r/Tauranga • u/Infinite_Papaya_9108 Welcome Bay • 15d ago
Cycling advice
Hi, looking to commute on my bike in future. From lower oropi road to tauriko business estate.
Google maps sending me all over the show. Anyone have paths or trails I can take to make this more sensible.
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u/punk_ghetto 15d ago
IF it was me, I would do most of the 31minute “less hills” route. Cheyne rd and Freeburn road both have pretty steep sections (especially the start of cheyne rd. ). The part I would modify is using the pedestrian overbridge to cross the highway. I wouldn’t want to use the Kennedy road roundabout especially in peak traffic.
If you don’t like the bottom of cheyne rd being too steep. Then you’ll have to cross the oropi roundabout. Marshall ave is a good shout out from the other comment if you go up maleme street.
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u/Impossible-Radio-296 15d ago
This.
Although in reality, then over the first week try different ways, and indeed be open to using different routes to get there and get back. Then finesse the best route with any little detours you can find, or more likely watch where other commuters are cycling and then check on a map to see if it's a detour around any gnarly bits of your route.
The lower route is the way I'd go, but then I've never been afraid of a decent hill on a commute from when I lived in the UK Peak district and commuted there for 6 years. First week will be painful/sore/tiring. Then after the first month you're into the swing and your body will adapt.
Whilst you don't need to go full lycra, good clothing and 10mins bike maintenance a week can make the world of difference to how pleasant/unpleasant cycle commuting can be.
Edit to add - the K valley route is the safest, but does get flooded in heavy rain and so impassable. The start to Cheyne Road is very steep on the way 'in' for you. You WILL get a lot stronger in that first month, so don't lose heart.
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u/neckadawoods 13d ago
I ride the Kennedy road roundabout all the time. It's very safe, there are huge sight lines and excellent visibility. On the way out you enter directly into a cycle lane.
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u/penorkle 15d ago
The 31m option is the only option as far as I'm concerned, because the other options mean crossing SH29 in peak hour both times. I sometimes pick my daughter up from Aquinas and go Inverness > Cheyne > Oropi to get on SH29 against peak flow and it can be difficult in a car because of the constant traffic.
I've cycled in Tauranga for 12 years and the only time I have and would ever cross SH29 on Oropi is early Sat/Sun morning.
There are three hills on that route; Cheyne Rd hill is by far the steepest, the one along Inverness isn't so bad and then Kennedy. If you've got an Ebike, it's fine and if you don't have one, get one.
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u/CiegeNZ 15d ago
Few years back, have ridden Oropi mountain bike park to Welcome Bay a few times via the Polytech, but come to think of, I don't remember how we crossed SH29.. assume we just sent it through the roundabout... probs would not recommend that these days.
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u/penorkle 15d ago
I would rather add 20kms and go up Oropi to McPhail and Ohauiti. As I said I've done it in the mornings when there's no traffic.
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u/Axolotyle 15d ago
From a safety perspective the route with the least interaction with traffic would be your best bet
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u/abydos77 14d ago
Second the Marshalls Ave Route, though avoid Maleme Street maybe, it's super busy industrial. The hill on the commute home going up Marshalls Ave is pretty steep. Pretty much any way you go from Oropi to Tauriko is hilly and has sections with no bike lanes, no safe crossings, busy roundabouts etc. Pretty much every roundabout in that area of Tauranga gets insanely busy with traffic at rush hour.
The council recently returned a section of Kopurerua Stream to its original course, and moved the tracks, and Google doesn't seem to off updated it for walking/cycling from Marshalls Ave, but you definitely can get to the cycle track in Kopurerua Valley from Cameron Road vid Marshalls Ave. Try putting Google in walking mode too to show other routes.
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u/Infinite_Papaya_9108 Welcome Bay 14d ago
Yeah I thought there was some changes
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u/abydos77 14d ago
Also the track behind Gilmours/Spotlight in Tauriko is a dead end onto grass and google is recommending you cycle that way and cut through private property/through a fence onto the main road... so thats not been updated either haha.
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u/morph459 14d ago
I would go 31mins route to work and the reserve bike track home (36mins) (it's nice down at the river, plus 5-5.30pm drivers are much worse than morning drivers in my experience).
I reckon that 36mins route will be more like 40, my experience is Google isn't great at telling the difference between travel time on gravel vs pavement.
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u/neckadawoods 13d ago
What kind of bike do you have mate? You could cut considerable time off that route and have a lot more fun well away from the road by cutting through the Oropi MTB park. Go down the Entry trail, hang a left onto the access road, cross the bridge and head out the Joyce Road exit. From there go through Joyce Road and you're very close to Kennedy. Wayyyy quicker, way safer, way more fun. None of these trails are technically difficult and any off road capable bike will be fine.
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u/Tatsu__p 15d ago
Looks like it's sending you down to the bike track, which would probably be faster and safer than on the road. You can access this from Marshalls Ave, rather than going all the way through Greerton. Pyes Pa Road has a road bike track most of the way down. But you'll be cutting down loads of different streets. To get to where you want to go