Cyclists across Sydney have sprung to the defence of Sydney's Lord Mayor Clover Moore in the face of a Daily Telegraph campaign against bike paths.

The News Limited tabloid used its front page on Wednesday to claim Sydney residents had sent a message to Cr Moore - "we're over your bikes" – citing state government figures showing bike use had dropped in the past decade.

But these figures captured bike use across Sydney's Greater Metropolitan area, which extends south past Wollongong almost to Batemans Bay and north past Newcastle to Nelson Bay.

In the inner city – where Cr Moore has campaigned for more bike paths and where Barry O'Farrell's government last week committed to a major expansion of bike paths – the number of cycling trips has doubled in the past couple of years.