Thinking about cycling in the UAE? Here’s how you can get involved with the revolution…
From casual cycling to competitive races, the UAE offers so many options when it comes to biking around the emirates. You don’t even need to own your own bike, with the increased number of rental options becoming available. The country also has shared plans for increased numbers of tracks for cycling in the UAE.
Here’s everything you need to know about cycling in the UAE.
Where to cycle
Car-free tracks
Yas Marina Circuit
Abu Dhabi’s F1 track is opened to the public three nights a week for TrainYas – Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays (the latter is ladies’ night). The track is 5.5km long and you get free water here, and there’s bike shops, too. Most importantly, you can borrow bikes (plus a helmet) from the Cleveland Clinic stand. Registering in advance for a pass online is recommended – it’ll save you queuing to get in on future visits.
Al Hudayriat Island
This cycle track features two loops, one 5km long, the other 10km. The route has coastline views of the ocean and the city’s skyline. Yas Cycles has a small shop here where you can rent a bike, plus there’s changing rooms, showers and vending machines selling bottles of water.
Al Hudayriat Island, Abu Dhabi, open 24 hours, free. Taxi: Al Hudayriat, over the bridge
Mushrif National Park
For those into mountain biking, there’s a 50-km mountain bike track in the Mushrif National Park. The track is colour-coded so you can choose your skill level: Green is a simple and easy trail for beginner cyclists, blue is moderately challenging for intermediate cyclists with basic skills. Red is a tougher trail for highly skilled mountain bikers, while black is extremely challenging path reserved for expert cyclists.
Mushrif National Park, Khawaneej St, Mushrif, Dubai, daily 8am to 11pm.
District One
The loop here is almost 9km long and the views of Dubai’s skyline, including the Burj Khalifa, are pretty impressive. You’ll often find cycle club rides taking place here as well. There’s showers and toilets and also a mobile bike service shop on hand on many nights.
Desert tracks
Al Qudra
Dubai’s sprawling network of cycle routes in the desert just gets bigger – it’s now almost 230km long. Trek have a store here, where you can rent a bike, and there’s toilets and showers plus a café, and you’ll also find plenty of food trucks – it’s also home to a branch of Last Exit. There are no street lights, so if riding at night, you’ll need good lights (and you’ll need to be mindful of the local wildlife, including gazelles).
Search for Trek Store Al Qudra on Google
Al Wathba
Abu Dhabi’s facility is a 45-minute drive from the city centre – you’ll find 96km of track here, with 8k, 16k, 20k, 22k and 30k loops, meaning it’s good for cyclists of all levels. There’s an ADNOC shop selling food and drinks and coffee, plus toilets and showers, and BeSport have a small store as well, where you can rent bikes.
Search for Al Wathba Cycle Track on Google
Al Ain
The garden city now has a 23km track. Facilities are non-existent, though. There’s a car park, but no toilets and no shops. But there is an ADNOC around 3km from the end of the track, should you need to make an emergency pitstop.
District One, Nad Al Sheba, Dubai, daily, 24 hours, free. Taxi: cycle track, Nad Al Sheba.
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