This weekend I made it out to Eagle Park on Saturday and the back on the Coast to Vines and Veloway on Sunday. Saturday was warm and very Spring-like. The trails at Eagle were dry, fast, and more crowded than usual. I managed about 20km with about 90 minutes of riding time.  I also managed to flat-spot my rear Crossmax ST and lost some of the ceramic braking surface.  Ugh.

Sunday was also Spring-like, but in this case it was overcast, rainy, and unfortunately very windy.  I started out from home, rode north to the River Sturt Linear Park Path, then to the Veloway, and finally onto the end of the Coast to Vines trail at Willunga.  I turned around there and took the Coast to Vines trail east to Reynella and back onto the Veloway, then back up the River Sturt path and then home.  All of this added up to a total of 101.53km.  This was my first metric century, though a few years ago I did manage a couple non-metric centuries.

Shorty after I took this photo I was attacked by an angry magpie.  Apparently these evil birds like to attack pedestrians and cyclists, but prefer cyclists.  This particular magpie gave me five or six swoops and managed to hit me in the head/helmet a few times.  Next time I ride through this area I may have to take protective measures.  (Thanks to Rachel for these tips.)  Also of note is that these foul birds prefer to attack the head, face and eyes.  Charming.

A couple years ago I bought a Brooks B17 Narrow for my then commuter singlespeed. I used the saddle for a while on the singlespeed, but I didn’t like leaving it outside at a rack or in the rain all day. Since I moved, and later sold the singlespeed, the Brooks sat waiting in a box. In my quest to better fit the Gunnar, I swapped the Flite XO in favor of the Brooks.  So far the Brooks is working out very well.  It is not quite broken in yet, but it is still very comfortable.

On Sunday afternoon I rode the Gunnar and attached Brooks from Marino Rocks to McLaren Vale and back. I rode portions of the Coast to Vines Trail and the Adelaide Southern Veloway for a total of about 64.5km.  Both trails are fairly well marked, but the Coast to Vines Trail does disappear into a rail station for a short distance near Marino.  The trail routes, street crossings and surface quality/maintenance are among the best for paved trails I’ve ridden.  How many bike paths have you seen with a center line, passing zones and large, well maintained shoulders?  The scenery is also spectacular and ranges from the beach (coast) to rolling hills and vineyards (vines).  Overall, this is a great ride.

The Coast To Vines Trail

The Adelaide Southern Veloway (right) and the Southern Expressway (left), the longest reversible one-way freeway in the world.

I finally got in a decent ride on the Gunnar.  This morning (Sunday) I rode from Glenelg to West Beach and then up the River Torrens to the Zoo, which is a little north of the Adelaide central business district.  The 43km ride was mostly on paved trails with some road, dirt and gravel and took about one hour forty-five minutes.  The weather was cool, around 10°c with light rain.  In my opinion, this is great riding because it cuts down of traffic and washes the mud off of my helmet and shoes, which I also use off road and on recently muddy trails.

Speaking of which, I took the Eriksen out to Eagle Park again on Saturday afternoon.  This time I took a lot of video both on the bike and off.  I have several videos I’m working on now, but this one should be done soon.  The ride at Eagle was better than previous rides, mostly because of greater familiarity with the trails, I found some good climbs, and I didn’t break my chain.

If this is all too boring for you, here is an article from the Museum of Mountain Bike Art & Technology (MOMBAT) on The History of Manitou.