The sweet secret behind a Wollongong cycling family

Sharon and Greg Gibson live close to the bike path at East Corrimal and have been riding since they met around 20 years ago.

Read more: Years of work went into Wollongong gaining Bike City honour

"I think it's the freedom, the fun, the joy of cycling," she said.

"I think when you get back on the bike, it's when you realise how much you love it and how much it makes you feel good."

They go on family rides with nine-year-old Grace and eight-year-old Chloe and Ms Gibson said the youngsters sometimes did need to be enticed to get on the bike.

"I can say pretty much every ride we do there is a promise of an ice cream at the end," she joked.

"But they love it too. We get to go to different places and because we live along the bike path we get to ride to and from places all the time, from our house into town."

Ms Gibson said the cycling infrastructure across the Illawarra is improving but there were still areas that needed some attention.

"Because we live where we live we've got really good access to the path and cycleways that are already established," she said.

"But if you move away from the coast it gets a bit harder and closer into the city it can be hard but overall it's not bad - we have a good foundation that we can build on."

When it came to the news that Wollongong was recognised as a Bike City by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), it didn't mean too much to Ms Gibson.

Instead she was focused on the delivery of Wollongong City Council's bike strategy, which was part of the reason the city won Bike City status.

"In all honesty the tag means nothing to me but the fact that is going to be more infrastructure is great," she said.

"The work that's councils doing, I think we can have an even more bike-friendly city - that's what's important to us."

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