Sydney: Day 1 Mascot to Cronulla

Posted on by kymdt

I’ve been keen to do the Greater Sydney Bike Trail for some time. It is a ready made tour of Sydney – the sort of thing I have done in Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne but with all the route planning done by someone else! Day 1 of the ride was around 28km from Mascot to Cronulla. This ride is a plane lovers special! The ride results are available on Strava.

This morning I woke up in Adelaide! The 8:50am flight to Sydney meant that I arrived late morning. With my big bike bag, the easiest thing for me to do, once I had arrived in Sydney, was to catch the train one stop (yes it’s quiet expensive) and deliver my bag to the phone store that was offering storage online through Radical Storage. I’ve been encouraging others to join my ride. Thus far Andrew and Lizzie from Adelaide are riding with me. They met me at Mascot.

If you know me, you know that I appreciate Japanese food and culture. One of those cultural things is ”Asadora”, Japanese morning tv with 15 minute episodes. One show in particular that I like is Manpuku. A story about the inventor of instant ramen. If there is a ramen shop called Manpuku in Mascot what do you think I am going to do? I had Tsukemen and a beer. It was very good – so unfortunately for you there are no photos.

We headed along the route on a range of paths of varying quality. But, they were all certainly better than dicing with the traffic. We rode around the north-western side of Sydney Airport tootling along quite a good quality path. As we rounded the bend we had the awesome site of a Qantas A380 taking off directly over us. Plus two A380s one the tarmac – that’s 30% of the Qantas A380 fleet in on view!! Oh yeah, we didn’t get a photo for you! Our real goal was to get coffee from Where’s Wolli? But there was a coffee snob preventing me from sampling it…. Instead we had seaside coffee in Brighton-le-sands and a beer and snacks at the St George Sailing Club.

After the beer, we were on the home leg towards Cronulla. To get there we had to climb up to and cross the Captain Cook Bridge. Let me tell you the “cycling” path is a little narrow – be prepared to stop and let other cyclists pass! The Woolooware Shared Pathway, which is quite delightful. As a note to regular Adelaide Bromptoneers, there is, if you a riding Wednesday to Sunday, a microbrewery option at the Hairyman Brewery. The final run into Cronulla was along the foreshore path. A few too many of the Fatboy Bikes (apparently Australia’s favourite electric bike) being used around here! I am writing this post from a room with a lovely view of the beach.

Tomorrow looks there will be some rain later in the afternoon. So we will make an early break from Cronulla to try and avoid most the rain. Until tomorrow.

Brisbane: Pastry Tour

Posted on by kymdt

Time8:00am
Wednesday 21 July 2027
Add all rides to your calendar
LocationCity Botanic Gardens
Corner of Edward and Alice Streets, Brisbane
RouteStandard route 21km, 191 vertical metres (with lift assistance)
Challenge 22km, 206 vertical metres (without lift assistance)
Easy Rider 13km, 94 vertical metres
Standard Route
Description		In the tradition of the great Melbourne Pasty Tour of 2024, this ride is a pastry tour of 5 of the top rated patisserie/bakeries of Brisbane:

Superthing – Sourdough culture in the dough, the best butter.Perfect temperature, perfect consistency. Making superb croissants is our passion. Dreamy rainbow room is where we do it 

Alphabet – At Alphabet we love all things baked. Our cake menu has been carefully crafted to include our take on some classic flavours, with a strong hint of nostalgia.

Lune – Lune is an institution solely dedicated to the creation of croissants.

Idle – Idle is the evolution of our beloved Agnes Bakery. A refined café, bakery and pantry space that brings comfort, craft and community into a new rhythm.

Christian Jacques – Brisbane’s Authentic French Bakery. Indulge in the taste of our meticulously crafted croissants, each slow-fermented over two days using only the finest French butter.
Rest Stop After each Partisserie/BakeryDavies Park
Musgrave Park
Brisbane Sign
New Farm Park
City Botanic Gardens
Register Brisbane Takover 2027

August 2026 Adelaide Bromptoneering Update

Posted on by kymdt

Next Ride

The next ride is Sunday 16 August 2026 leaving from SixTwelve Brewing in St Agnes. For those contemplating public transport, it is a short ride from the Tea Tree Plaza Interchange.

For those who rode with us on Sunday 10 December 2023 from SixTwelve Brewing, I can advise that this is an entirely new route. We check out the local suburbs and then scoot along the Dry Creek Linear trail from the Wynn Vale dam. All new and very enjoyable!

Ride schedule updates

In the last update, I advised about a change of venue for the October Adventure Ride. I am also changing the date for the November ride to avoid the city based motor race. The date has changed from Saturday 28 November 2026 to Saturday 21 November 2026. The best way to keep up to date is directly adding the Adelaide Bromptoneering Calendar into your calendar.

The rides for the remainder of 2026 are:

  • Sunday August 16 at 11:00am – SixTwelve Brewing, St Agnes
  • Sunday September 13 at 11:00am – Catlin in Magill, Magill
  • Sunday October 11 at 11:00am – Adventure Ride – Unit 3 Collective, Lonsdale
  • Saturday November 21 at 11:00am – The Wheatsheaf Hotel, Thebarton
  • Sunday December 20 at 11:00am – Christmas Ride – The Brickmakers Arms, Brompton

Adelaide Urban Adventures Ride Library

Our recent rides get added to the library as they are created. However, I am also progressively updating the Adelaide Urban Adventures Ride Library with some of our older rides. This month the following rides have been added:

Throwback Thursday

Every so often on a Thursday I go out and re-ride one of Adelaide Urban Adventures. Anyone is welcome to join me – even if they don’t have a Brompton. On 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). No RSVP required just turn up on the day.

Brisbane: Northern beaches explorer

Posted on by kymdt

Time9:00am
Thursday 22 July 2027
Add all rides to your calendar
LocationCity Botanic Gardens
Corner of Edward and Alice Streets, Brisbane
RouteStandard route 65km, 239 vertical meters
Challenge 75km, 335 vertical meters
Easy rider 53km, 150 vertical meters
Standard Route
Description		This ride takes us from the City Botanic Gardens to Kippa-ring Railway Station for a return train trip to Brisbane City.

We start off skirting the City Botanic Gardens and Brisbane City on the Bicentennial Bikeway before turning north. We will take a few city streets before connecting to the Northern Bikeway. After a few suburban streets we will join the Kedron Brook Cycleway and start headings toward the airport and the ocean.

Our first stop will be on Kedron Brook Cycleway near Toombul Railway Station. This is the meeting point for the Easy Riders who will take a train from Brisbane City and saving them 12km of cycling.

Our first rest stop will be 1km further down the Kedron Brook Cycleway/Jim Soorley Bikeway at Albert Bishop Park Criterium Circuit. This will be a thermos coffee and cake stop. For those super keen on cemeteries, the Nundah Historic Cemetery is next door.

We will ride alongside the airport before heading north through the scenic Boondall Wetlands on the bikeway of bitumen, concrete, and boardwalk! There will be a short rest stop at the Boondall Wetlands Environment Centre.

We join the Gateway North Bikeway next to the motorway for a couple of kilometres before we head towards the beachside suburbs… starting with Shorncliffe. If you plan your trip well you could buy some fresh prawns from the trawlers on Cabbage Tree Creek (e.g. Rolinda and Moonshine Seafoods) and then throw them on the barbie for lunch! Something to think about!!

We continue on the Moreton Bay Cycleway for 25 kilometres of beach side cycling. The lunch stop will be Sandgate Beach. Where you will have the choice of using a public BBQ and throwing some prawns on it. Or alternatively, fish and chips (and other goodies) are on offer from a number of providers like Flinders Seafood and Bar, Sandgate Fishmonger and Doug’s Seafood Cafe.

After lunch we continue on the Moreton Bay Cycleway. Shortly after leaving Sandgate will complete a 3km over water crossing on the half way a long you’ll be able to admire the Ted Smout Memorial Fishing Pier. There are a few more jetties to enjoy. There will be a short rest stop at the Redcliffe Jetty and then we’ll head towards “afternoon tea” at Scarborough Harbour Brewing.

After snack and a frothy or two, it’s an easy 5 or so kilometres to the train station through the newish canal suburbs! You’ll see what I mean. At Kippa-ring we will catch the train back. Those seeking a challenger will ride a further 10km along the Moreton Bay Cycleway to Petrie Train Station.

Morning Tea15km Albert Bishop Park Criterium Circuit.
111 Hedley Av, Nundah QLD 4012
Rest Stop28km Boondall Wetlands Environmental Centre
31 Paperbark Dr, Boondall QLD 4034
Lunch38km Sandgate Beach
164 Flinders Parade, Sandgate QLD 4017
Rest Stop52km Redcliffe Jetty
139 Redcliffe Parade, Redcliffe QLD 4020
Afternoon ‘Tea’59km Scarborough Harbour Brewing
21 Bird Opassage Parade, Scarborough QLD 4020
FinishKippa-ring Railway Station
48-54 Fleet Dr, Kippa-Ring QLD 4021
Register Brisbane Takover 2027

August 2026 SixTwelve Brewing Adelaide Bromptoneering Social Ride

Posted on by kymdt

Time11:00am
Sunday 16 August 2026
Add all rides to your calendar
LocationSixTwelve Brewing
Warehouse 3/132 Tolley Rd, St Agnes SA 5097
Route20Km Loop ride through St Agnes, Ridgehaven, Redwood Park, Surrey Downs, Golden Grove, Wynn Vale, Modbury Heights, Modbury North, Modbury.
Strava Link
GPX Route
Coffee StopCafe de Grove
1150 Golden Grove Rd, Golden Grove SA 5125
RegisterPlease let us know you are coming…

July 2026 – Ride Report from the Rear

Posted on by helenhmk

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 

Brisbane: A tale of two gardens

Posted on by kymdt

Time8:00am
Monday 19 July 2027
Add all rides to your calendar
LocationCity Botanic Gardens
Corner of Edward and Alice Streets, Brisbane
RouteStandard route 44km, 638 vertical meters
Challenge 55km, 992 vertical meters
Easy rider 32km, 382 vertical meters
Standard Route
Description		This ride takes us from the City Botanic Gardens to Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens and back.

We start off with a ride through the City Botanic Gardens where we will stop for breakfast in the gardens. We will then sample Brisbane’s Veloway 1 getting some interesting glimpses of the Brisbane’s dedicated busway. We won’t stay on the veloway for too long. We head west towards Dutton Park, this is where we will visit the first cemetery of the trip – the South Brisbane Cemetery.

We will cross the river on a dedicated bus, pedestrian and bike bridge towards University of Queensland. We won’t explore UQ today as we are on a mission westwards towards the rest stop at Indooroopilly.

After the rest stop, we check out the the Indooroopilly River and head through Treacy College towards the Western Freeway Bikeway. There will be some steady climbing as we head towards the Mt Cootah Botanic Gardens. For the stand ride, the peak of the day will be in the Botanic Gardens at the lookout. There are plenty of lawns for a picnic (if you’d like to make one) or you can go the garden’s cafe.

The Challenge involves a climb to the top of Mt Coot-tha while the ‘standard’ people have lunch. The Easy Riders scoot down to the riverside bikeway after lunch.

The standard route has a few more hills to climb before we settle into a steady downhill run along the Enoggera Creek bikeway. The first hill will be getting into the Toowong Cemetery our second cemetery of the day – which certainly offers great views for the dead! After that, there a couple of lumpy hills to get over (which I didn’t actually do – as I got terribly lost trying to find something a little easier).

We had back into the centre of town next Victoria Park (the subject of much controversy) and Roma Street Parklands (maybe this makes the ride a tale of three gardens) and Station. We will pass the iconic Brisbane City Hall and then dismount to walk a bit of Albert Street Mall before heading down the city link cycleways back to Brisbane Botanic Gardens.

Breakfast StopThe Garden’s Club
75 Gardens Point Rd, Brisbane City QLD 4000
Morning TeaHetty and Herm’s
9 Lambert Rd, Indooroopilly QLD 4068

This is coffee caravan in a park. If you prefer you can leave your own refreshments in the support vehicle.
LunchBotanic Gardens Cafe
152 Mount Coot-Tha Rd, Mount Coot-tha QLD 4066

You are welcome to picnic in the park!
Afternoon TeaAshgrove Sports Park
Ashgrove QLD 4060
Register Brisbane Takover 2027

July 2026 Adelaide Bromptoneering Update

Posted on by kymdt

Next Ride

The next ride is on 19 July 2026 leaving from The Ed in Mitcham.

*** Reminder *** we are again having “Coffee Outside” please bring a warm drink of your preference.

We will be bringing some sweets and a few spare cups of coffee. If you’d like bake something let us know.

Remembering good times

Vanessa posted some great photos on Facebook of her Brompton along the Torrens recounting some of June 2026 Social Ride. Please keep the submissions coming.

If you’d like to re-ride an Adelaide Bromptoneering route, then head over to the Adelaide Urban Adventures page where we have more than 24 months of Adelaide Bromptoneering rides.

Helen and I recently re-rode the Coopers Brewery route and had a great time. We noticed a few minor improvements that could be made. We will make those improvements so that the next person who rides finds it even better.

Let us know that you have re-ridden a route by posting some photos. If you find some issues with the route let us know so we can update and improve the information on the Adelaide Urban Adventures page.

Brisbane Takeover 2027

The dates have been set for the Brisbane Takeover. They are Monday 19 to Friday 23 July.

Like Canberra there will be 5 days of riding Adelaide Bromptoneering style. I have just returned from doing the reccy. I am very happy with the routes. If you are interested in joining us please register on Brisbane Takeover page. There is a cap on the number of riders that can participate and this will be determined by the date a person registers interest.

Change to the venue for the October 2026 Adventure Ride

The original plan was to visit Gawler River Brewing near Angle Vale. I do recommend visiting this brewery as it has good beer, food and vibe! But, I cannot recommend it as a ride.

I was planning to ride in the local area and the eastern side of the Northern Expressway where the older suburbs and public transport is located. Despite there being an off-road cycle path in Angle Vale, I could not find a single safe cycling or pedestrian route to cross the Northern Expressway. It is only about 600 metres from Angle Vales off-road cycle path to the Stuart O’Grady Bikeway. It seems to me that the State and Local Governments are denying autonomy to young adults and are locking the north into a car only future. Surely, this is not a good outcome.

We will move our adventure ride to Onkaparinga, which in my opinion has some of the best riding in Adelaide. We will visit Unit Three Collective and do a loop around the Souther Suburbs.

June 2026 – Ride Report from the Rear

Posted on by helenhmk

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.