Cycling Chiba – part one
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Author: kymdt
Tokyo Biennale 2025 inspired ride
Wednesday’s ride was inspired by the Tokyo Biennale.
Held every two years, the Tokyo Biennale is an international art festival that sets the city of Tokyo as its main stage. The festival aims to dig deep into the city, as it is created together with the area’s local citizens, as well as a wide variety of artists and creators from around the world. The theme of the Tokyo Biennale 2025 is “Wander for wonder.”
It was a loop route of about 20km that started and finished at our hotel in Suidobashi. We took in the sights of Tokyo Dome, Hongo, Ueno, Akihabara, Bakurocho, Nihonbashi, Kanda and Ochanomizu.
The first part of the ride involved visiting Tokyo Dome and then travelling through some small streets with traditional scenes of Tokyo life ending at a Yayoiken a chain store that did provide a lovely breakfast.
We continued on through Tokyo University through some more back streets towards Ueno Park adjacent to Yanaka Cemetery. We stopped of for some matcha and wagashi before arriving at Toeizan Kan’ei-Ji Temple. One of the two main sites for the biennale. There is usually some obvious parking for bikes. But this time it wasn’t so obvious. We negotiated with the biennale staff, who negotiated with temple staff for us. We ended up parking our bikes out the front entrance!
We then headed through Ueno Park towards the second of the two main venues. Etoile Kaito Living Building. This involved 6 floors of art in an abandoned department store building. But my stomach was grumbling for lunch so en-route we stopped off for a quick bite from a food truck.
A bit of holiday fatigue was setting in towards the end of the day. So not so many photographs of us weaving through the busy entertainment district of Kanda. But, I can show the Comfort Stand in Ochanomizu where we had our first coffee of the day and some cheesecake.
Once again credits to the Social Media Manager for the most excellent photos.
If you’d like to do this ride you have until 14 December!
Yoyogi to Higashi-Nakano via Shimokitazawa
Horray for wi-fi on a plane. I planned this route on the way to Japan high in the sky JL52. I was using Strava to plan this route – but is quite surprising that a premium paid product is almost useless for route planning in Japan. I typed in Tokyo as a location and it kindly offers suggestions of restaurants in the United States. In any case, I persisted using a combination of Google Maps (very useful for street view) and Strava to plan this route. The goal was to start and finish at trains stations along to Sobu line – the line that is literally only a few steps from our hotel.
You can get this route from https://www.strava.com/routes/3419161344007497190
The route includes a the opportunity for many good coffees! We had one from Little Nap Coffee Stand, a ride around Yoyogi Park, Blue Lug (if it’s open!), Planet of Curry, some vintage shopping, great back street riding in some interesting areas, and a afternoon tea at Petite Patisseries Yuki. If you had more time you could add a ride through/to the old Olympics site, visit Harajuku and cat street and Nakano Broadway.
Here are some photos to whet your appetite. I have to credit these photos to our most excellent Social Media Manager!
Riding to traditional breakfast near Yoyogi park
Tokyo is a big city.. but many of the big cities within a city are actually quite close. Where we stay is about 3km from Tokyo Station and Marunouchi and just over 5km to Shinjuku. After many trips not actually getting to Shimokitazawa, known for its vintage fashion (and perhaps curry shops), we had planned an 18km route from Yoyogi Station to Higashi-Nakano station via Shimokitazawa. Both of those locations were on our local train line.
In the morning, instead of catching the train we decided to use the old “Compass” mode of Beeline with a single location plotted. That location was Tanbo a rice specialty shopping that indeed is closed during harvest time. Not too many wrong turns and few spots that demanded riding on the path.
It was certainly worth it. The rice was great and the toppings grilled salmon, pickles, egg and some nori were top notch. The MISO soup! WOW! Helen loves a good Japanese breakfast and is now trying to rearrange our holiday to visit again!
Just in case…
you thought this was looking like Weekend at Bernies – the rumours are not true. I am indeed alive and well in Tokyo. I too am enjoying the posts by the most excellent social media manager.
This picture is from an excellent little spot we happened across this morning. A wonderful breakfast with very yummmy rice.
If you are in the area then Tanbo Yoyogi Main Store 田んぼ 代々木本店 is the place to go.
202511 November 2025 Social Ride – Silver Brewing Co
| Time | 11:00am Sunday 23 November 2025 Add all rides to your calendar |
| Location | Silver Brewing Co 200-206 Gouger St, Adelaide SA 5000 |
| Route | 25km – Adelaide, Mile End, Marleston, Plymton, Morphettville, Marion, Edwardstown, Keswick https://www.strava.com/routes/3417363352115547378 GPX Route [to be provided] |
| Coffee Stop | Oaklands Wetlands Reserve Bring your own coffee in a thermos Baked goods to be provided (let us know if you’d like to bake some baked goods for us) |
| Register | Please let us know you are coming… |
October Adventure Ride report from the rear
The October 2025 Adventure ride ventured to the suburban frontier of Mount Barker. It is a ride that lived up to its name as we traversed wild lagoons, new frontiers of development, wagon wheels, forrest obstructions and inappropriately located temporary fencing. In total we rode around 22km and climbed 276 metres on the October Long weekend.
We all congregated in an unsuspecting semi-industrial car-park on the outskirts of Mount Barker, let’s just say the photo opportunities at the start were limited. One challenge all cyclists face when driving to the location of a ride – is remembering to bring everything you need (…I’ve done this myself in the past so I can claim no superiority). While you can probably get by without gloves (not ideal)… unfortunately by South Australian law – a helmet is definitely a required item, and thankfully we all had them! Especially when within the first kilometre we cycled past a Police breathalyser testing station – hooray for being legal.
It all started in 1999 with the construction of the Laratinga Wetlands as part of a waste water solution for the local area…. (thanks Kym for the informational update on Council services) now if this is what a waste water solution looks like – I say bring them on! There was some works underway (temporary fencing blocked our way), and thankfully we were able to still take in this view. We stopped for the obligatory Brompton photo – and it was indeed lovely to cycle through and see many groups of individuals and families enjoying their Sunday.
Rubber Ducks come in many forms and sizes … and this yellow one promoted the Wok the Duck. It’s a Thai restaurant that also does coffee, cakes and snacks. Opening hours are great, and the location was perfect for the ride, and it overlooks a waterway with ducks (no surprises there). As a plus, it was good to get out of the sun/cool wind for a half way stop.. and talk all things Bromtpon and cycling.
No obstruction would stand between us an our goal … getting to lunch! Across the path there was an exceptionally large limb down. Afterwards we did think we should have laid the Brompton’s around this devastation to match one of the riders pose in the photo. Although it’s probably not a good promotional point for future rides!
Earlier in the week we had heard the Council were undertaking some works in the area and some temporary fencing was blocking access for the main path just out the tunnel direct to the town… however it looked like a number of people had the same attitude we did, and went through the gap to reach the tunnel back towards the Prancing Pony for a well deserved lunch!
Puncture – 1 ; Bromptoneers – 11
Thanks to everyone who drove out to Mt Barker for the ride… and apologies for the delay in this ride report.
October 2025 Update
Brompton Adventure Ride in Mount Barker – Sunday 5 October
The route is now available from Strava or as a direct GPX file download. We leave 11:00am from the Prancing Pony car park. If you intend to ride this Sunday, please let us know through the registration link. The route and registration links are available from the 2025 Brompton Adventure Ride – Prancing Pony – Mount Barker post.
Travelling Adelaide Bromptoneers
Adelaide Bromptoneers were in Jeju Island, Munich and Canberra in the last month. Here are some photos shared with us.
Spring Clean
Richard has been having a bit of spring clean to free up some space. If you are interested in any of the items listed below leave a comment on this post and I can put you in touch with Richard to discuss the price etc. He can bring items requested to Sunday’s ride.
- Superlight carbon extended length seatpost from T-line (will fit all Bromptons)
- Advance mudguards with titanium stays (non-rack type) from T-line, I believe these will fit, or can be made to fit any Brompton without a rear rack.
- B&W soft bag (non padded type)
- 1 x Schwalbe One, 2 x Schwalbe Kojak, all have minimal wear.
- Brompton beanie
- Hobby Japan Brompton plastic kit
Favourite Rides
We did so much great cycling in 2024. I think, amongst my favourites were the three days we spent on Fukue Island (one of 140 that make up the Gotō Islands) near Nagasaki in Japan.
The photos show some of the highlights. If you’d like learn more about the routes (including Strava routes) we took you can read our posts about the ride here.
Where would you like to go in 2026?
We have begun planning the 2026 routes for Adelaide Bromptoneering. If you have suggestions about the routes leave a comment on this post. You can do this by replying to the newsletter or leaving the comments directly on this post on Bromptoneering.blog
November Social Ride
The next ride is a park ride along some of the popular bike paths in South Western Adelaide. The ride will be a little longer than the normal Adelaide Bromptoneering Social Ride but very flat!
| Start/Finish Location | Silver Brewing Co |
| Date | Sunday 23 November 2025 |
| Time | 11:00am – 2:30pm |
202510 Brompton Adventure Ride- Prancing Pony – Mount Barker
| Time | 11:00am Sunday 5 October 2025 Add all rides to your calendar |
| Location | Prancing Pony 42 Mt Barker Road, Totness SA 5250 |
| Route | 21km circular route, Totness and Mount Barker Strava Route GPX Route |
| Coffee Stop | Wok the Duck 1 Aston Parade , Mount Barker, SA, Australia, South Australia |
| Register | Please let us know you are coming… |
September 2025 Update
SuperCycle Sunday Bonus Social Ride – 14 September 2025
The route is now available from Strava and as a GPX File. We leave 11:00am from Victoria Park. If you intend to ride this Sunday please let us know through the registration link. This allows us to inform Victoria Park Social Club how many to expect. The route and registration links are available from the September 2025 Bonus Social Ride – SuperCycle Sunday post.
The Inspiration for Adelaide Bromptoneering
Meet Mayumi-san the person who inspired us to start Adelaide Bromptoneering.
Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail
The Melbourne Brompton Club held a rail trail ride on the last weekend in August. There were a total of 15 Bromptoneers that took part. There were 3 from Adelaide, 1 from Geelong and 1 from Maryborough. That means 10 came from Melbourne. I arrived a day late after heeding the tornado warning from the BOM over the South Eastern Freeway on the Friday. I joined for the Sunday return ride to Warrnambool.
It was a good opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet new Brompton friends. Here are some of my photos.
New Melbourne Route Library
I stayed in Melbourne for the week following the Port Fairy rail trail ride. I prepared and tested 5 new rides in Melbourne. They all follow the Adelaide Bromptoneering formula. That is a loop ride of around 20km (although there is one longer non loop ride) exploring the suburban backstreets, starting and finishing at a brewery with a coffee stop along the way.
This builds on the 4 pastry tour routes that I mapped out and tested last year. So when you visit Melbourne with your Brompton, the Adelaide Bromptoneering site has a library of 9 super fun rides. They all include Strava/GPX routes, commentary and photos. If you have any questions leave a comment on the relevant route page.
To make life easier, I have created a new page that brings together the Melbourne Route Library I’ve include some photos to whet your appetie.
October Social Ride
The next ride is an adventure ride around Mount Barker. There are more hills compared to the normal Adelaide Bromptoneering Social Ride. If you’d like to give it a go – don’t worry – please do. We will have a tail-end Charlie to ensure that no one is left behind.
| Start/Finish Location | Prancing Pony, Totness 42 Mt Barker Road, Totness SA 5250 |
| Date | Sunday, 5 October 2025 |
| Time | 11:00am – 2:30pm |
