Escapegoat Adventures

Ian Fehler founded Escapegoat in the Adelaide Hills in 2008, six years after moving to South Australia and taking up mountain biking on its trails, and two years after working as head guide for a British adventure company in the French Alps, where he earned the Mountain Bike Leaders Award through British Cycling. Escapegoat became the first operator licensed by South Australia's environment department (then DEWNR) to run mountain bike tours inside Adelaide's National Parks. The business runs from the Goat Shed at Belair National Park, guiding private rides — including on Bosch-powered e-bikes — through the Adelaide Hills, Mount Lofty, McLaren Vale and the Flinders Ranges. Ian describes the aim as letting riders experience South Australia differently, pairing trail time with local food and wine rather than running fixed group departures. Tours are built around each rider's ability and pitched at couples, independent travellers and small private groups rather than set departures. Seventeen years after opening the Goat Shed, Ian is still the guide behind the licence he was first to hold.