No cycling this week...

as I was distracted by a fabulous wedding,

Mother's day breakfast

My mum and her girls.

and Mother's day lunch.

THE Coach and his mum. A rare photo of a smiling coach.

This is rapidly becoming the blog of staying off my bike!
Yikes.
"Luckily, tomorrow is another day," my mantra to THE Coach.

Misty morning ride

THE Coach was happy today as he was riding in fine company.  Gerard and Annie joined Phillip and THE Coach on a speedy ride to La Pa.  The misty morning didn't phase them a bit.  As they pedaled off into the soft, white morning, I dragged myself out of bed for my one and only ride this week.  

I met Gen and Bill at Centennial Park so we could ride a few hills before the cafe stop.  Only 18kms today but the Hill Coach was encouraging, and even made a positive report to THE Coach, over coffee at Phillip's favourite Buzy Bee cafe.  (No raisin toast this morning as I was tempted by banana bread - a mistake- will return to the usual next week.)

The mist had cleared by the time the two teams met up.  As you can see below, THE Coach looked positively chipper after his ride without his trainee. 

 Best get back on my bike this week, as I was bluntly reminded that it's less than two months till we climb the hills of the Dordogne. 

No cycling, but lots of eating, drinking and shopping

 in Melbourne for the ANZAC day long weekend, where more than once I wished that I had my bike. 

A great weekend in a beautiful city.  Thanks Lucy for the local knowledge. 
THE Coach has been keeping very quiet about my failure to ride last week.  The lull before the storm perhaps?

Visit Oatley Park for...

beautiful views of the water,

empty roads for cyclists

and long steady hills that make Bill, THE Hill Taskmaster, very happy.  He loves to ride the Oatley Park hills and has been doing so for years.  

Three rides this week, two of the usual Five Dock circuit and one with Gen and Bill at Oatley Park.  I've taken Catherine's warning about preparing for the hills in the Dordogne seriously, so persuaded THE Coach to drive over to Mortdale with our bikes to cycle with Bill and Gen on their regular morning ride.
My goodness they will be in good shape for the Dordogne.  After our ride of four times round the Oatley Park circuit, THE Coach insisted that we make the most of the beautiful day by riding on to Como for a look at the railway bridge.

Someone else mentioned coffee, so I found some energy reserves and managed to pedal across the railway bridge to a lovely little cafe by the water at Como.

It was a strenuously rewarding ride, all 28 kms.  I'm going to ignore THE Hill Taskmaster's parting comment that really "It was only a 14km ride today because the other 14 kms were coasting downhill".
Even though I rode again this morning, my legs are still feeling those Oatley Park hills, a day later!  Oh dear, I know what THE Coach will say...

Cyclists everywhere

Yesterday THE Coach and I set out on a 40 km ride with Bill and Gen to The Armory Cafe at Newington on the edge of Olympic Park.  I guess it was a surprise reward ride.  THE Coach rode with us for the entire distance, and we stopped for coffee and raisin toast - well that was my order, so it appeared to meet the criteria of a reward ride. 

It was a perfect day for cycling- we weren't alone in our thinking.  Homebush was crawling with cyclists of all descriptions.

Although the ride is mostly through the suburban back streets of Five Dock, Abbotsford, Concord and Rhodes, it is quite varied as the on road cyclepath also winds through streets of factories and runs along the river - in parts it is quite picturesque. 

When we finished Gen and Bill stopped in for a cuppa to "talk cycling in France".  We poured over travel guides and maps as we began to make more detailed plans for the cycling leg of our trip.
Since I blogged a few weeks ago, some blog readers have requested our itinerary.  We are using the cycling company Cyclomundo and so far they've been great.  We've planned a self-guided group tour of the Dordogne and Lot districts.
Day 1Arrive in Souillac and transfer to stay overnight in Sarlat.
Day 2 Cycle from Sarlat to Montignac (25kms)
Day 3 Cycle from Montignac to Les Eyzies (26kms)
Day 4 Cycle from LesEyzies to Monpazier (40kms)
Day5 Cycle from Monpazier to Sarlat (53 kms)
Day 6 Cycle Sarlat environs.
Day 7 Cycle from Sarlat to Rocamadour (54 Kms)
Day 8 Cycle from Rocamadour to Labastide-Murat (30 kms)
Day 9 Cycle from Labastide-Murat to Vers (28Kms)
Day 10 Cycle from Vers to Cahors (15km)
Day 11 Train from Cahors to Paris.

We'd love any and all suggestions for 'must see' spots in this southern part of the Dordogne.  Thanks to Anne for the email with details about caves worth a look and to Catherine for tips about unmissable lunch stops.
ALL suggestions will be greeted with delight.

THE Coach - What Coach?

We spent Easter with friends staying in a beautiful country home, between the towns of Blayney and Orange in western NSW.

The weather was glorious and this part of the country was looking its best after some much needed rain.  Who could blame THE Coach for taking off every morning to ride with some very keen cyclists along empty country roads, through dazzling green fields, past pretty country villages and best of all, up some long steady hills?

Yes, THE Coach was in heaven as he rode with Richard, Anne, Kate, Catherine, Julie-Anne and occasionally, his trainee Jenny, along the country roads around Blayney and Millthorpe.  

Luckily, while THE Coach was out pedaling furiously up and down as many hills as he could find, I enjoyed some lovely rides with Anne and Catherine, who kindly kept me company at the back of the pack.  Although the rides were some of the longest that I've done (38kms around Blayney and 42 kms into Orange), we also made time to drink coffee, eat lots of Anne's delicious home cooked biscuits and taste some wine with Melissa at the Philip Shaw vineyard just outside Orange.

 

So, although THE Coach was consumed with riding fast, up as many hills as he could find, he encouraged his trainee with reward cups of coffee and the odd encouraging remark - "Good to see you've finally arrived" - words of encouragement from himself as I hauled myself off the bike at the Union Bank Cafe.
We loved visiting Orange, Millthorpe and Blayney.  Cycling in the morning and then eating out - lunch at Tonic in Millthorpe on Saturday, follow by lunch at The Union Bank on Easter Sunday.

We still managed to feast again on Sunday night as our most generous hosts, Anne and Richard, prepared a delicious roast dinner, followed by a very moreish apple crumble.

I've said it before - there is only ONE Coach.  His ruthless coaching methods are working as I've now cycled similar distances to those we'll be doing in France.

Admittedly, I'm lacking considerable stamina, but there are still many months to go.  Thanks to THE Coach,  I'm still on my bike and enjoying the riding more than ever.

Cycling round Orange was sensational.  Catherine, Mary and Julie-Anne assure us that the Dordogne will be even more delightful.  Hard to believe after such a fantastic weekend!!!  Thanks Catherine, Richard and Anne.

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.