Canberra is a fabulous place to ride your Brompton. No one will be able to convince me otherwise. I know I had a great time – and it was made more enjoyable by the people who came along for the ride & experience. Weather was perfect, cycling was perfect – what more can one say? Well… just a little bit…
Day 1 – Capital Brewing: 41.51km
Today we were out of the blocks at 7:30am with a short 6.5km ride through established neighbourhoods to the Lyneham Shops for breakfast at one of the many spots before heading back to get ready for the main ride. This ensured everyone knew the location of the shops and could pick up additional supplies for the week. Additionally, it was the coldest morning of the whole week… and the wind chill factor was high.
Today’s main ride started off with the traditional Brompton line up (always good to take up car parking space of people checking-in and out – see below), once the introductions and formalities for the week were over we headed the long way to Capital Brewing. The first part involved following bike & pedestrian paths and lanes through the back streets of North Canberra. It was surprising how many lanes there were… and surprisingly Kym only made one wrong turn. Morning tea was held in a park near Mt Ainslie. The cakes (Anzac cake and Apricot Cake) were generously provided by friends of our on road support Julie – given I ate two pieces, I must have worked up an appetite.
Following the contour of the mountain we took the side entrance to Mount Ainslie Nature Reserve. The terrain changed from smooth roads and paths to gravel, which required more concentration given the high proportion of rocks. Before long we were at the back of the Australian War Memorial. Once the bikes were locked up, we made a brief stop for an hour to look inside and inspect the new ANZAC Galleries. We were back on our bikes and headed down and back up Anzac Parade with a view toward Parliament House, passing many memorials. There was the obligatory photo stop before we took to the back streets, winding between the houses, then Defence Force buildings (we didn’t stop to join in the lunch time pilates behind the secured fence), before heading around Lake Burley Griffin. By this time hunger pains were starting to creep in – wondering ‘how much further ’til lunch’. We were nearly at Capital Brewing when a person emerged from a local community garden with their Brompton – and was astonished to see 12 other Bromptons in the wild. We invited her to come on the rides during the week, and she confirmed we didn’t have far to go for lunch. Like all good breweries it had a food truck on the inside. Thankfully the service was quick and the food tasty.
We rode back through the Jerrabomberra Wetlands and Kingston. A few people stopped off to look at the National Library and National Art Gallery as we passed, while the rest returned to our respective cabins at the Alivio Tourist Park. Alivio is delightfully located surrounded by native trees and with a view of Black Mountain and the Telstra Tower. The down side is when there are 2 kms to go it is all up hill (boo-hoo)! The compensation is that when you leave towards the city there is a fabulous downhill.
Dinner in the evening was butter chicken in the Camp Kitchen (thanks Caroline), finished off with a very delightful apple pie and ice cream (thanks Anthony!). There was enough food to go round and the lucky ones took left overs of the apple pie for breakfast.
Riders start – 13 : Riders at end – 10
Day 2 – Embassies: 47.39km
Today’s ride was designed based on a request from Mary. There was an early morning route update for those who didn’t want to cycle up Red Hill. After the early morning line up we were headed down hill through the city. We made a brief stop to collect coffee filters (yes, we brought ones which were too small and spilt coffee) and coffee beans before crossing Lake Burley Griffin. We briefly stopped at the British High Commission for culturally appropriate Brompton photos and dominoes (lets face it – we knew it was going to happen at some stage, and thankfully my bike was not the cause!).
This part of ride went past soooo many embassies! It was a great opportunity to see the different architectural approaches reflecting their country. Apparently, Australia is the only country where this done. For more information check out the If You’re Listening Podcast (15 minute listen). With this part of the ride, I was going so slow looking at the different buildings and, true to the title of this report, constantly at the rear! There is no doubt that the embassies are best observed by cycling. You would not see nearly as much by car or walking. Here is some of the things I observed:
- Gloria Jeans coffee truck outside the German Embassy
- USA looked like a fenced off bowls club with added security (just don’t stay too long looking at the building)
- site of Russian Embassy needs a little work (will it ever get built..??)
- Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands both had fabulous roof lines
- France still had the poster up promoting the Olympics (.. it was 2024 I think the sign can be removed)
- Finland & Estonia share a site – one side with no fence!
- Do not, repeat do not spend too much time outside of the Iran or Israel Embassy – I was slow and thankfully we were not moved on (there were hills!)
Traversing through the suburbs, we made a stop at the Australian Mint for morning tea (more fabulous cake .. yummmo) and a quick tour of the mint. We continued through suburbs of Deakin and Hughes before stopping at a food truck at Eddison Park for Momo’s (see the photos for the steamed goat momos). This was a delightful stop under the trees.. and enough crates for everyone! At this point of couple of the group decided to go around Red Hill and meet up with the main bunch after we had been the top. It was a little steep…. prior to the last significant up we briefly stoped in front of a large building associated with Saudi Arabia.. couldn’t tell if it was an embassy or a house, but it did have a Didi car out the font – who knows! While regaining our energy we had a sugar hit of jellies before the brief climb to the top. Looking out over Canberra on a blue sky day was perfect – what an achievement, and we all enjoyed a TimTam in honour of Andrew’s birthday. From here we headed back down around Parliament House (from the rear) back to Alivo.
For dinner we headed out to Verity Lane, like a food hall but with better vibe featuring food from different cultures. Dinner was enjoyed with Paris who moderates the Canberra by Bike and Canberra Brompton Club Facebook pages. Afterwards, a few of us managed to get the last tiramisu for desert before a fast cold ride back up the hill.
Riders start – 13 : riders at end – 13
Day 3 – Parliamentary Triangle: 56.52km
There was an another early morning route change. Kym combined the dinner ride with the main ride which made more sense given that everyone was planning to go to dinner. Today, Emma joined us with her P Line and cool water bottle holder! She is a Canberra Brompton local who saw our post on the Canberra Brompton Club Facebook page. Unlike the previous two days, we headed left towards Aranda Bushland Nature reserve, where we briefly stopped for some a photos overlooking a horse paddock. We continued on for a short while then we came to a fork in the road. We divided into two groups. One going up to the National Arboretum and the another avoiding the hill and enjoying a longer morning tea stop.
Nine of us (including Emma) took the high road. We decided to follow the local recommendation rather than the planned route and go up via Forest Drive to get to the Dairy Farmers lookout. It was steep, but the view was oh so worthy! It was a real delight as the colours of autumn were shining in the morning light throughout the Arboretum. At the top we enjoyed a some fruit jellies (thanks Andrew & Lizzie), took photos of the Bromptons and the view. The majority of us went down via the switch-back path, (you’ll have to take a look at our Strava activity to be impressed) which was really fun before going on to join the rest of the group for fresh home made scones with jam and cream at morning tea at Weston Park, next door to the Governor General.
After a decent rest it was back on the bikes as we followed the path around Lake Burley Griffin until Commonwealth Place. We said farewell to Emma and enjoyed a two hour break to visit any of the cultural buildings in the area. Kym and I decided to go to the Portrait Gallery for lunch, as did almost everyone else. I enjoyed a fresh poke bowl while sitting outside. The gallery were mid exhibition change over – but it was good to see the 2023 Matildas moving image portrait of the team (enjoying comfy chair for a good 15 minutes) in addition to the John Brack x Noel McKenna exhibition.
After the break we were back on the Bromptons and heading towards Parliament House for a brief stop and line up of the bikes. From here we headed through the Parliamentary gardens (who knew there was adult fitness equipment there?) at the side, and around the hill through to Manuka and looping up to the bridge and along the water front towards the National Museum of Australia. We stopped here for afternoon tea where we enjoyed the last of scones. By this time it was near 4:30pm, and some went on to a bike shop in Braddon to return a seat (its a long story – if you see Ian ask him). The rest of us took the planned route through ANU back towards Braddon to Bent Spoke for dinner.
Paris (from the day previous) had lined up an interview on a commercial radio station to talk about the Adelaide Bromptoneering Canberra takeover. This took place at around 5:30, and we managed to make to dinner location well before the scheduled time (even though there were road works and limited places to lock the bikes). Additionally, I was glad no-one knew which radio station it was on, to avoid anyone from the group listening. Dinner was very enjoyable! Despite it being cold, some of us decided to grab an ice cream from Messina before heading back,
Riders at start – 14 (picked up extra rider at the beginning): riders at end (dinner) -13
Day 4 – C7C9 Peripherique – 52.94km
We started off with the usual route and headed through Braddon and CBR central. Made a brief stop in Duntroon enabling Andrew, Tin and David to head up to Mount Pleasant while the rest of us headed onto the morning tea stop at the Mount Majura Nature Reserve. The cycling path there was very scenic, with wide open fields with views of the hills (an unnamed building we assumed ASIO) with horses and cows. At the reserve Rique, who we met on Monday near the community garden, decided to join us for the day on her Bromtpon which had been converted to electric. The morning tea spot was just lovely under some trees in a forrest reserve. From here we headed up towards a gentle hill before a very enjoyable downhill into Gungahlin.
The lunch stop was Cypher Brewing (if only we had called ahead we might of got a discount – and seniors menu should be operating now). Nevertheless, the Thursday special of burger and beer was the perfect after all the hills. Afterwards, the route winded through the suburbs and connecting bike paths past Lake Ginninderra (who knew there were sooo many lakes in Canberra) where we made a brief stop by a nepalese food truck for a break and afternoon tea. We were only were 8km from our accomodation, so it was a nice short ride back home through the grounds of Australian Institute of Sport, where we saw a number of kangaroos – thankfully not too near us.
We rode to dinner at a Filipino restaurant called Lolo and Lola (13km round trip). As Chief food organiser for the evening Caroline decided all the dishes and we shared the food amongst the group – and it was super tasty. If you are ever in Canberra its worth a stop.
Riders at start – 11 (picked up an extra and finished after afternoon tea stop): riders at finish – 11
Day 5 – C5C4 – Southern Explorer – 61.90km
Our last day – and the longest. Yet another route update, this time Kym decided to merge the breakfast ride with the main ride as most people were planning to do both. It was an early 8am start so we could visit the bakery within the School of Art and Design building of the Australian National University. There were a lot more people on the path heading to work/uni. The bakery is run by French people – no wonder the croissant was fabulously flakey. If you are ever in Canberra between Monday – Friday you need to go to Saviour French – oh it’s perfect. From here it was a very short uphill ride to the Australian National Botanical Gardens. Andrew and Tin left us to complete the final Takeover challenge of climbing Black Mountain while the rest of us parked our bikes and wandered around the garden enjoying the banksias.
I’m not going to talk about the bike parking discussion a number of us had with a staff member from the botanical gardens. Let’s just say the bike parking is not as obvious to everyone who visits the gardens. Leaving the gardens behind we went back and followed Lake Burley Griffin for a bit before heading south through Weston Creek and onto Kambah Village for lunch. The majority of us stopped at L’epi Artisan Bakery for some of their baked goods, and pick up a jar of jam. Ian managed to pick up a Basque cheesecake for the evenings dinner to celebrate Margaret’s Birthday. Michelle left 30 minutes early, to get ahead of the group. The route after lunch was generally downhill, again around another lake, before the route took us back towards the centre of Canberra. There was one more brief afternoon tea stop near Woden, before we did the last 17km of the official Canberra Takeover. The route back took us along bike paths next to rivers, through parks, back past Lake Burley Griffin and over the bridge where we stopped for a photo with the National Library of Australia in the background. By this time the battery in my phone had been used up, so Kym was left to take the photos. We headed back through the centre of town towards Alivio – where we found out Michelle beat us back by 15 minutes.
Riders start-13 : riders end: 12
Upon returning, there was a quick flurry of changing and packing bags for some who were heading out on the evening plane back to Adelaide. While the rest of us either drove or cycled to dinner to celebrate Margaret’s birthday and a fantastic week of cycling in Canberra. A few brave souls did venture out for the dawn service at 5:30am some by bike and some by warm car!
If you didn’t come, hopefully this report might convince you to take your Brompton with you next time you visit Canberra! All of the routes will remain on bromptoneering.blog to help you with your planning.
Many thanks to everyone who came along for the ride. Regardless of whether you brought your own Brompton or you rode a friend’s, I hope you enjoyed the overall experience as much as I did. I certainly want to take my Brompton back to Canberra next autumn!
Helen K
