October 2026 Adelaide Bromptoneering Update

Posted on by kymdt

Next ride – briefing

Two bicycles parked on a coastal pathway along rocky shores and a calm sea.

The next ride is Sunday 11 October leaving from Lonsdale Railway Station at 11:00am. We will be on the Seaford Train arriving at Lonsdale 10:41am. We will be boarding at Woodlands Park at 10:15am. Otherwise, there is car parking at the station. Details including the route and a GPX file are available on the October 2026 Lonsdale Adelaide Bromptoneering Adventure Ride.

This is an adventure ride, so bring your adventuring boots. For the most part we will be on paths and tracks which means there isn’t too much traffic. There are however some on-road sections in industrial areas but the timing of the ride should mean that this will be pretty quiet. There are some sections on beachside paths – if the weather is good we are likely to experience pedestrian activity. As usual in these circumstances, please ride single file, ring your bell or talk to people you are passing, give space and go slowly.

A significant portion of the ride is on single track near the Onkaparinga River. This is likely to be quiet but there may be other track users including the occasional reptile. I only saw a stumpy tail lizard on the test ride. Google AI advises however that “If you see a snake ahead while riding, stop safely if you have enough distance, or maintain your momentum and roll past its tail if stopping risks a crash. Never attempt to touch, poke, or ride over a coiled snake on purpose, and always give the animal a wide berth to escape.” The rest of the ride is on the relatively quiet Coast to Vines trail!

There are a few little mounds that for safety reasons we will hike our bikes down. Bromptons are flexible, but they are not downhill mountain bikes!

Let us know if you are coming on the registration page.

2027 Ride Program

A row of bicycles parked on a path overlooking a beach and ocean. In the background, there are trees and a clear blue sky.

I am starting to plan the rides for 2027.

I have prepared a short survey to get your feedback on what you would like to see in 2027.

Take the 2027 Adelaide Bromptoneering Rides survey.

Lighting the way

A red folding bicycle parked on a dirt path surrounded by low vegetation under a blue sky.

You may have seen some new bike lights on Helen’s bike. They are Magicshine remote controlled lights. They are designed to work work with more recent C/P Line Bromptons. They are impressive lights that don’t get in the way of folding. Magicshine have a range of parts that fit on Bromptons. They have given us a 15% discount code valid until the end of January 2027 – Bromptoneering15

For those interested about attaching them to older Bromptons. The remote controller attaches to one of the gear shifters. But if you have an older bike like Helen you will need to buy a compatible remote control that uses rubber rings to attach. Similarly, the front bike mount works with newer Brompton. But it may not work on older bikes as the mount is too wide for the front brake bolt. Rockbros have a mount that fits older Bromptons.

Next Rides

Please note the change to date for the November ride. The original program (postcard) was Saturday November 28 it is now Saturday November 21.

  • Sunday October 11 at 11:00am – Adventure Ride – Unit 3 Collective, Lonsdale (Brompton Bike Adventure Ride)
  • Saturday November 21 at 11:00am – The Wheatsheaf Hotel, Thebarton (Brompton Bike Social Ride)
  • Friday December 4 at 6:30pm – Goodwood Railway Station (All bikes welcome)
  • Thursday December 10 at 11:00am – Glynde – The Suburban Brew – Thursday Throwback (All Bikes Welcome)
  • Sunday December 20 at 11:00am – Christmas Ride – The Brickmakers Arms, Brompton (Brompton Bike Social Ride)

Thursday Throwback

Posted on by kymdt

Just in case you were planning to join me for tomorrow’s Thursday Throwback ride, I had delayed releasing the ride details because of the weather forecast. With up to 25mm forecast for tomorrow, I have now decided to cancel tomorrow’s ride.

The next Thursday Throwback ride will be in December. Details shortly.

October 2026 Lonsdale Adelaide Bromptoneering Adventure Ride

Posted on by kymdt

Time11:00am Sunday 11 October 2026
Add all rides to your calendar
Getting thereWe will be on the Seaford Train arriving at Lonsdale 10:41am. We will be boarding at Woodlands Park at 10:15am. Otherwise, there is car parking at the station.
LocationLonsdale Railway Station
Lonsdale SA 5160
Route29 km loop through Lonsdale, O’Sullivan Bech, Christies Beach, Port Noarlunga, Huntfield Heights, Hackham West, Morphett Vale. 259 Vertical metres and 10 km or so of gravel, dirt or single track.
Strava Link
GPX Route
Refreshment Stops3km screaming seagull for coffee and/or toast.
16.5km Kimber Park – own refreshments.
25.5km Unit Three Collective – drinks, beer, snacks, order in food, BYO food.
RSVPLet us know if you’re coming on the registration page.

September 2026 – Ride Report from the Rear

Posted on by helenhmk

September’s ride commenced at Catlin on Magill Road, which is a suburban tasting room for the winery. While parking was limited, the opportunistic ones took advantage of the numerous car parks at Magill campus of Adelaide Uni. However, there was limited signage about parking. The less risk adverse took the limited opportunities in the side streets.

Following the traditional line-up and informative ride briefing (second version had more detail – more like that style please Kym!) we were back on the bikes and following the route through the Uni campus admiring the early 70’s story cement style. Making or way through to the other side, we began zigzagging through the side streets when the dark cloud unleashed some rain. Some pulled over immediately to throw on a rain jacket, while others had made it to the local shops on St. Bernards road for shelter. Being spring, the rain lasted as long as it took everyone to cross the traffic lights – that’s cycling.

While Campbelltown housing area seems to be a mishmash of housing styles, surprisingly Kym managed to find a gravel path called Kuula Tapa, translated as Koala Lane between Courtabie and Jury avenues in Rostrevor. It was delightfully filled with native plants, including wattle which was in bloom. From here we headed slightly up to the trail alongside fourth creek which took us all the way to Hectorville.

September’s coffee stop found us at ‘Daly Coffee Kick’ at Daly Oval in Tranmere.  At the time there also was a local celebration with a BBQ. Ian took advantage of a cheap egg and bacon sandwich, all for a good cause.  It is a great local run cafe – and worth the stop.

Cycling through the back streets was pretty cruisey. While there were a couple of minor busy roads, and traffic lights for crossing points. Many at the back were pretty lost and couldn’t quite place where we were in relation to the start.  There was a general sense of confusion between Kensington Gardens Reserve and Kensington Oval (weren’t we just here a few minutes ago?). Cycling through Coopers Avenue between Statenborough Street and Stanley Streets was an interesting choice (yeah – open fence). Thankfully the rain held off, it wasn’t long before we were back at Catlin on Magill Road, taking in the delights of the mid century seating and decor while relaxing with a wine or beer, and a toastie. It was certainly an enjoyable backstreets ride – perfect for Bromptons!

Riders start: 13

Riders completed the full distance:13 

Flat Tyres: 0

Tip: parking is free on weekends at Magill campus.

September 2026 Adelaide Bromptoneering Update

Posted on by kymdt

Next Ride

The next ride is Sunday 13 September leaving from Catlin on Magill at 11:00am. I forgot to include the registration link on original route post. If you haven’t registered that you are intending to ride on Facebook, then please follow the link to register at Bromptoneering.blog. This will help me ensure that everybody has a seat!

The weather is looking like the perfect spring day. The route takes us through the back streets of the “outer” eastern suburbs. It will involve riding on some narrow gravel and paved paths. If there are walkers, I will call out and slow down to fast walking pace. Depending on the circumstances, I may stop to allow the walkers to pass safely. On these paths please ride single file.

There will be a number of major roads that we will cross without the advantage of signals. I am expecting that the roads will be reasonably quiet. In most of the crossings there is space in the middle of the road. However, please exercise caution at these crossings.

Given the ‘tilt’ of the Adelaide plains there will be some gentle inclines as we head east or south, but this is compensated some nice freewheeling as we head north and west. Take it at your pace and Helen and I will ensure the group stays together.

Throwback Thursday

This Thursday (10 September at 11:00am) I will be re-riding Adelaide Airport – Yellow Matter route originally used on 28 July 2024. This time I will start and finish at Beach Break Cafe (1 Seaview Rd, West Beach SA 5024). If you have a big wheeled friends who you think might enjoy this ride, then it’s ok to bring them along! No RSVP required just turn up on the day.

The next Throwback Thursday 1 October. If there is a ride you’d like to re-ride with me let me know on Sunday.

The Sydney Engineer Who’s Ridden 5,000km on a Folding Bike

Gordon has ridden one or another of his Brompton folding bicycles more than 5,000 kilometres since 2020, across the UK, Taiwan, California, and France, including up the famously brutal Mont Ventoux ascent, the so-called “Giant of Provence”, where the grades are as steep as 10%.

Some of those kilometres were in Adelaide earlier this year and few more were in Sydney when he rode part of the Greater Sydney Bike Trail with us.

Full story on CycleHub.com.au

Upcoming Social Rides

The rides for the remainder of 2026 are:

Sydney: Day 5 Sydney to Mascot

Posted on by kymdt

This is the final 49km of our Greater Sydney Bike Trail adventure. We will return to where it all started – Mascot – not for any reason other than that is where my bike bag is being stored. And by 7:00pm, I’ll be on board a flight back to Adelaide to return to my ordinary existence. My ride statistics are available on Strava.

My accomodation was in the Rocks, conveniently within a stones throw from the Lord Nelson. My room had quite a pleasant view over Barangaroo. By the time we had arrived in Sydney, we were already aware that this weekend was the Sydney Marathon weekend. If I hadn’t already known, by the time I had arrived to Circular Quay by bike it would have been beyond doubt. Many groups of runners enjoying stunning Sydney weather for an iconic run. Later in the ride the temporary fencing and other preparations would also be present.

Like a homing pigeon, I headed to my favourite Sydney coffee and breakfast spot Parami to meet Andrew and Lizzie and have breakfast together. They take the humble muffin, almost universally dull and dry, and create a delicious moist extravaganza of flavour. It is the perfect light breakfast when combined with a black coffee. I know that many people don’t like muffins, but please suspend your judgement until you try it. This homing pigeon headed straight through the city utilising the excellent cycleways now in Sydney. There is not doubt in my mind that Sydney has been the most successful Australian city in transforming itself into an attractive human centred CBD. Great investments in urban space, transit and cycleways contribute to a more engaging and pleasantly quieter CBD. I have avoided brining my Brompton to Sydney for many years – but there are no excuses anymore. I didn’t take any photos because I was just enjoying my ride in the centre of Sydney!

Of course not long after breakfast there was a need to have a quick morning tea. This time we headed to an old favourite Bourke Street Bakery. I have the book – but have never made anything from it – perhaps it’s time?

I didn’t want to embarrass any of the road racers on the Centennial Park track so we only did part of the loop before heading off on a random meander towards the beach. It is fair to say that there were a few short hill climbs to keep us honest in this shore adjacent segment of the route. While we planned to arrive at Coogee for lunch, we were making good time and actually arrived a bit earlier. Andrew had a chance to explore a few ocean pools – perhaps in preparation for his next visit? We decided to follow the shore path towards Maroubra for a light cafe lunch at Marini Cafe.

All that was left was to head out to historic La Perouse and then to meander our way back to Mascot. Sounds simple enough? We were doing pretty well until Heffron Park. What I hadn’t realised at the time was that when I edited the GPX file to include directions to my luggage storage in Mascot, Strava decided to algorithmically redraw the route from Heffron Park to Mascot. So instead of turning left at Fitzgerald Avenue the algorithm decided we should go right and then join Anzac Parade!!! I was having doubts about this route but gaslighting myself I persisted for a while before stopping and confirming my fears. By this time, the best solution was for us to follow our own way back to Mascot.

There are important lessons for people contemplating doing trips like this in Sydney, or for that matter anywhere else in the world. Nothing beats a route that has been prepared by and tested by a human – the algorithm only knows a model of the world. In many cases that model is wrong because of old data, wrong data and missing data. It can lead to terrible routing decision made by a computer. It is important to encourage and support the work of people like Garry Robinson who work very hard to bring together routes like the Greater Sydney Bike Trail. If you’re interested in some of my routes in Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra (and soon Brisbane) you can find them at Bromptoneering or Bust. I promise that you don’t have to have a Brompton to enjoy these rides – but it would surely will be better!

Until next time…

August 2026 – Ride Report from the Rear

Posted on by helenhmk

The weather at the beginning of the ride was perfect. The ride overview was incredibly short… and we were suddenly on our bikes crossing North East Road. Not sure how Kym manages to find some of the worst small lanes… but congrats to TTG council for this one.

Cycling through the suburban streets on Sunday it highlighted it was the time of day for mowing the lawn and tidying the garden (nothing like a blower vac). Following the creek, with a little off roading and suburban streets through Surry Downs and Fairview Park. Stopped at Tiley Reserve once we had scaled the car park (hill was impressive), it was good to look back over our route. Quick photo and we were back on the bikes taking a few short cuts to the Garden Grove coffee shop.

Unsurprisingly there were no bike parks at Garden Grove, cause yeah why would a garden centre have any!? Thank you to Brooke, who had a hedge eye view of proceedings, for guarding our bikes. The size of the coffees, cake and biscuits certainly provided fuel for the remainder part of the ride.

There were enough hills and valleys along the ride with great views where we stopped for photos. Golden Grove with its many residential streets and paths was not the easiest of places to cycle through but Kym only went wrong once. We eventually found the right road to get to Wynn Vale Damn (sooo many Ibis!!) where we stopped for some photos.. and again shortly after at Kingfisher reserve.

We took the path alongside Dry Creek down to North East Road… where we saw a policeman questioning a van driver, with the van having stopped just before the creek. The snippet of conversation was something like “if the handbrake was on it wouldn’t be there…” we will never know…

Once crossing North East Road taking the back streets to the path alongside the quiet, due to surface works at the interchange, Obahn track to TTP and side streets back to six Twelve Brewing for lunch. A little hilly but it was great to ride past lots of wattle blossom and even some ducklings crossing the path – spring is coming!

Record of note

Richard – cycling 40km to the start of the ride (impressive!)

Helen – lunch arriving within a minute of being ordered

Riders start/finish 11

KM – 21.25

Sydney: Day 4 Parramatta to Sydney

Posted on by kymdt

For those who have been following daily, I’ve added some drone footage to the blog post about Sydney: Day 3 Casula to Parramatta. According to Google Maps it is a 29km bike ride from Parramatta to Sydney. But that is not the way us intrepid explorers like to roll – we prefer the 57km route. I’ve been sharing our plans on a number of Facebook Groups. On day 4 we had two takers – Gordon a fellow Brompton rider who has previously visited us in Adelaide and Winston a person we have never met before except through Greater Sydney Bike Trail Facebook Group. You can find my ride details on Strava and the offical route on Cycle Sydney.

Andrew, Lizzie and I started in Parramatta and decided to take a small deviation to visit the Auburn Sakura Festival. We were well supported by coffee and breakfast from Circa near Parramatta Station. We took some back streets from our hotel until we arrived at the M4 – we followed that trail for less than 1km or so – but we did manage to see a large police presence at an incident between a delivery bike and car on(or near) a pedestrian crossing! We then followed the path next to Duck River to the Auburn Botanic Gardens. We arrived soon after opening and it got busier and busier. It certainly must be heaving on a weekend. The only problem is that you can’t plan nature and the cherry trees were not at full blossom. I reckon next week (when there is no festival or entry fee?) will probably be better viewing.

Gordon joined us with his steel framed Brompton with super special rear heel engaged low geared chainring. This will come into its own later. We returned down duck river and followed the mostly quiet back streets at least until we got to the crazy crossing over the train line that gave no space to pedestrians or cyclists. We managed that ok – but I would definitely follow a different way to cross next time. After getting through the industrial area we enjoyed the sublime paths and scenery of Sydney Olympic Park (Newington and Blaxland Riverside Park) before crossing the Silverwater Bridge.

The four of us returned to the original GSBT route following the northern shore of the Parramatta River (at least while construction allowed us). This part was relatively easy and joyful – we weren’t aware what was coming. We stopped for lunch at Fork and Spoon. After lunch Winston joined us and Lizzie left us – the RiverCat was an excellent option. Winston was sporting a retrieved and repaired mountain bike – something he was going to value on his most epic ride today! As we rode we tackled a few hills and beautiful trails before heading into Lane Cove National Park. The road through the national park with its 30 km/h limit is some of the best scenery and cycling on the trail. BUT after that! All I can say is that hill should come with a mandatory warning. It had a hit rate of 75% – 3 of us walked at least part of it – but Gordon is a dead set legend he clicked his heel like Dorothy and the magic happened – his Brompton turned into the ultimate hill climber. We had a few more hills like that before we started the “on average” downward run towards the Harbour.

More beautiful trails, places so isolated that is it hard to believe they are in a big international city and then the classic tourist photos. It was an absolute pleasure to use the new ramp onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge and an even greater pleasure to roll of the Bridge on the other side in to the warm embrace of the Lord Nelson. Lizzie rejoined us for a beer and pork pie, no better way to reward such an epic ride. Winston complete his longest and biggest ride ever and this makes him a dead set legend too. I hope he keeps up and finds some riding buddies to try out other Cycle Sydney routes.

Sydney: Day 3 Casula to Parramatta

Posted on by kymdt

I am pleased to report that the three Ms of the previous day were replaced with a single M. That is the big M7! Details about the route are available from Cycle Sydney. This was the biggest day of our ride and our deviations made it a touch longer. My stats from our ride are available in Strava.

Our ride however started in Casula on a trail to Glenfield. We could have turned the other direction for a much short ride to Parramatta on the Rail Trail. But that’s not what this adventure is about. On the trail towards Glenfield we did come across the Liverpool Powerhouse. If we riding on a Saturday, I know we would have had breakfast at the Powerhouse Artisan and Growers Market rather than at our budget Ibis! As we left the rail trail and crossed the train tracks at Casula Station we admired the tiled wall mural.

There is a bit of suburb hopping to get from the Glenfield Trail to the M7. Rather than take the more direct route included in the official route we deviated into the newer suburbs of Glenfield to investigate. The M7 cycleway should be the minimum standard for any non-stop transport corridor. Non stop for pedestrians, bikes and cars – something Adelaide could learn from. While our Southern Expressway achieved this outcome the Government was clearly cost cutting on the Northern Expressway providing no safe connections for pedestrians and cyclists to the suburbs on the western side and requiring cyclists to cross every major entry/exit onto the expressway unaided along to Stuart O’Grady cycleway.

Near the M7 in Prestons is St Dreux coffee roasters. About three weeks ago they have opened up a nook in their shed for the tradies. I would have prepared the obligatory coffee photos but the guy in charge seemed very keen to talk about our Bromptons. We were happy to oblige. It is arguably the best coffee of the tour – so good I bought some beans to take home. If someone in Sydney would like to lobby, the path from the M7 to Ash Road in Prestons needs to be converted from mud to something more rideable – that would make Ste Dreux the perfect stop.

We continued our journey along to M7.

**Update – I forgot to mention that the route deviates into the Western Sydney Parklands for a bit. This gave Andrew an opportunity to test out his drone again. I’ve included some of that video here for you.

We appreciated the cycle path that was intended to connect to the M7 but for some reason there is a wire fence in the way. Perhaps its for some citizen action? Lunch was at T Spoon Cafe Eastern Creek – also a good spot if you are in need of some bike parts.

After lunch we continued on our ride along the M7. Stopped at the Kings Park Tavern for a coldie. The design of the place reveals a lot about the area. There was nos bicycle parks and “footpath” was painted path in the gutter of the road – bad luck if it’s raining and you don’t want to get your feet wet while entering the venue. After our refreshment stop it was time to scoot into Parramatta. I did enjoy, however, that at peak hour it seemed that our Bromptons went faster than cars on the M7! A note to my Adelaide readers, a good bus priority system doesn’t need concrete tracks like the O-Bahn a simple Transit Way is just as effective and lower cost. There appears to be a new bikeway on the way to Parramatta which is not on the GSBT route we took that instead – we were impressed by its quality. A quick lap around Parramatta Park and the on to our accomodation for total of 68.8kms completed