I'll start with my favourite track; a favourite because it is closest to my house, has some great views of Canberra and the Brindabella Mountains, and has some fun but relatively tame hills and turns that a rank amateur like me can cut their teeth on.
Black Mountain loop
Length: 14.4 km
Time: 1-1.5 hours
Elevation gain: 400 m
Further details: Pedal Power ACT
This loop starts out the back of CSIRO's Black Mountain labs (public access is allowed), and works its way around the edge of Black Mountain. It includes an optional extension loop through Aranda (accessed by passing through a tunnel under the Caswell Drive). The bonus loop starts with the steepest climb of the ride but just beyond the Aranda summit the climb is well rewarded with beautiful views of the Brindabella Mountains and farmland to the west. It finishes by heading out to the northwest shore of Lake Burley Griffin and heading back to CSIRO/ANU/Civic as you please. It's rough firetrails all the way through the Black Mountain reserve, and then bike path tarmac along the lake's north shore.
Elevation profile:

For those who are interested, the tools I am currently using to prepare these images are:
- GPS: Garmin eTrex Vista C, with handlebar mount, using Shonky Maps
- Garmin MapSource to make the profile
- GPS Visualizer to create the Google Map



