More for Forfar? 24 and 25 April

[themightyw]

Hi folks

I'm planning to do a grim weekend of back to back 100kms in Forfar, with some upcoming audaxes.

Scone the Flat way on 24 April: http://www.aukweb.net/cal/calsolo.php?Ride=10-204

Glen Isla on 25 April: http://www.aukweb.net/cal/calsolo.php?Ride=10-990

I can confidently predict that I'll be wheelsucking anyone I see by 10 miles into the second day, even if the wheel in question is baby being pushed in a pram

Anyone else care to come along?

TMW

 

[Noodley]

I've got a few things on on the Saturday (but trying to convince Mrs Noodley that she'll be able to cover them ) so might not make Scone the Flay Way...

But I shall be there for Glenisla - it goes past my front door after a few miles, but I'll ride to the start and back again B)

 

[Seamab]

I've sent off my entry for the Pitlochry 150K on the 24th April.

According to the route sheet there is an information control at only 3 miles prior to crossing (or going under?) the busy Dundee/Aberdeen dual carriageway?
It also has a short section after Dunkeld on the A9 before the road to Dalguise which is worrying me - i thought the NCN 77 route went this way?

Anyone done this one before?

 

[Noodley]

Yes, the section on the A9 lasts for this long.....................then you are back onto the quieter roads. I reckon a dozen or so pedal strokes will cover it.

And the route goes under the dual carriageway. Where is the info control?

 

[Seamab]

Yes, the section on the A9 lasts for this long.....................then you are back onto the quieter roads. I reckon a dozen or so pedal strokes will cover it.

And the route goes under the dual carriageway. Where is the info control?

According to the route sheet the A9 section is 2K or 1 mile from the Dunkeld junction with the A9. This looks correct from the road map. The NCN route must take a different way to connect with the Dalguise road. I'll be following it even if it's longer - no way am i cycling on the A9 for a mile - unless there is no alternative.

The info control is 200m on the left before you go under the dual carriageway - prior to that the instruction is to "follow a track down to and along the dual carriageway then down the slip road". I'm sure in reality this will be more obvious than it seems.

 

[ACS]

Application for the Scone the Flat way in the post this morning.

 

[Noodley]

According to the route sheet the A9 section is 2K or 1 mile from the Dunkeld junction with the A9. This looks correct from the road map. The NCN route must take a different way to connect with the Dalguise road. I'll be following it even if it's longer - no way am i cycling on the A9 for a mile - unless there is no alternative.

The info control is 200m on the left before you go under the dual carriageway - prior to that the instruction is to "follow a track down to and along the dual carriageway then down the slip road". I'm sure in reality this will be more obvious than it seems.

Shows how bad my memory is! I was sure the A9 stretch was short eck and I cycled on the A9 for a while last week after the cycle track ran out coming down from Pitlochry...it was not too bad although I would not want to do it every day!

Mmmmm 200m before the dual carriageway, that's near the road down to my house....I'll have to have a thnk what it'll be. There's not many choices!

..."along the dual carriageway" The route must have chnaged since the last time I rode it - I'll speak to Dave (the organiser) to see what that's all about...

 

[Noodley]

Just checked the version of the routesheet shown on the AUK webpags and it does not show the same instructions as Seamab's version. I'll send Dave a message to ask which one is being used and ask about the dual carriageway bits...

...I think I know what the info question will be

 

[themightyw]

Love the idea of doing the 150 on the Saturday, but I'm planning to do my first ever back to back 100ks, and since I've never done more than 100k ever I reckon the 150 would be asking for trouble!

 

[Noodley]

According to the route sheet there is an information control at only 3 miles prior to crossing (or going under?) the busy Dundee/Aberdeen dual carriageway?

It would have helped if I had read the above post correctly and the entire route sheet properly!

The route goes up Dundee Road and then takes the cycle track which runs adjacent to the dual carriageway for a short while then goes down the sliproad and under the dual carriageway onto a quiet country road...no need to go onto the dual carriageway at all, although I now remember having just cycled down the dual carriageway when I last road it as there were no cars on it at that time of the morning...

 

[Seamab]

Thanks Noodley, that's one problem solved. Just the Dunkeld bit to worry about now.

I've read that the NCN 77 track follows the A9 until the Birnam/Dunkeld railway station then goes down and under the A9 which seems safer to me than trying to cross the A9. Later the same NCN comes out of Dunkeld and apparently joins up with the Dalguise road (i'm not sure how it re crosses the A9?).

I'd have thought from a safety point of view the audax route would not use the A9 if at all avoidable.

At least in an audax you can take any diversion you wish as long as you hit the controls.

 

[Noodley]

I'd have thought from a safety point of view the audax route would not use the A9 if at all avoidable.

I drove that stretch yesterday en route to Pitlochry with eck and we could not figure out where the cycle path went or whether it actually 'disappeared'...my earlier mistake re thinking it was just a short stretch was because I was thinking about the turnoff towards Crieff (comes with cycling with eck to Comrie all the time!)...the last time I rode the Pitlochry 150 and it went along that stretch of the A9 was fine, although it can seem quiet 'dangerous' I suppose.

 

[Seamab]

I've never cycled on the A9 but driven it many times - which is scary enough.

I found this info on the routes2ride Sustrans website:

After Bankfoot, continue north on the B867, through Birnam Wood, onto a cyclepath alongside the A9, past the railway station, under the A9 and into Birnam. At the Birnam Institute you can visit the Beatrice Potter visitor centre and garden. Head over the Tay into Dunkeld where there is a cathedral and the Little Houses of Dunkeld, picturesque houses built in the early 1700s, which are now homes for local people. The twin towns of Dunkeld and Birnam provide excellent bases for walking and cycling through the fine woodland in the area. Head straight along the main street of Dunkeld until you reach the gates to the Dunkeld Hilton House Hotel on the left. Follow the drive and riverside path past the hotel and along the river until the path takes you up and over the railway and the Tay again. Follow the B898 to the listed bridge at Logierait where the route joins National Route 7 (Inverness to Glasgow)

A little vague but there is an alternative.

 

[eck]

It's a long time since I rode the sustrans route as described above, but it was certainly "a path" - unsurfaced, fine for a pootle with the kids, but I wouldn't fancy it on an audax.
And, personally, I'd ignore the instructions at 54 and 56K, suggesting a left and immediate right over the A9 and then a right turn back on to the A9 again. Far safer to stay on the A9 IMHO and go with the flow than take two dangerous right turns over the main road.
It's the difference between about 5k straight up the A9 or a dangerous R then L, 2k on the old main road, then another dangerous R back on to the A9. Even then, you've still got 3k to go up the A9 before you reach the turn to Dalguise.

 

[Maverick75]

I ride this section fairly regularly (last time was last Wed.) I don't find it particularly scary. It's just a head down fast section - don't hug the kerb though as the lorries tend to blow you sideways as they pass. I did the 150 last year and came down this stretch as part of a group and it was fine as the traffic was light. Cycling in urban areas, now that is really scary!