Newbie Road Rides- Mawson Lakes Area.

[fullofpanache]

Hi i have recently moved from mountain biking and bought a road bike. Ive done plenty of commuting and participated int the Bupa challenge last year (from Kersbrook on a mountain bike with slicks.

I am keen to find local routes in the Mawson Lakes/Modbury area with cycle paths. Is there a route to One Tree Hill that would be suitable for a newbie?

I have considered the Port River Expressway and then from Semaphore along the coast, but have heard that the expressway cycle path is a joke and shouldn't be used.

Any recommendations for this side of town would be appreciated, as I don't like having to take the car on my rides

[gdt]

I commute Semaphore-Mawson Lakes. Don't use the expressway, all the roadworks have occupied the shoulders. (Rant: It's an outrage that DTEI didn't install a separated bike path when they build the Expressway, considering the space to the north of the Expressway.)

There's a handy little bike path Egret Street to Cross Keys Road (-34.818974,138.606743). Cycle down Cross Keys Road to Montague Road then Churchill Road North. The intersection with Port Wakefield Road is a nightmare, so feel free to use the pedestrian crossing at the lights. Following the lights there is 500m of sheer dodginess along Churchill Road North which slowly relents until you turn right onto Magazine Road/Cormack Road.

Follow Cormack Road to its end. Turn right onto North Arm Rd/Kapara Rd. Follow Kapara Rd to its end. Turn left onto Bedford Road. You can either follow Bedford Road around into the Port then over Jervois Bridge into Semaphore (follow the docks to avoid the St Vincent St/Commercial Rd lights, which aren't bike friendly from that direction). Or follow Bedford Road as far as Eastern Parade, then rejoin the Port River Expressway. The council are slowly building a bike path along the entire length of Semaphore Road, which makes that an increasingly nice option.

I'd have thought that you could get from Mawson Lakes to the cycleway alongside the Gawler Expressway without touching the dodginess of Port Wakefield Road. Then you could go into Gawler, grab a coffee and if you don't feel like the ride back then grab the train back to Mawson Lakes.

[Biffidus]

There are bike paths along the Northern Expressway. I'm not sure how you would get there tho.

Beware the paths along the Little Para river through Salisbury, there's a lot of gravel.