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"!

Long time between blogposts and rides

Yes, it has been a long time between blog posts for many reasons.

Reason 1.

The weather - stinking hot weather kept me off my bike for a couple of days. Even THE Coach didn't ride one Sunday morning.

Reason 2.

Changes in work shifts so no time to ride after work - meetings after school, meetings before school etc.

Reason 3.

I'm sure there was a third reason...?

Anyway, I have only been for three rides since my last reward from THE Coach. This weekend was most exciting as I actually rode in company even though it wasn't with THE Coach. Thanks to Gen and Bill for driving over early on Sunday morning to join me on the Breakfast Point ride. Not quite as much fun as cycling in New York, or the Dordogne (we hope), but we did get on our bikes.

It was a lovely Sunday morning ride. Not too hot, not too many unleashed dogs and even the reward of coffee at the end of the ride with the 'speedy gonzales team' of Annie, Gerard and THE Coach. While Gen, Bill and I would have been happy to linger over our coffees swapping cycling tales, THE Coach and his 'team' had to move quickly to their next athletic event - the Coogee swim where they did battle with the swim bureaucracy and managed to make it round Wedding cake island without paying cent.

My only regret from the weekend - no photos as I'd left the camera at school.

News from France - have heard back from the Cyclomundo group - this is the link to their suggested tour.