After failing to partake in the Etape Loch Ness last weekend I was quite down in the doldrums. Lunchtime hill reps with a couple of colleagues and a hilly extended commute on Tuesday reinvigorated me somewhat, and I knew that that I had to take my other challenge obligations seriously again. Having already planned to take today off for non-velo-related reasons, I decided to request yesterday off, too.
On Wednesday evening I looked at the weather forecast, with patchy rain, snow on the higher ground, and with a stiff wind from the north, which ruled out a there-and-back loop.
With the Three Pistes sportive at the end of May I decided to do a recce ride and see what the Cairngorm ski centre climb is like, and ride home from there. I had sketched out an alternative route which would take me across Fife, over the bridge to Edinburgh and then do laps of Holyrood Park to make up the numbers, but I was neither in the mood for doing laps nor waiting for a train after 100 miles.
I had a 16 mile ride from home to Perth to catch the train (the trains north from Perth are very easily missed), which I caught with seconds to spare.
An hour and a half later, I rocked up to Aviemore, went to the garage, stocked up on supplies for the day ahead.
From Aviemore the road up to the ski centre wasn't as bad as I expected (ramping up to 14% at one point) but come the end of May when I have to do it at the end of a brutal 100-mile sportive that might be a different matter...
I briefly took in the views, then descended before both I started to feel cold and to avoid the rapidly approaching snow storm. At the bottom, I had to take a few minutes to thaw out from the descent.
From the bottom I followed NCN7 southwest through rain, sleet, rubbing brakes and sun to Dalwhinnie, where I stopped in a cafe with the wind blowing storm clouds over the hills.
After replenishing myself, I carried on, but the path deteriorated badly. I do not remember it being a tenth as bad as that the last time I was on that route, although that was in 2004 and it gets very wintry up there!
I turned off towards Tummel Bridge and rode through Etape Caledonia territory, through Trinafour, and past Schiehallion. No wonder the locals are angry, it would have been a stunning, unspoilt valley were it not for the hideous marching pylons of the Beauly-Denny power line as far as the eye could see.
In any case, I found the hills to be tough but nothing in danger of making me get off and push, and the descending was fantastic (apart from the pylons)
Approaching Aberfeldy, I rejoined NCN7 (but in the opposite direction), through the village of Dull (twinned with Boring, Oregon), and arrived in Aberfeldy with 3 hours of daylight left and 40 miles still to ride.
After a rest, a stretch, and snaffling a couple of bananas, I tackled the big climb out of Aberfeldy - which was tough but worth it because the 10-11 mile long descent into Dunkeld is a thing of beauty. From Dunkeld it was simply a case of riding east towards home with the sun setting behind me, along 25 miles of local roads with only the beastly climb of Ballo standing as a sting in the tail before arriving home.
All in all, 139.5 miles (16.5 on the initial run to Perth, 123 on the main route); my third biggest mileage day on a bike. And it was all because of you guys
On Wednesday evening I looked at the weather forecast, with patchy rain, snow on the higher ground, and with a stiff wind from the north, which ruled out a there-and-back loop.
With the Three Pistes sportive at the end of May I decided to do a recce ride and see what the Cairngorm ski centre climb is like, and ride home from there. I had sketched out an alternative route which would take me across Fife, over the bridge to Edinburgh and then do laps of Holyrood Park to make up the numbers, but I was neither in the mood for doing laps nor waiting for a train after 100 miles.
I had a 16 mile ride from home to Perth to catch the train (the trains north from Perth are very easily missed), which I caught with seconds to spare.
An hour and a half later, I rocked up to Aviemore, went to the garage, stocked up on supplies for the day ahead.
From Aviemore the road up to the ski centre wasn't as bad as I expected (ramping up to 14% at one point) but come the end of May when I have to do it at the end of a brutal 100-mile sportive that might be a different matter...
I briefly took in the views, then descended before both I started to feel cold and to avoid the rapidly approaching snow storm. At the bottom, I had to take a few minutes to thaw out from the descent.
From the bottom I followed NCN7 southwest through rain, sleet, rubbing brakes and sun to Dalwhinnie, where I stopped in a cafe with the wind blowing storm clouds over the hills.
After replenishing myself, I carried on, but the path deteriorated badly. I do not remember it being a tenth as bad as that the last time I was on that route, although that was in 2004 and it gets very wintry up there!
I turned off towards Tummel Bridge and rode through Etape Caledonia territory, through Trinafour, and past Schiehallion. No wonder the locals are angry, it would have been a stunning, unspoilt valley were it not for the hideous marching pylons of the Beauly-Denny power line as far as the eye could see.
In any case, I found the hills to be tough but nothing in danger of making me get off and push, and the descending was fantastic (apart from the pylons)
Approaching Aberfeldy, I rejoined NCN7 (but in the opposite direction), through the village of Dull (twinned with Boring, Oregon), and arrived in Aberfeldy with 3 hours of daylight left and 40 miles still to ride.
After a rest, a stretch, and snaffling a couple of bananas, I tackled the big climb out of Aberfeldy - which was tough but worth it because the 10-11 mile long descent into Dunkeld is a thing of beauty. From Dunkeld it was simply a case of riding east towards home with the sun setting behind me, along 25 miles of local roads with only the beastly climb of Ballo standing as a sting in the tail before arriving home.
All in all, 139.5 miles (16.5 on the initial run to Perth, 123 on the main route); my third biggest mileage day on a bike. And it was all because of you guys
