometre cycle through farmland featuring hop fields and dairy cow meadows with Mt Buffalo rising invitingly to the south. Worth a climb after a beer at the Bright Brewery.

9: Hoorn to Franeker, The Netherlands

Cycling anywhere in The Netherlands is a joy. It�s usually flat terrain, the infrastructure is wisely designed for the cyclist and there�s always a cafe serving apple cake topped with cream within an hour�s ride. What more could you ask for? How about a thirty-one kilometre dyke with the North Sea on your left and expanse of water known as the IJ on the right. And on a mild spring day, we had a tailwind. 

8: Brisbane CBD to Runcorn, Australia

I�m always impressed at how the city of my birth has transformed itself into a bicycle town. The secret is Brisbane�s numerous waterways - easy for installing a cycle lane alongside the water. From Kedron Brook in the North to Bulimba Creek in the South, it�s possible to cycle much of this expansive city away from the danger of cars and trucks. The route I�ve chosen includes a section of the V1 bikeway alongside the South-East Freeway and an easy detour over Toohey Forest where I used to catch yabbies in the creek when I was a child. It�s now Griffith University. My regular destination is South United Football Club in Runcorn. Every second Saturday for ten years, from the age of eight to eighteen, I�d ride from my home to this field to live out my dream of football glory. Each time I return to Brisbane, I make a pilgrimage to my sacred ground. 

7: Kvinesdal to Sognalstrand, Norway

My wife Cathie and I were fortunate enough to cycle for three weeks in Norway. Every day featured spectacular scenery. This route represents the best of the country - lots of hill climbing to cycle beside cold mountain lakes (yes, I went for a dip!), followed by a winding downhill beside rushing streams to a beautiful fjord. Cycling in Norway is beyond superlatives. If you look closely at the photo, you'll see two gaps in the cliff - that's where we cycled through a very steep tunnel.

6: Mount Hay, Australia

I�m not a mountain biker, even though I live in the Blue Mountains where there are numerous off-road trails. My favourite is a twenty-five kilometre shudder along a dirt road to Mount Hay. It�s dusty and definitely up and down, and you�re almost certain to come across a snake sunning itself at the bottom of a long shaky descent, but the views at the end of the road make it all worthwhile.

5: Annemasse, France to Cossonay, Switzerland 

The bulk of this ride is along the shores of Lake Geneva. Snow-capped mountains, a pristine lake and you can boast you�ve ridden from France to Switzerland. It's best to eat lunch on the French side though, the Swiss franc is obscenely healthy. It�s a lovely ride past the UNESCO Headquarters and through well-tended public gardens and cute Swiss villages. The B&B in Cossonay offers rooms with a 180-degree view of the mountains.

4: La Ciotat to Rousset, France

I had to include one Tour de France mountain climb in my Top Ten and this one is a beauty. Starting on the Mediterranean in the beau village of La Ciotat where the Lumiere Brothers played a pivotal role in the birth of cinema, the Col de l'Espigoulier is a category one climb through the landscape of Jean de Florette. It�s a quiet winding road alongside sandstone cliffs and stunted pines. On top, there�s a view back to Marseille and if you race down the other side a restaurant in Auriol offers mussels and frites for less than $15.

3: Megalong Valley, Australia

If I walk five hundred metres from my front door, I can look over the Megalong Valley. But, it�s much more fun to cycle to Blackheath before turning left and descending into the valley, surrounded on four sides by cliffs and eucalypt forests. Once the bitumen runs out near the Six Foot Track, there�s no alternative but to turn around and climb back out. It�s a lovely six kilometre climb, mostly shaded by thick forest and overhanging cliffs. I�m very lucky to have such a ride so close to where I live.

2: Groningen, The Netherlands

I had to travel to The Netherlands to fully understand how bike infrastructure can completely change the way we all live. Groningen in a bustling city which has successfully rid itself of cars. It�s a surreal and hugely exciting feeling to wander the streets where people come first, not motor vehicles. The immediate thing you notice is how quiet a busy city can be. Despite the masses of pedestrians and cyclists, the town centre feels open and spacious. In over twenty-five years of visiting schools to read poetry to the students, this was the first time I cycled to work. Groningen is civilised.

Oh yeah, and the local bookshop had a copy of one of my books in Dutch!

1: Granvin to Gudvangen, Norway

This route begins on the banks of the second largest open fjord in the world, the Hardangerfjord. Look south and the fjord is ringed by snow-capped mountains. Head north and you battle up a winding mountain backroad featuring the Skjervsfossen waterfall before descending into Vossvangen. Outside of town, you join the main road and cycle past lakes and thundering streams, before turning onto a lonely single lane road that winds uphill before suddenly plunging over the edge into the wildest two-kilometre descent imaginable - the Stalheimskleiva is reputedly the steepest road in Northern Europe. I loved it so much, I removed the panniers from my bike at the bottom of the hill and cycled back to the top. An average gradient of 18%. The final ten kilometres of this route is through a majestic narrow valley to Gudvangen on the shores of Sognefjord - the largest open fjord in the world.  Only in Norway.

I've written five cycling travel books which are all available here for USA readers, here for UK readers and here for readers in Australia.