Join the Bike Riding Community in the City of Salisbury (Image Supplied)
Cycle Salisbury Social Rides are organised by the City of Salisbury and BikeSA to encourage people to ride their bikes more. The Salisbury area has many attractive parks, reserves and wetlands which are fun to explore, and seeing them on a group social ride makes the experience all the more enjoyable.
Each month a new program of social rides is developed, with several different groups offering a choice of difficulty for the bike rides. The easiest rides typically cover 5-10km of easy trails, catering for beginners or people out of condition. At the other end of the scale, the most difficult bike rides cover up to 30-50km on the extensive bike trails network in Salisbury. All the rides are led by BikeSA trained leaders.
Discover Shared Use Trails Like Dry Creek Linear Park
The rides aren't too challenging, and cyclists just keep a steady pace to cover the route. Being social rides, the routes aren't set in stone - they are just ideas for discussion which the participants can change as they go. To give you an idea of what to expect, here are some examples of recent rides:
a 5-10km ride for beginners along the bitumen path of the Little Para trail
a family ride in the local Burton area covering about 10km, suitable for both adults and kids aged 7 years up
another beginners mountain bike ride for 15km on gravel along the Dry Creek trail, without traffic and great scenery. See how many koalas you can spot, then finish with a coffee and a chat
an easy ride 20km along the Little Para and Dry Creek trails, stopping for refreshments afterwards
wander through Salisbury's Barker Wetlands, exploring a variety of the many trails in the district. A more challenging ride of up to 50km, but stopping at a bakery along the way
Reward Yourself: Take a Break at the Watershed Cafe
It's easy to join the Cycle Salisbury Social Rides. You do need a bike, preferably a mountain bike (or a hybrid) capable of using unsealed mountain bike trails. Of course a helmet is necessary, a bottle of water, and a pump and puncture repair kit is highly desirable. It's that simple!
It's all about enjoying yourself and having a great time with your new cycling friends. After finishing the ride, the Cycle Salisbury groups usually stop somewhere like a bakery or coffee shop to unwind, have a bite to eat, or just sip a coffee.
Keep Fit With Cycle Salisbury Social Rides (Image Supplied)
The Health Department has identified some of the benefits of cycling which include
increased cardiovascular fitness
increased muscle strength and flexibility
improved posture and coordination
decreased body fat levels
prevention or management of disease
reduced anxiety and depression.
Fun Things to Do With Kids: Cycling the Salisbury Shared Use Trails
On top of this there's the health benefits of getting out and having a great time with a fun group of people. If you haven't explored Salisbury's huge network of shared use trails, it's a brilliant opportunity to get up close to some of the local wildlife, appreciate the native flowers, and learn some local history. The
Dry Creek Linear Park is a great example of this.
You can find Cycle Salisbury Social Rides on the
City of Salisbury website, and on Facebook. The ride program is posted regularly and changes every month, so it's worth checking to see what's new.
Join Cycle Salisbury Riding Through Shady Harry Bowey Reserve
If you live too far away from Salisbury to join in, then see this article about
Cycling for Fun in Adelaide for ideas of other cycling activities that are fun things to do.
