As anyone driving a car would have noticed, the number of cyclists on the roads in Newcastle has sky-rocketed in the past few years. Now considered one of the fastest growing sports amongst men and women in Australia, cycling has taken the country by storm and many believe it will usurp the position long-held by golf as the corporate sport of choice.
Cycling is a sport, and a lifestyle, on the move and many of the converted are getting fit, enjoying the outdoors and making use of the available cycling tracks. Today, more than three million Australians ride a bike with more than two million of them riding every month. Cycling over the past 10 years has undergone a renaissance across not just Australia but also the world.
Along with working out at the gym, jogging, hiking and bushwalking, cycling is now one of Australia’s major growth sports and almost certainly the result of increased petrol prices, congested roads, inefficient and over-crowded public transport.
In recent years, British, Australian and American winners of the Tour de France have also helped catapult cycling into what some are calling a ‘Golden Age.'
Today, the number of Americans who ride bicycles is greater than all those who ski, golf, and play tennis combined. A third of the US and UK population cycle and half own a bike. In South Africa, it’s the fastest-growing sport and the highest per capita spend on cycling equipment of any country in the world. Cycling is now the new golf!
Cycling is an excellent way to get around, whether you use your bike as your primary form of transport or for a leisurely weekend of exploring. With temperatures becoming cooler, it's a wonderful way to spend time outdoors and get where you are going. For many cyclists deciding on a bicycle is a significant investment and can be as highly involved as buying a car.
Recognising this need for quality, reliability and expertise as well as the importance of after sales service, Gateshead Cycles was founded in 1973 and remains a long established family run bike store serving the Newcastle and Hunter Valley cycling community.
The owner of Gateshead Cycles, Ian Simpson says that their first priority is to introduce riders to the bike that will meet their particular requirements.
"Care is taken to ensure every rider is properly fitted to their new bike to ensure maximum enjoyment, performance and safety on their ride," says Ian. "While we specialise in mountain bikes, we also cater for almost every cycling need you can imagine.”
With the growing demand for their bicycles, in 2014 Gateshead Cycles moved its store to Medcalf Street in Warners Bay where they could provide a greater range of bikes, clothing and bike accessories, a service centre as well as offer a safe area to test ride the bicycles.
For the past forty-three years, Gateshead Cycles has become an integral part of the fast growing local cycling scene with passionate sales people, skillful mechanics and an exciting range of brands that include Cannondale, GT, Mongoose, Schwinn, Felt, Fox, Bellwether and Bell.
Get on Your Bike
So with your new bicycle, you are now ready to explore the fast growing network of cycle-ways around Newcastle and Lake Macquarie with some of the most popular routes including the Fernleigh Track, the Bathers Way, Throsby Creek, Stockton Foreshore, Tramway Track and the Booragul to Belmont Cycleway – an 18km route that passes the suburbs of Booragul, Speers Point, Warners Bay, Eleebana, Valentine and terminates at Belmont.
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