Kapunda 200km loop
I've been enjoying 200km loops out from Adelaide. My latest trip introduced a variation on the normal routes through Angaston and/or Sedan. I took the bike paths up to Nuriootpa and then cut across to Greenock and on up to Kapunda, which is just shy of 100km. From Kapunda I cut across to Truro which allowed me a "straight" run down to Mt. Pleasant and home via the Torrens Gorge.
This route is mostly bike paths and back streets from our place in Hillcrest until you get to Nuri. Unfortunately the road out to Greenock is also Nuriootpa's main access to the Sturt Highway and Adelaide, so it can be 5 or 6 kilometres of heavy traffic at the wrong time of day. One could remedy this by taking the Barossa Bike Path until just before Lyndoch, and then heading north via Herman Thumm Drive and Lyndoch Road, which will deliver us to the very busy Gomersal Road. But cross straight over in dry weather (Hoklas Road and then left at Heinze), or otherwise head left for about 500m to Gerald Roberts Road, and there is a straight bitumen connection to Greenock. The road from Greenock to Kapunda can be busy, but it usually seems bike friendly.
There is an OTR (24hrs) at Kapunda, so it's a good stop for water and calories.
Kapunda to Truro is relatively quiet and has modest slopes, although the first one is longish. There is water available at Truro, but the take-away (PieFace) is not open 24 hours. I'd been pushing a sometimes unpleasant left quarter wind, and occasionally full on headwind all the way to Kapunda, so the 20km across to Truro was a very pleasant change.
Truro to Moculta is a very quiet road. Moculta to Keyneton has a short section of metal road, but it's currently in good condition.
From Keyneton, it's bitumen all the way home. And 10km short of Mt Pleasant the undulating downhill all the way to the city begins. Take the Gorge Road just south of Gumeracha, not NorthEast Road.
I was chuffed to bring up my 200km inside 12 hours, especially given the earlier headwinds. All up, the trip was 220km from Hillcrest, but taking the train to Gawler would lop off a fair bit of that.
