If you are looking for new horizons for cycle touring then South Australia may fit the bill. Bike SA runs two fully supported multi day rides every year traversing different parts of the state. The 2026 Flinders Escape, 9-17th May, starts and finishes in Port Augusta, and 2026 Gourmet Food and Wine Tour, 19-27th September, starts and finishes in Adelaide. Both rides are about 500 km distance with one rest day mid ride, and limited to 200 riders. There are also opportunities to volunteer on the tours.
I have completed 6 Tours with Bike SA, 4 as a rider and 2 as a volunteer and have thoroughly enjoyed them all. BikeSA tours are friendly and well organised and can provide ‘Deluxe Camping’ for those who prefer not to pitch a tent. Camping is on local sports grounds or camp grounds in small regional towns and as rider numbers are capped at 200 it is not difficult to find your tent! Local communities and businesses provide catering, and cafes and pubs are well patronised, creating a tourism boost for the towns.
The SA landscapes are stunning and varied and many of the small towns have beautiful streetscapes and interesting museums. There are also stark reminders of the futility of ignoring the climate: countless stone farmhouses abandoned by settlers north of the Goyder Line after the SA government ignored the scientific advice from George Goyder, the SA Surveyor-General in 1865, that the land was not suitable for farming.
You see many of these abandoned buildings on the Flinders Escape Tour which travels through Quorn, Hawker, Parachilna, Blinman, Wilpena Pound, Wilmington back to Port Augusta, with bitumen or gravel route options. The Flinders Ranges landscapes are extraordinary- towering cliffs, spectacular gorges and red outback roads all under a wide sky.
The Gourmet Food & Wine Tour travels through the South Australian wine regions – the Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley and McLaren Vale. Towns on the route include Tanunda, Riverton, Clare, Kapunda, Nuriootpa and Hahndorf, and there are many opportunities to visit historic and new wineries on the way.
Many volunteers help run the tours doing tasks from pitching tents, serving breakfast, delivering lunches and drinks at refreshment stops, cleaning and other duties.
For more information contact BikeSA. Email: office@bikesa.asn.au Phone: 08 8168 9999