http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/au/adelaide/89312920...
Hands up if you know where Blewitt Springs is? Now keep them up if you have any suggestions for which way to ride to there from my place...
That's where Geoff has to go every morning to pick up the truck for work from his boss' place, and so that's where the ute has been sitting since Nov 18th when he broke himself. He wsn't too fussed about getting it back but I pointed out that the Hilux is a) half mine and b) sitting there giving the boss a guilt trip. Plus it was a nice cool cloudy morning for riding 40+km.
Down Daws Rd/Oaklands Rd to the Sturt drain then followed the bike path south along the creek to Darlington (stopping to sample a mulberry tree in Warriparinga wetlands). Up the hill on the 'veloway' alongside the Southern Expressway - only had to cross a road once before the end of the expressway by the Onkaparinga River. Then the bike path joins with the Coast to Vines rail trail through Seaford (I saw a couple of kids aged maybe 6 and 9 trying to kick/push start a 50cc motorbike which was blowing out lots of smoke, and as I passed I couldn't resist saying "you'll want to get that tuned") and ends up in McLaren Vale. From there I took Chalk Hill Rd, then a track which showed on the map as 4WD only and so I fully expected the sign to say "dry weather road only" but in fact it said "SAND TRACK - IMPASSABLE WHEN DRY" and indeed I had to push my bike, but it was only 400m of sand until I joined up with the road to Douglas Gully and Blewitt Springs.
So, this turned out to be way easier than I had expected and was a route with very little traffic and manageable gradient. It has definitely broadened my horizons :)