Bromptoneering or bust

The lead up to the ride was another week of wet weather, but the outlook was forecast to be sunny.  The morning weather was so delightful that Kym and I decided to ride the additional 5km to the start – well who wouldn’t!  The meeting place was the Ed Hotel- which has been around since 1869.  As a bonus I was able to ride the latest Brompton P line mk2 from Treadly Bike Shop, who kindly loaned us the bike for the July Adelaide Bromptoneering Social Ride.

Waiting for the start can be a little tricky when we are predicting the best place to line up the bikes and not be in anyone’s way for a decent photo.  The number of bikes/people lined up put off potential street parkers from the front of the Hotel.  

Following the briefing, we were off winding our way under bridges and through the backstreets to the hillier section of lower Mitcham.  Here is where the lovely manicured laws, security fences and a lack of footpaths tells you that it’s Springfield. By this stage I managed to get Lizzie to take the P line to see how it compared to her original Brompton.  There were certainly many positive comments on its handling up the hills. We continued to cycle slowly up joining a dirt path called ‘Government Road’, I’m sure its got another name (.. and I’m not joking about the name), but the view over Adelaide was pretty impressive. 

After a brief stop to admire the view of Adelaide we were quickly heading downhill again (did I hear right that someone managed over 60km ?$%!?), zipping in-between the buildings at the Waite Arboretum, avoiding getting stuck in the drainage grate and downwards.  However, this was followed by the disappointment of Cross Road and Fullarton Road intersection.  At least there are lights to cross safely.

Traversing the quiet back roads of Unley we stopped for another photo opportunity in front of the under construction Unley Museum… thankfully Heywood Park was not too far away for the “coffee outside” stop. Oh! The biscuits were a true delight – thank you to everyone who contributed biscuits/slice to the coffee outside – it’s very much appreciated.

Leaving the park behind and crossing Cross Road again, we proceeded to zig zag through the back streets, and thin paths next to the railway line and creek. Quite a few of us at the back weren’t quite sure we knew which direction we were facing, but we could definitely tell it was very much a Kym cycling route.  Even I managed to get lost on part of the ride, due to the Beeline being on the loan bike and be being separated from me and my phone.   The next section through the back streets of Colonel Light Gardens was certainly interesting experience given the rain – I was just pleased to get through the sections without falling over. I didn’t take any photos in this section, but here are some photos taken from other rides. 

Just as we were heading under the train line I thought the turn into the road didn’t feel quite right.  Inspecting the tyre on the other side of the train line, sure enough it was flat as.  Sigh!  Is there nothing more annoying than being so close to the end of your ride and getting a flat.  No….. what about my Strava activity and kms!  At this point Michelle suggested her partner, Anthony, collect us and drop us at the Ed for lunch.  While we patiently waited we attempted to remove the quick release pedal.  At this point I was recalling being informed how easy these were to remove! Well if they are easy, I’m definitely not their target user.  I will happily take the left-hand flip folding pedal any day, regardless of age or style.

Not long after the ride Ingo posted to Facebook a great video of the ride, which covers the route and some of the locations for which I have no photos. Check it out below.

Woo-hoo!  Here’s hoping for the next ride being another blue sky day!  Huge thanks to Treadly for supporting Adelaide Bromptoneering and lending us the P line to try.

• Brompton’s ridden other than my own: 5
• Riders start: 16
• Riders at Hazelwood Park coffee stop: 17
• Riders getting lift in the last 2km: 2
• Riders completed the full distance: 15 

Finally the ride report from the rear for June… and no I had not forgotten.

It had been a week of continuous rain… well as much as we’d had in a very long time by Adelaide’s standards. The Sunday ride was the only day that week to be clear.. and by the early morning light it certainly indicated we were going to be in luck – in more ways than one.

Given the perfect sky we cycled to the start of the ride at Brightstar Brewing…nothing like additional KMs in your legs. We arrived at 10:40am, just minutes before others started to roll up, and parked the bikes in front of the local mural. 

Kym’s overview of the ride was pretty short on the description. Admittedly following the River Torrens towards the hills is pretty easy for navigation with limited opportunities to go off the path. Just as we were rolling out one more rider joined on the end – in the nick of time.

We headed north east through parklands, Bonython Park and through towards Elder Park avoiding walkers, dogs, scooters and stopped briefly for that classic Adelaide photo shot.

Back on the bikes again (more thin paths… maybe one day these will be widened), following the path under a number of road and busway bridges.  Given the weather, there was certainly a lot of people enjoying the sun. I nearly missed the right turn over the bridge to Lochiel Park stop for “coffee outside”.

At the “coffee outside” stop there were three different snacks people had brought to share. Two different types of cookies (chocolate chip.. and something else I can’t remember – this is why I need to write these posts quickly after the ride) and Dutch spice honey cake (peperkoek).  Thanks to Michelle, Gail and Ingo (thanks Ingo’s wife!).. they provided the fuel for the remainder of the ride.

After the break leaving behind the structured paths of the River Torrens we winded our way back through house lined streets, thin lanes, public parks (what was that crazy loop in the park..?) where being behind resulted in being briefly lost. 

Finally we made it back to the parklands, past the new aquatic centre, through the golf course (or what is remaining) crossing the train line following the path back under Port Road to Brightstar brewing.  Locking up the bikes outside.. we even made it in time to see the kick off in the Socceroos vs Turkiye World cup game.  What a ride! What a game! Thanks to everyone who came out – and especially to those who baked!

Not long after the ride Ingo posted to Facebook a great video of the ride, which covers the route and some of the locations for which I have no photos. Check it out below.

Riders started :15… 1 missed the original photo line up

Riders ended 15

Apologies for this report being late… so many things to blame.