I needed to borrow my Mum’s car for a bit today, so I caught the train up there this morning with my bike. Then I got to ride home after I’d finished my runs.

A couple of things I’ve learnt – 45 minutes is plenty long enough for white skin to turn red! And that it really isn’t easy cycling in hot weather like today (hitting about 32 °C).

Still, I managed to maintain my average of about 20 km/h – aided by the long downhill section from Hallett Cove down to Brighton (not all downhill, I might add, with some uphill stretches to break the flow and pummel my legs).

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Yep, another one…

This time I’d taken the train into the city in order to collect something I’d ordered at a computer shop there – unfortunately, a sudden circumstance meant the shop was closed for the morning.

Still – it was a pretty good ride back.

I wish I’d taken my camera out with me yesterday – the sea and beaches by Glenelg and Brighton looked absolutely wonderful as I cycled along the coast yesterday.

Anyway, here is a map of the thing:

A couple of things – I was going to follow the coast all the way to Brighton before turning back east into the city, but got foiled by roadworks along the way. I then ended up zigzagging a little before finding a landmark that I could use to find my original route again – they’re not much for diversion route markers around here.

The other thing I found along the way was the handling of cycle routes and crossing major roads – I’ve marked the major points with red markers on the map (although care should be taken at all junctions, some need a bit of extra attention).

1. My first major junction was getting across Marion Road at the Sixth Avenue junction. There’s a bit of a kink in the road crossing this junction, and as such it means a cyclist would have to ride against traffic for a short way. I found it was easier to just get off and walk across on the pedestrian crossing.
2. The crossing at the Brighton Road tram stop is another get off and walk across one. Another tip at this point – try not to cycle down Jetty Road. There are traffic calming measures that make things interesting by narrowing the road just at a point where a tram is bearing down on you.
3. The rail crossing at Brighton Road was the best crossing yet. The cycle route switches from the north to the south of the rail line, and they are well prepared for this by giving a bicycle-only turn lane for turning right onto Brighton Road, which has its own green light at the traffic lights. Thankfully the roadworks here didn’t get in my way at all, and this was the easiest road crossing over the whole route.
4. With all the development at Oaklands rail station, I really would have thought that the crossing at Diagonal Road would be the easiest one of the lot. Unfortunately, this was far from the case.

   While there had been changes (including automatically closing pedestrian gates over the rail lines), the signage there for cyclists turned out to be very confusing.

   As I approached the junction, I knew that there was another switch in from south to north of the lines at this point, although I’d never taken the junction on a bike before. The signs directed me to take a left before crossing the road – which then left me on the other side of the tracks, and no crossing for another several hundred metres. On the other hand, if I had stay on the other side of the rail crossing, I would have easily gotten across the road, and then still have been able to get over the rail line.

5. The last crossing is one that I’m pretty familiar with, as I take it most weekends to get to the local supermarket and back.

   According to the maps, the official route for bicycles is several hundred metres away, but that would involve crossing six-lanes of heavy traffic at a point where there are no crossing lights, so the simplest thing to do is to get down to the main crossing with Oaklands Road. Here you can get over the pedestrian crossings in sequence with the lights easy enough.