A Spring of Social Rides
Spring is here! With longer days, wattles abloom and the promise of warmer weather on the horizon, it’s the perfect time to get on your bike and soak in the fresh spring air. Unley BUG is planning to make the most of this special season by hosting a packed calendar of social rides, including some new formats and exciting collaborations.
We begin with our monthly social ride on Saturday, September 6. Like all of our monthly rides, this will be an all-ages-and-ability-friendly cruise along quiet streets and bike paths with a stop for coffee and chat on the way. We’ve been doing these social rides for a couple of years now and they are starting to build momentum – last month’s was our most popular ride yet with nearly 30 people attending! The above photo shows the crew hanging out at the underpass at Ovingham Station to caffeinate and chat mid-way through the ride.
On the following Thursday (September 11th) we are trying something new with our very first Coffee Outside event. This one isn’t a ride per se – we’ll be meeting at the Pakapakanthi / Victoria Park Wetlands bright and early in the morning. Bring yourself, your bike, and a beverage of choice to the designated meeting spot at the designated time. Hang out with other people and their bikes and drink said beverages together. That’s it. Come along and say hi on your way to work!
The following weekend is a busy one: Sunday the 14th September sees TWO big cycling events on the streets of Adelaide!
It’s cycling heaven in the City of Adelaide with the Kidical Mass protest parade, where children and their families take over the city streets to claim their right to ride safely. The event starts and ends at the Super Cycle Sunday festival in Light Square. As we have in the past, Unley BUG will be leading a group to cycle from Unley Town Hall to Light Square on the day. Meet us at the Town Hall carpark at 9:20am for a 9:30am rollout. We’ll take all the nicest bike paths and side streets to get there, as usual!
Later in September we celebrate the equilibrium of the heavens in our Spring Equinox Adventure Ride. Our adventure rides are for those who have gazed wistfully at the hills on your evening commute home or raised an eyebrow at the word ‘gravel’ but did not know where/how/who to ride with, this is the ride for you! Bring your bike with wider tyres, your hill climbing legs (sorry!) and your sense of adventure. These rides are longer and more challenging than our regular social rides, but you can still expect a friendly atmosphere and good times. Route details will be released closer to the date on the Facebook event page.
Our October Social Ride is going to be a little different than usual as October 4 is International Coffee Outside Day! Unley BUG is excited to be teaming up with RideWithGPS (a fantastic ride mapping and routing website/app) to host Adelaide’s event. We’ll even have prizes to give away to those attending on the day!
In order to celebrate the occasion, we’re doing two things:
- Hosting our regular Social Ride from the Unley Town Hall Carpark at 9am, which will make its way via an interesting route to:
- The Coffee Outside event itself at Montefiore Hill at 10am!
If you want to go for a ride, meet us at the Town Hall Carpark as usual at 9am. Otherwise, meet us straight at Montefiore Hill at 10am to hang out, drink coffee, and talk bikes! Please note that the social ride will end with the coffee outside event – you’ll need to make your own way home from there.
On the 8th of October, join us for our Spring Nights Bike Crawl, a nighttime adventure that celebrates Unley, its restaurants and the coming of daylight savings. We will ride just under 20km entirely within Unley during the evening of 8 October 2025. The ride will include three stops that together form progressive dinner at local Unley restaurants.
The first stop will offer a broad range of entree options from Korea and Japan. The second will be the main course combining the best of Italy with an America twist.
The third will be a delightful dessert.
The ride will start at 6:00pm and conclude no later than 10:00pm. The local restaurants are relatively small, so we will be booking ahead. A spot at the restaurant will only be booked for those that mark themselves as going on the Facebook Event. The last day to let us know that you are coming is Friday 3 October 2025. Necessary items for the ride are front and rear lights, bike lock and good appetite.
Our regular monthly social rides will continue in October and November on the first Saturday of each month, with the new Coffee Outside event happening on the second Thursday of each month. Oh, and our weekly Tuesday morning rides continue as usual from the Unley Community Centre at 9:30am!
…and that’s a wrap!
With all these events on, we are looking forward to getting out on our bikes and catching up with members of the community. Hope to see you along at one (or more) of them!
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