Adelaide Rides

Over the eight days we were effectively in Adelaide I managed to do 7 rides and i rode 335km, with the shortest ride being 25km and the longest 60km. While we were there it was bloody hot - everyday was over 35 and many were over 40 C.

Overall it was relatively simple to ride around Adelaide as because unless you deliberately want to ride in the hills it is generally flat and the road surfaces (except along Port Road) are good. You have to ride on the roads most of the time but this was not really an issue if you are a confident rider as the roads generally have a bike lane which is really good and the drivers were, in the main, really good. One minor challenge though was where the bike lanes "vanish" when you come up to roundabouts, traffic lights etc which puts you "back in with the cars". I am not sure if this is a design standard, but if it is in my view it needs to change.

I didnt take any photos but here is an overview of the rides i did:

Ride 1 - 51.5km loop from Glenelg to North Haven and back along the coast road. This is a flat, fast ride with great ocean views all of the way along from West Beach to North Haven. This ride has lots of roundabouts but fortunately not many cars. There is a bike path along much of it but it is really for recreational riders and kids. the ride took me about 1:40 to complete.

Ride 2 - 57.2km loop from Glenelg to Adelaide along Anzac Hwy (takes about 25 mins) and then down Port Road to Port Adelaide, from there to North Haven and then along the coast back to Glenelg. Port Road has a shocking surface in both directions but it is wide and generally has limited cars (especially in non peak times). this ride took me 2:12 to complete.

Ride 3 - 56km loop - did ride 2 in reverse. Had a strong headwind going from north haven to the city. ride took 2:00 to complete. There is a slight downhill section in the glenelg - north haven and in the city to glenelg sections which probably made the ride just a little quicker. Not sure why the distance was different, but i might have taken a slightly different route.

Ride 4 - short/sharp 25km loop down coast from Glenelg to Seacliff back to glenelg then up to henley beach and back. Ride took 56 mins. the ride from glenelg to seacliff along the coast is very pretty but you have to contend with speed humps. in some parts of it you go faster than the cars which have to slow much more to get over these monster humps. the route is also a bit up and down.

Ride 5 - did some up hill work today. Rode 37.5km and went down to jetty road brighton, then up sturt road to Main South Road, down to Daws Road/ then up it and Springbank Road to Belair Road. this is the top of this ride and from here i went down belair into Unley Road and into Adelaide down to North Terrace and then back to glenelg down anzac hwy. Unley Road is a bit narrow and has quite a few cars to contend with. Ride took 1:37 so speed average given the hill sections was pretty reasonable.

Ride 6 - Glenelg - Adelaide loop (39.5km) but i went up anzac hwy and down Sir Donald Bradman Drive to West Beach and then into glenelg and down to Seacliff and back. It was hot and there was a strong NE headwind blowing most of the ride. Ride took 1:30 to complete.

Ride 7 - Ride 3 loop but only into the city as i had to take the bike back. 48.5km ride which took 1:43 - fastest ride of the week. had a bit of a HW as i rode along coast but once i got to North Haven it was basically behind/across.

After these rides I have completed 1975km or thereabouts since 1 January.

My weight this morning was 97.2km so i have not lost a single kg of weight. Must be living the good life. So that is my ongoing challenge.