Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

rustychisel wrote:

TheBrewer wrote: I'll work it out, I'm heading out to TTP this weekend, I've heard the Torrens, OBAHN (Sp) bikeway is pretty good riding and a 50ish kilo round trip seems a nice way to kill a Sunday.

My part of the world. BRLVR2 uses the Torrens path a lot too.

It's a great ride, lots of really nice stretches, but bear a couple of things in mind

- it's a shared use path with prams, kids and dogs and walkers so flat-out speed epics is not the way to go
- in parts the path is pretty average, damaged or covered in debris which ranges from branches to loose leaves and sand, gravel
- you can get lost. In places it's a braided path, intertwined with the O-Bahn and directions are sometimes not in evidence. We had river terrace flooding 2 years ago and some council areas who are responsible for the paths upkeep & repair have done a less than stellar job
- the spur off to TTP comes just after the run under the Sudholtz Road bridge, and points you to the left where you get dumped onto a suburban back street or two before the path reappears. It can be infuriatingly dumb.

Best

Thanks mate, I'm sure it can't be THAT hard. I did get lost going only 6k's down a nearly straight Rd the other morning. When you say less than stellar, is it flat bar road bike safe?

If I can find the Southern side of the Torrens and stick to it, it seems reasonably self explanatory. It looks like the link through Eighth St is the go to save a few bends and I've been to Adelaide a few times in years past and the area around the Paradise interchange looked familiar.

Any idea on timing from the city out to TTP? Normally I'd run at 25-28k's an hour without too many risks.

Flat bar bike is fine, I do it sometimes on the road bike, more often on a fixed with 22c tyres (ie normal road skinny). Speed varies according to conditions but don't go stonking into blind corners and across narrow bridges is all I'm saying. From the city it might take best part of an hour to reach the blackberries at the top of the path (lower reaches of The Gorge, a favourite roadies climb into the hills), and slightly less time and distance to get to TTP.

South side of Torrens; there's a couple of weird bits. Under Hackney Road Bridge then the path climbed right and dropped you onto the road behind the Hackney Hotel... need to go left and follow the road around to River St until you can rejoin the path. And up at Felixstow (just past OG Road Bridge) it's best to cross to the North Side of the River Torrens otherwise the path stops at bottom of Wick St. Having done so, you'll then need to negotiate the O-Bahn track just before Lochiel Park bio village, but it isn't hard to find the river, and thus the path if you get lost.

North side: heading out from the city on the north side will get you an excursion on the side streets around Walkerville unless you know where to cross over (just after Hackney Road bridge).

It's a good ride, just can be confusing.

This is also my current stomping ground, it can be confusing until you have done the trip a few times. Beware, snakes have been reported up the top end just this week

Funny, I always thought those bike buttons at intersections were just something fun to play with, whilst not having to unclip or remove my shoes...

TheBrewer wrote:Brand new to Adelaide....

A word of warning then - do NOT try Southwark. The only beer I have ever discovered that is not sold over the border and there is good reason for that. It is so bad that they mispell it so that no-one knows what you are asking if you are mad enough to order a bottle.

They can make a good beer in South Australia. It's just not Southwark.

You have been warned!

The description of the hook turn in the brochure is really ambiguous - if I recall correctly they used to suggest the method that others have described (joining the traffic to your left and then proceeding with them when the lights change) but it was referred to as a box turn or boxing the intersection.