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Cruisy camping tour for Bruny Island in August

Bruny Island is a hotbed of tourism these days but the dying days of winter are the perfect time to have the roads and sites to yourself on your bike.

A week-long riding/camping trip of Bruny is being organised for 18–23 August for anyone who enjoys a laid-back cycling pace or wants to get a taste of bicycle touring life.

Your ride leader will be Andreas, who is a dab hand at cycling touring and can provide you with advice on the what to bring and best type of gear to use if you are a newcomer to camping and cycle touring. He also has a few spare racks and panniers if you don’t have your own.

The group will meet for a cuppa and discussion about the trip at Kettering before heading across on the ferry (costs $6 return for bicycles), with cars left behind.

The schedule for the trip is not set in stone and will be left up to the group day by day, but broadly camping is planned for Adventure Bay, Cloudy Bay, near the Cape Bruny Lighthouse and The Neck.

Camping possibilities include established sites, private property and bush camping so you need to come prepared. Shopping opportunities are limited so you’ll have to able to pack enough food for the week and carry water for overnight stays.

This will not be the Tour de France. The pace will be laid-back, giving people plenty of time to drink in the scenery, if not a coffee or two, take photos and rest. The distance ridden each day will about about 35-50 km.

Most meals will be at the campsite but if the group decides then a lunch or dinner at one of the island’s cafes and eateries could be included.

The best type of bikes to take are hybrid, touring or mountain bikes with reasonably wide tyres (38 mm plus) and low gearing.

The journey will take in a mix of surfaces, from asphalt and gravel roads to bush tracks and some beach traverses.

Please email Andreas Hack andreas@ahack.org for more information about the trip and to book your place. The size of the group will be limited to 7 people.

Upcoming rides

Social rides are featured in each edition of In the Loop, but if you want more notice visit our social rides calendar, which is regularly updated.

  • Sunday 4 August – Easy Women's Ride, Moonah and Coffee
  • Wednesday 16 October – Berry Patch Ride and Feast Seniors Week ride
  • Wednesday 16 October – E-bike coffee club goes to MONA Seniors Week ride
  • Sunday 1 March 2020 – Women on Wheels 20th anniversary ride

The strength of our social rides program depends on members volunteering to lead rides. Leading social rides is a fun way to "give back" to the riding community, and to help us to get "more people riding, more often".  

Bicycle Network Tasmania accredits Social Ride Leaders, and requires anyone interested in leading rides to be accreditted. If you would like to be one of our Ride Leaders, please volunteer here and we'll let you know when the next Ride Leader Skills Development Workshop is scheduled.