So many Sydneys in one ride

A taste of touring this week with our ride around Fairfield, Cabrammatta, Bossley Park and Canley Vale.  A 38 km loop (slightly more for those who did the short ride to the lookout which even THE Coach said was a "bit of a pinch").  Needless to say I was happy to wait under the shade at the bottom preserving my energy.

Thanks to Mary, who organised our group of seven, we were on our bikes leaving Canley Vale railway station a little after 8am on Saturday morning.  Perfect riding conditions with overcast warm weather for most of the morning. Perfect for THE Coach too, as he rode with a group of glamorous gals, as you can see.

Mary, our ride leader with map in hand, reassured me that this would be a touring ride so our speed would hover between 15-20 km.  Lovely, just my kind of ride. And so it was - a mostly flat ride with just a couple of gentle hills for interest.

Lots of chatting as we rode through urban sprawl, along grungy paths beside the railway tracks, past temples and through beautiful parklands.

One of THE Coach's favourite sayings,  "there are just so many Sydneys" came to mind as I rode along enjoying the sights and sounds of the outer west. 

Best of all, there was a reward at the end of the ride.  We spruced ourselves up and enjoyed a delicious Vietnamese lunch in Canley Vale. THE Coach is also very handy with a camera as you can see from these shots.

 

Thanks to Mary and Julie-Anne for organising the ride, and to Louise, Patsy and Catherine for a totally awesome, random, sensational ride!!!!  Going forward with much excitement to Orange for a cycling Easter weekend!!! I thinkTHE Coach is almost as enthused.

"Ho, hum" says THE Coach

An uneventful weekend of cycling as you can see from THE Coach's expression.  Yes my first reward ride in a while and this time it was just 22 kms around the bays of Iron Cove, Hen and Chicken Bay and Five Dock returning to the cafe beside the Iron Cove Bridge for the raisin toast (not bad) and coffee at The Cove, Drummoyne.  

Have been averaging 2 rides a week, only weekend rides at the moment as I can't seem to drag myself out of bed in the pitch dark to ride before school.  Perhaps I'll be a little more motivated after next weekend as there is a ride planned with Mary, Julie Anne, Catherine and THE Coach.  A 40 km ride - anyone else want to join me at the back of the pack???

As I don't have too much to report about riding around Sydney I thought I'd start introducing the Dordogne plans on the blog.  Our first stop after arriving from Paris by train will be to stay overnight in  the small town of Souillac.  Once we pick up our bikes and maps, I don't think there will be too much in Souillac to delay us before we begin our first day of cycling to Montignac.  Thought some of you might like to see the hotel where we'll be staying over night in Montignac so here it is.  The caves appear to be the main attraction in this area so I'm sure we'll find time to join the crowds below ground. 

So that's just the first day of our trip, only 30kms or so along some pretty back roads without too many hills. An easy beginning, we hope.

France this year, but in 2011 it's GOT to be New York!

 Wareemba cafe, again.

THE coach was persuaded to head off early this morning for a ride to Parramatta with JulieAnne and Mary.  I was invited but preferred not to slow them down, so I was able to spend a little longer in bed before getting on my bike to do the usual 18kms to Abbotsford.
Those extra minutes in bed meant that I could read  Monica's "Cycling in New York story" published in the SMH today.

When I met the others for coffee and "Sydney's best raisin toast" (JuileAnne agrees), I was able to announce that our next cycling holiday just has to be New York.  I'm sure you'll agree when you read Monica's feature travel article about the joys of cycling in the Big Apple.  So you can see why we just have to plan another cycling  trip after France -  New York it is.  I'm sure THE Coach will say yes...eventually.

There it is!

Lots of rides planned for the next few weeks - Canley Vale, Orange and in May, a ride in Canberra. Yes I'm well and truly back on the bike and have now clocked up the required 4 solo rides.  Have told THE  Coach that a reward ride is on the cards for next weekend.

Just one more thing.  There is a new website for the apartment where we're going to stay in Paris, so I thought you might like to have a browse. We've booked the 1 bedroom Marais Village apartment.  Isn't it beautiful!  Can't wait.

Carb loading, fresh carbs only

Only one ride this weekend but at least I have been back on my bike.  Just the usual solo bay ride, very slow.  But tomorrow I'll be out again. I'll have to be as tonight Tim and THE Coach are cooking up a feast.

Fresh pasta with Tim's favourite bolognese made by the cycling and pasta coach himself.  Yes, I'd better hit the hills tomorrow after the mountains of pasta I'm planning to eat.