We did but see him zooming by...

Hey, there goes that royal, bald guy!

Yes, on our way to Clovelly for a morning stroll along the new boardwalk, Anne and I were stopped by some very official motorcycle coppers in a mad dash to get William to the airport.  Such excitement.  What a start to a fantastic morning walk!

Delightful company, beautiful sunshine and a pod??? of dolphins leaping out of the surf to keep us entertained, as we enjoyed the cliff walk between Clovelly and Tamaramma.

To finish on a high, we stopped at Seasalt Cafe for the usual coffees and raisin toast.  Yes, this was the best walk of the week.

Thanks Anne and Trudy for a great walk with a real summer holiday feel.

I've also been riding during the week, not as much as THE Coach would like, but I have been on my bike.  Three rides since my last blog post. Two of the usual Bay rides, one with Therese where we finished the ride with a coffee and raisin toast at the Pavillion Cafe in Abbotsford.

Sadly Therese and I had our last morning ride of the holidays today.  I rode over to her place in Petersham, cycling slowly up a few hills along the way and then we rode down to the park at Blackwattle Bay.

Although the photos don't show it, this shared walk/cycle path was really too busy for much of a ride.  Very popular with walkers, bootcampers and the dreaded small dogs off leash.  We won't be back to ride there in a hurry.  All up it was a slow 21kms, taking an hour and a half.  Don't think THE Coach will be too impressed.

We finished up back in Annandale at the Gallery cafe for a coffee and raisin toast again.  After all the raisin toast I've been eating, I'm giving the 'Best raisin toast award' to the Trovatino cafe in Wareemba - medium sized slices of brown bread with sultanas and raisins lightly toasted, with butter on the side.  Perfect.

Very last ride of the holidays tomorrow.  It will be a reward ride with THE Coach, Bill and Gen as we head into Centennial Park again to hand over Melissa's bike.  On the French cycling front - we have a final itinerary from Bruno at Cyclomundo, so it's all speed ahead as we train for our own 'Tour de France"!

THE Coach changes THE Rules

Ride 4- 09/01/10 -MB by the Bay

Well the year has begun well with four rides this week and according to the new rules from THE Coach, that's enough for a reward ride!  So tomorrow, before we head north to the Central Coast, we'll do the Homebush ride, with a planned stop at The Cove for a quick bite to eat.  I'll let you know if it all goes according to plan.

Ride 1 04/01/10 - MB at the other Bay

Following THE Coach's new, more lenient rules, I'm going to try to post a photo for every ride, and very soon I'll also be able to post kms ridden, as well.  While my bike was in the Ashfield Bike Shop being serviced THE Coach surprised me by arranging to have a kilometre gadget (don't know what they're called) attached.  He loves his gadget thing, and is always telling me the ride statistics, so I'm sure I'll be able to produce some very boring blog entries with lots of weekly ride stats.

Ride 2 - 06/01/10 MB and the remnants of Christmas along the ride

Thanks to Melissa, and Melissa's Bike (MB) I was able to keep riding this week while my bike was being worked on. As you can see, MB is a lovely purplish, blue bike; very comfortable to ride and I'm sure Gen will enjoy the loan of MB in preparation for France.  Hope I've broken it in for you Gen.  Thanks again Melissa, for the loan.  You can see in the photos MB has been exploring the quiet roads, bike paths and foot paths of Canada Bay, and I'd have to say she performed perfectly out here in the Inner West.

Ride 3 - 08/01/10 She swims and she rides!

Best ride of the week was with Therese who accompanied me on my third ride of the week, just the usual ride and a most welcome Toby's coffee at Five Dock's Bowan Island Cafe.  Now that her seat is fixed she's threatening to keep riding.  Hope so, as riding with company is much more fun.