so it cannot be repaired<\/a>.<\/p>\nCurrently residents and visitors cycling from the northern hamlets around Wallaga Lake to Bermagui have two options.<\/p>\n
Some continue to use the Long Swamp track. People must push their bikes up and down onto the beach at either end of the missing track and then walk with their bikes along the sand. This option is only available to the fit and strong and those with lightweight bicycles. It is also dependent on tides.<\/p>\n
The other option includes cycling along some 2.5 km of Wallaga Lake Road between the corner of Tilba Road and Scenic Drive. The tourist road has a 80 km\/h speed limit, no dedicated cycle lane and is potholed. There are big ridges on some parts of the road\u2019s edge.<\/p>\n
Skilled and fit cyclists with mountain bikes have a third option. On the western side of Wallaga Lake Road there is a deeply rutted dirt track that is very muddy after rain.<\/p>\n
![\"Not](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_32183-e1767740085257-1200x582.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Not all motorists know they are allowed to cross over the white line to make room for cyclists.<\/p>\n
Wallaga Lake resident Doug Mein still uses the Long Swamp track twice a week. He has a lightweight bike that he can carry up and down the beach where the track has fallen away.<\/p>\n
He avoids using Wallaga Lake Road because it is \u201ctoo stressful\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is fast traffic. Some drivers are reasonable, but some aren\u2019t,\u201d Mr Mein said. \u201cIt is very easy to imagine a cyclist being clipped by a car driving too closely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another Wallaga Lake resident Diane Bray also continues to use Long Swamp track when weather and tides permit. She cycles into Bermagui two or three times a week to shop, meet friends, or swim in one of Bermagui\u2019s pools.<\/p>\n
Ms Bray said taking a bicycle down to the beach via the sand ramp that council had made and back up the other end where residents had put in rocks to act as crude steps was a \u201chard slog\u201d and not an option for anyone with an expensive bike.<\/p>\n
An experienced cyclist, she said cycling on the eastern side of Wallaga Lake Road into Bermagui required concentration.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t afford to be suddenly faced with a pothole when you have cars behind you and cars coming towards you on the other side of the road,\u201d Ms Bray said. \u201cI have to be very careful that I don\u2019t veer out to avoid a pothole.\u201d<\/p>\n
She knows two women who have given up cycling into Bermagui. \u201cThey are just too scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
The most dangerous section is curved and the road is particularly narrow because there is a crash barrier.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are really relying on the cars to slow down because they can\u2019t see for sure if there is any oncoming traffic so they can\u2019t move out towards the other side of the road,\u201d Ms Bray said. \u201cSome are very close to you when they pass.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wallaga Lake resident and BCF member David Monro cycles into Bermagui daily to swim in the pools.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people are no longer cycling into town because it is too scary along Wallaga Lake Road,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Monro\u2019s biggest worry is the many visitors to Bermagui at this time of the year who are unfamiliar with the area and the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout a safe cycling lane, it is a real concern for families and their children,\u201d he said. \u201cIf there was a collision, I doubt a cyclist would survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said BCF wrote to council asking for repair to the road edges to make it safer for cyclists. Council said there was no funding available and it was not included in its works program.<\/p>\n
BCF then asked council for help to estimate the cost of repairs so it could apply for grant funding or raise money from the community.<\/p>\n
BCF launched the petition on change.org<\/a> when council declined the request. BCF intends to present the petition at a future council meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cars pass very close to cyclists on the 80 km\/h road. Photos: Martin Oswin. Bermagui Community Forum (BCF)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-403128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Cars](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_32283-e1767739944613-1200x620.jpg\")
<\/p>\n