Thursday 22/10/15 - A Breeze Down Glen Muick

Bob did the honours today:

"The fine spell of weather looked like it was still hanging on, so a final trip to Loch Muick was proposed before the onset of winter.  Six cyclists (Ian Sh, Ken B, Scott, Rob, Robin, and Bob) met at the Guide Hut at 0830.  Robin's suggestion, given the 45 mph westerly wind forecast, was to take cars to Loch Muick and ride down the track on the far side of the valley down to Ballater, then on to the Deeside Way to Dinnet.  This was unanimously supported.

We dropped one car at Dinnet and carried on to the Loch Muick car park, only to find that the seat post clamp had fallen off Scott's bike. Several attempts at temporary fixes failed, but Scott was confident he could ride with a low seat without suddenly finding himself facing backwards, so off we set.  The wind was much stronger and gusty up at Lock Muick and the ride across the valley with the wind side on was exciting with one particularly strong gust nearly removing several bikes from the track and on to the verge.  We regrouped in the shelter of the ruined stables at the far side of the valley where the footpath to Lochnagar branches off.  It looked like some hardy walkers were heading off in the direction of Lochnagar, but given the wind then reaching the summit seemed highly unlikely.

The ride down the valley with the wind behind us was a breeze - very little effort for a good pace.  We stopped at the waterfall for  a look at the salmon ladder and a photo, then swiftly down the hill to the main Dee valley.  It looked like Birkhall was empty so no point dropping in to see Chuck and Camilla for a cuppa (they were probably still away drinking china tea?).  The bike shop by the square provided the fix for Scott's seat post so he could now cycle in comfort. The Bothy teashop in Ballater provided good drinks and scones/cakes.  There was some discussion about whether we deserved it having mainly ridden downhill with the wind behind us, but this was short lived.

The ride along the Deeside way to Dinnet was very pleasant with the Dee valley autumn colours glowing in the bright sunlight.  Robin drove the 2 car drivers (Rob and Bob) back to get the cars from Lock Muick, and Scott, Ken and Ian continued along the Deeside Way to Aboyne, then the South Deesside Road to Potarch where the cars met them for the return ride to Banchory.

Stats from Scott's Garmin:
Distance 27 miles.  Around 17 miles for the car drivers
Average speed 12.87 mph
Max speed 26.7 mph
Ascent 1387.8 ft
Descent 1683.1 ft

Reminder - charity concert by Banchory Singers for the Banchory Sports Village, 3pm this Saturday at the East Church.  It lasts about an hour and will be jolly good !

Bob"

Rob also supplied a photo and a link to his Strava stats, which are somewhat contradictory to Bob's, showing just 21 miles travelled with just 500 feet of elevation - https://www.strava.com/activities/418016710. Explain please gentlemen.