There and Back Again

November 19, 2021

Torrens Linear Path

Roger has a touching faith in the Bureau of Metereology. He studies the weather forecast diligently and expects the weather to behave accordingly. The weather doesn't always keep its end of the bargain, and to make matters worse Roger is now bringing Queensland expectations to South Australian weather.

"Rain is forecast!" he said. "We can't possibly ride our bikes today! There might be as much as 10mm - a deluge!"

We pored over the weather forecast: today was the only day that we could get out to ride the eastern end of the Torrens Linear Trail so we packed our wet weather gear, caught the train in to town, and off we went.

It wasn't long before the deluge started. Raindrops splattered heavily on the trail. Sometimes, two of them fell in the same five square centimetres!

We could always shelter under a bridge if it came to that.

The Linear Trail meandered along beside the 'River' Torrens, with a surprising number of sharp little ups and downs not helped by the fact that we were traveling upstream and therefore uphill. In places there were pools deep enough that children had left rope swings hanging over the river. In other places the river was little more than a dribble through grass and rubbish. The signage for the trail varied wildly from barely there to very good: something to do with the confusing number of municipalities which make up the city of Adelaide. The two consistent things about the path were multitudes of fat and happy ducks and all shapes and sizes of people walking all shapes and sizes of dog.

Dog walker with happy dog and high-contrast umbrella.

As we went upstream the path became hillier and the valley narrower, which wasn't surprising given that the Linear Path ends at Gorge Road. We pedaled past beautiful old (and new) houses, including Athelstone House (1842) and the ruins of the water-powered Mill beside it. We also realised, alas, that we hadn't packed any snacks and the Trail was not courteous enough to take us past a shop where we could find something to eat.

Risking starvation as well as severe rain exposure, onward we pressed.

Image not found :( — Not such a flat path any more.

The trail passed under the Highbury Aqueduct, originally built to assist Adelaide's water supply and now decommissioned. The Highbury Reserve has lots of walking tracks and mountain bike trails.

We found the head of the River Torrens! 'Tis exciting stuff for some of us.

After spending a minute being underwhelmed by the end of the trail, we shook the raindrop off our helmets, turned around, and headed downstream back to town. We zoomed back past Athelstone House, those pesky ups and downs along the river, and the Zoo where the animals were being tucked into bed.

Notice the milling crowds in Adelaide at 7pm on a Friday.

When we got back to the railway station we toyed with the idea of eating out in the city. The thought of pushing our bikes around and finding somewhere to eat was just too much like hard work (not to mention the torrential rain, of course), so we caught the train home, ate some vegemite toast, and gladdened the dog's heart by spending time with him instead.

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Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 120 km (75 miles)

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Rich FrasierThank goodness there are still bold adventurers out there to seek out the mysterious sources of rivers and report back their findings. Glad you survived the challenges of the day. :)
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3 years ago

Titanium PenguinTo Rich FrasierThanks Rich. Adventure can be found in the smallest of things if you're willing to exaggerate a bit (and poke fun at yourself :-)!)
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3 years ago