I don't know the safe cycling routes to work, how will I know where to go?

The best place to start would probably be to ask cycling friends or other cyclists at your workplace. Check to see whether your workplace has Bicycle Users Group or BUG. If you're lucky, and you find someone who rides in from the same part of town, they may even offer to ride with you!

If you're not very confident, it's a good idea to choose an off-road bicycle or shared path or street with low traffic flow, even if it is a bit longer. TravelSmart Maps use dotted, dashed and solid blue lines to indicate different types of bicycle routes and are great to help you plan your trip and put you back on track if you get lost along the way. It can be quite tricky traversing a car dominated city by bicycle, particularly when you need to travel an unknown route to a new destination. But the chances are, someone has cycled that way before you.

Bikely.com is a website which helps cyclists share knowledge of good bicycle routes. Simply enter your origin and destination and click "search". You'll then be able to narrow down the search by specifying Australia, Victoria and the type of route you prefer eg. commute, low traffic, safe etc. The route is marked out on a map with a written description. And when you discover your own dream route, you can join up and share it with others!

VicRoads also has interactive bicycle maps of Victoria available online. The interactive website allows you to search for maps by road name, suburb or municipality, view the map in any scale, measure the distance of your route and even print out a copy to take with you.