Get on ya bike. Photo / Natalie Slade
Grosvenor St, Grey Lynn
With a park that runs for blocks and long flat stretches of sealed paths, this is a great spot for learning to ride. There are a few steep bushy bits, so keep to the track circling the fields. There's a paddling pool for a summer splash, playground and hoops, and, naturally dozens of coffee spots nearby for coaches/parents to refresh themselves.
Tarahanga St, Northcote
Just off the Onewa Rd off-ramp from the bridge, this park has not just a great off-road trail, but even some real road experiences: arrows, a roundabout, a give way sign. Obstacles, humps, a twisty detour track and changes in terrain up the challenge level as the kids get more confident. Non-riders can amuse themselves on the playgrounds or boat racing.
Hibiscus Coast Highway, Orewa
Known as the Te Ara Tahuna cycle and walkway this off-road 7.5km walkway track around the Orewa Estuary links several schools and Orewa Beach with lots of bridges (dismount from your bikes on the road bridge footpath over the Hibiscus Coast Highway). There's a nice mix of residential and park areas and a few slopes for hill practise.
The pieces of the jigsaw are nearly together for the inner city. More confident kids (with adults -- we're not quite there yet) can ride all the way from Upper Queen St (where the Northwestern Cycleway terminates) to the bottom of the harbour bridge. Start with a whizzy downhill ride on the Grafton Gully cycleway beside the motorway, behind the university to protected cycle lanes on Beach Rd. There's a bit of a nasty crossing (but dedicated bike lights) to more protected lanes wiggling to Quay St. The shared off-road path runs past the ferry to the Viaduct, across to Wynyard Quarter. The only missing bit is Beaumont St, so take care, before joining the beautiful new boardwalk from behind Swashbucklers all the way around Westhaven.
For great maps of your neighbourhood cycling and tips go to at.govt.nz/cycling-walking
Princess Diana stayed there, and now so have I.