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.

It's been a while...

Yes, the whole reason for blogging was to get me on my bike, but unfortunately not even the public humiliation of having to blog about not riding has been able to get me out there. 
But now, the rain has gone, the days are looking brighter and a little cooler, treatment is over, SO I'll be back pedalling very soon.
And when I do, I'll be hard to miss thanks to these beautiful cycling shirts that I received for my birthday.  Looking forward to being seen on the bike.

The Handover at Centennial Park

Only two rides this week.  One on Monday with Therese and then a reward ride on Australia Day with THE Coach in Centennial Park, where we met Bill and Gen for the official handover of Melissa's bike.

It was a warm morning as we joined hundreds of cyclists ranging from the slick, speedy Italian looking blokes cycling in packs, to the elegant solo rider, leisurely pedaling along on her lovely bike with basket.

THE Coach had a plan. He led us five, or six times round the park, always leading from a distance in front well out of shouting distance so he couldn't hear our calls for a drink stop.  To earn our coffee we also had to climb the hills - yes, there are two hills in Centennial Park and we rode up them several times till THE Coach was satisfied that we were sweating.

Finally, we were allowed out of the park for a coffee and quick bite of delicious fruit toast at Monica's favourite Woollahra cafe.

Gen seemed to take a shine to Melissa's bike enjoying the raised flat handle bars and suspension seat, but not the toe clips.  Only one slight accident as we slowed to cross the road with Gen forgetting to step out of the clips, but a few grazes didn't faze her, as we were almost back to the cars.

All up it was about 30kms, probably about the distance we'll be riding in France on some of the shorter days.

Until next week...

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"!