Adelaide

December Ride Report from the Rear

Posted on by helenhmk

This month’s ride started at the Brickmakers Arms (new Christmas tradition..?). The weather was destined to be around 23 slightly overcast with potential rain, much cooler than the 30 degrees of the previous day. The Brompton line-up grew larger the closer it got to starting time. As if on cue – rain was thrown down at 11am for at least 2 minutes, scattering everyone to the nearby tree or pub walkway. The 16 Brompton Bike line up shows the variety of ‘Christmas’ inspiration themes. Once the ride briefing was over (and Christmas track selected) we were off… winding our way through Brompton & Bowden towards the path away from the city along the River Torrens.

The cycle path was pretty cruisey, with not too many pedestrians, dogs, or joggers for a Sunday. This was nice for a change! I felt that the group was fairly stretched out, but then suddenly we come to an unexpected quick stop in Underdale. It became apparent that Kym had experienced a sudden chain malfunction, which after some assistance was resolved and we were back on the road within five minutes. Leaving the River Torrens behind we weaved our way through the back streets of Underdale and Torrensville, and a few minor pedestrian crossings to get to Love On Cafe.

It was a great little stop! Perfect for the size of the group, which increased by 1 with Tin joining (the benefits of publishing the route in advance). The coffee arrived relatively fast… and the muffins were homemade (great to see baking on premises).

Before the ride it was suggested one of the prizes would be given to the fastest Brompton unfold – if there were people who wanted to compete. Thankfully there were four individuals prepared to take on the challenge (Peter, Richard, Andrew, and Tin) held alongside the cafe. The winner was Richard with a time of 9.98 seconds – impressive! Well done all!

After this entertainment, we got back on the bikes looping back through Mile End, crossing James Congdon Drive at the new pedestrian crossing, before traversing the parklands round the River Torrens, past Adelaide Oval and slightly uphill to North Adelaide. Of course there were back lanes, with only one wrong turn (Kym must of been enjoying the ride too much), before we headed back to Brompton.

There was a brief stop and photo opportunity at Walter Burley Griffin’s Incinerator (yes, the same person who designed Canberra). While there was the traditional Brompton bike photo – it was great to take one with everyone and their Brompton’s. At this point it was announced that Vanessa had won the best dressed outfit and bike. Vanessa really went all out with a complete Christmas theme outfit of a red reindeer skirt and jumper, bag with Christmas decorations and finished with silver shoes, a true top effort! Special mentions – Alison who dressed as the Grinch; Margaret with the Christmas Stockings across the front of the Brompton Bag; both Fei and Daniel with the Hello Kitty themed decorations (kawaii!); and Richard with the colour themed clothing and bow tie – perfectly fitting the theme of Brompton Cycling. After this it was a short ride back to the Brickmakers Arms, where the prizes provided by Brompton Australia and Treadly Cycles were distributed, prior to enjoying a festive lunch. Below highlights the variety of food enjoyed..

Given its the end of the year, Kym and I would like to thank everyone who comes out on the Brompton rides throughout the year. Whether you’ve been to one, or many – we really thank you for coming. You make Adelaide Bromptoneering what it is… otherwise it’s just me and Kym out for yet another bike ride around Adelaide.

We hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas with their family and friends.. and we will get to ride together in 2026.

Attended: 17 Bromptoneers + 1 extra at lunch

November Ride Report from the Rear

Posted on by helenhmk

The November ride returned the heart of the city. It was a longer but fairly cruisy ride along some of Adelaide’s well known cycling routes. Venturing around road works, track works and suburban wetlands. In total we rode 24.8km with a slight vertical climb of 48m – barely noticeable.

As the photos show, it was a blue sky day and the temp was headed to around 32c. Thankfully the route was largely flat. Following the ride briefing, we headed North taking Grote Street towards the West Parklands towards the loop path around James Coglin Drive towards South Road.

Despite testing the ride just a couple days before, due to the changing nature of the South Road roadworks, we managed to make some quick on the spot decisions enabling everyone to be in the right spot at the right time. Phew… always a sigh of relief. Cycling down the West Side Bikeway towards Glenelg was at an enjoyable relaxed pace. There were only pedestrians and their furry companions for traffic, and crossing minor roads.

The next challenge was navigating around, and crossing the tram works, and heading to the morning tea stop. It was great to join up with Andrew and Lizzie with their cargo bike (made better with a Brompton in the cargo bay), just before the Oaklands Wetland and Reserve.

The morning tea break was fabulous. Huge thanks to Gail and Lizzie for bringing cake and Gail for the additional biscuits, which certainly fed everyone’s appetite up to that point. Top marks to Andrew for bringing along his camping stop and coffee making facilities – that is definitely next level commitment, and great use of camping supplies. There was the obligatory Brompton bike photo set-up on the bridge before we all headed back towards the city.

Leaving the wetlands behind we followed the cycle path alongside the train line towards town. While it’s quite a direct route, it certainly encourages speed. This was something Gail noticed, remarking everyone had increased their speed after the break. While the temperature was on the rise we stopped briefly Woodlands Train station. A few months back they had finished the art which is incorporated into the access tunnels and on the station itself. I think a few passengers on the train were relieved that 15 Brompton’s were not getting on board!

We sped towards the lunch destination at Silver Brewing – and everyone who stayed was pleased to be inside enjoying the air conditioning. Once we all managed to order some food (thanks to Margaret and Ian for ordering early enabling the rest of us to order the food we wanted instead of the mandated platters)… and drinks (yes the brewery was somehow a brewery with no beer of its own!!!).. We were all able to look back and say we enjoyed the ride.

The Adelaide Brompton rides are largely a mix of planing which involve testing routes, finding suitable relaxed food locations for mid-large groups… and a bit of luck. This ride certainly relied heavily on luck – and great company, so thanks to all who came out.

Attending: 15 Bromptoneers + 1 cargo bike

202511 November 2025 Social Ride – Silver Brewing Co

Posted on by kymdt

Time11:00am
Sunday 23 November 2025
Add all rides to your calendar
LocationSilver Brewing Co
200-206 Gouger St, Adelaide SA 5000
Route25km – Adelaide, Mile End, Marleston, Plymton, Morphettville, Marion, Edwardstown, Keswick
https://www.strava.com/routes/3417363352115547378
GPX Route [to be provided]
Coffee StopOaklands 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)
RegisterPlease let us know you are coming…

Supercycle Sunday September – Ride report from the rear

Posted on by helenhmk

A beautiful spring day beckoned for all riders to visit Adelaide City Council’s Supercycle Sunday and/or the Kidical Mass ride. For this bonus Adelaide Bromptoneering ride, we opted for a separate indirect ride from Victoria Park to Light Square – the location of the Supercycle Sunday celebrations. We chose this option because we thought that there were more than enough small wheels on the kids bike at Kidical Mass!

8 Bromptoneers turned up – not bad for late bonus addition to our ride program. As you can see the weather was perfect.

As usual the indirect route was taken. We took the option of the brown path, heading through Victoria Park, East Terrace and then South Terrace through to the West Terrace Cemetery and up towards Light Square. The original route details are available from September 2025 Bonus Social Ride – SuperCycle Sunday post.

Light Square was the stopping point for coffee and talking all things Brompton and bicycles. With any bike event there is always the potential for running into other Brompton owners – and today was no exception. The Brompton was newly acquired as a hand-me down from the Netherlands! The owner featured in this photo had worked out the folding process and was pleased to be featured in the picture. Kym and I weren’t sure if this was the owner of the Brompton or their son or perhaps a joint-owner – but regardless it’s always great to have another Bromptoneer in Adelaide!

There were lots of fancy cool bikes on to be seen at the event – in addition to the Bromptons! Before heading off it was recognised we would arrive for lunch too soon, and a longer route was required. Leaving light square we navigated through Adelaide (yep, the route went the wrong way ending at main intersections with no lights – but not problem we took a the footpath for a block!). There was a quick stop for a Brompton photo with some new street art. I decided to fully fold the Brompton to prevent it from falling on the other bikes, unlike a couple times earlier in the day. Once again we were quickly back on the bikes weaving our way through to South Terrace when happened to pass by Brook who was enjoying Sunday lunch with friends (wave).

The return trip included a bit of Unley. This was the double bonus in burbs of the double blues – as it didn’t feature on the original route. The rest of the ride took back lanes and roads through Unley, weaving our way back through to the parklands and back to the beginning.

Lunch was had a Victoria Park Social Club – which was super busy. Pizza and a beer was the easiest and quickest decision for lunch. While the ride was just over 22km… many commented ‘oh… not really hungry enough to finish the whole’ pizza… Not true – I am surprised any pictures managed to get taken because it all quickly got hoovered up.

Back home

Posted on by helenhmk

Adventure no more. We managed to finally get home today. I mean that as the flight to ADL from SYD decided to take another loop around Adelaide plains and hills as the first attempt to land was aborted.

Two weeks ago Takero, our Brompton friend lead a ride to a park to watch planes from Haneda take off. That day there were a lot of planes taking off and landing. However there was this one that tried to land a couple of times… and I remember saying at the time “I would hate being on that plane…”. Well today that was my experience. 😞

The pilot attempted to land from the sea approach due to the winds, and unfortunately the wind was change direction so we got an extra loop ride no one wanted. I was glad when we landed.

Somewhere between SYD and ADL