by Carla Caruso

What began as a fun spin on the bike eight years ago has become a weekly tradition for Keith Conlon.

The former media personality is behind Ride with Keith – a friendly Wednesday group ride, traversing the Adelaide Park Lands and beyond.

“Steve Sanders [former Adelaide Football Club staff development manager] ran a three-day bike ride challenge for the Crows Foundation, which I was chairing at the time,” says Keith, who’s also known for once fronting Nine’s Postcards show.

“I used to join them for a half-day or day [of training], because I was already a bike rider. When I retired from radio [FIVEaa], and I finished at the end of 2013, Steve said, ‘What about having a friendly sort of recreational ride through the Park Lands?’

“I said, ‘That sounds all right.’ So, we began it in February, and it’s been going for about eight-and-a-half years.”

Cycling the parks

The ride – which takes varied routes – departs from Halifax St shop Bicycle Express midweek at 9am. All are welcome, though a certain level of fitness is required as the trips can go for about 25km.

Cyclists can just turn up on the day. The ride happens every week unless there’s a notification on the Facebook page to say otherwise. And it’s free to participate.

In winter, around 15 riders usually tag along, while in summer, the number can swell to 25.

“Almost every ride, there’s a chunk of the Park Lands in it and sometimes quite a big chunk,” says Keith, 78.

“Most people, for instance, are a bit amazed to think that you can do 25km in the Park Lands.

“Now it’s 19km around the edge, but if you just add in the Torrens Loop – you know, if you start at the [Torrens] Weir and go up to the Hackney Bridge and come back again – that adds 5km. The variety of what you see and what you experience and what you sense is really quite staggering.”

For instance, Keith says, you can go through the “manicured and very pretty Rymill Park [Murlawirrapurka – Park 14]” or “Victoria Park [Pakapakanthi – Park 16], with those lovely vistas.

“On the western side, there’s just a beautiful run with the gumtree avenue, next to the olive grove. I just love that personally – you know, the play of light on the trees and the way I get carried away. But then you can go into what is basically scrub.”

This includes the stretch behind the Adelaide Zoo, between Albert Bridge and Hackney Bridge.

“There’s a point where the bike path drops down onto the lower bank of the river, and there’s a view there, and honestly, you could be 30km from Adelaide. You could be in the Adelaide Hills somewhere, on the Onkaparinga [River], it’s just gorgeous.

“There’s not a car in sight. It’s very quiet. There are lots of birds, ducks, and all sorts. Nature’s winning. And it’s a credit to the City of Adelaide that they’ve really managed to be able to, over the last 30 years or so, do the planting that really restores that sense of bushland.”

Other activities

The group also visits Colonel Light’s statute on Montefiore Hill at least once a year. “We go say hello, either on his birthday or his death or when the statue got there. There’s always a reason to go and visit Bill.”

Plus, they’ll do “official sprinkling of the water bottle ceremonies”. “We are self-appointed openers of new bits, like the path that’s just finished from the Hackney Road/North Terrace corner.”

Keith’s been the chair of the South Australian Heritage Council – an independent advisory body to the government – since 2018. So, he’ll do “special stops” to share historical stories with the other cyclists too.

Each ride usually finishes at about 10.30am, with a coffee often enjoyed afterwards at a Park Lands eatery, like Lounders Boatshed Café, Café Bonython or The Velo Precinct.

The group also goes on “special adventures” further afield, such as along the Amy Gillett Bikeway in the Adelaide Hills or on the Shiraz Trail in the Fleurieu Peninsula.

But it’s the Park Lands that remain close to Keith’s heart. He’s had “a connection almost on a daily basis” with them since the 1960s.

He’s lived in North Adelaide for “more than half [his] life”. As well, he studied at St Peter’s College and the University of Adelaide, and as a student, stayed at university residential college St Mark’s.

“I was rowing out of the boatshed there when [namesake] Mr Lounder was still making boats in the Lounders boathouse.”

And he hopes to be doing the Wednesday ride “for many years to come”. “It’s just a fantastic appointment and it keeps you on the ball, thinking about where the next one will be.”