Sextet have fun in the sun

One Bob, two Johns and three Ians showed up on a bright, sunny and still, albeit cool, morning. John M had already provided the photographic evidence that journeys west were not a good idea and I had reported how the Deeside Way between Banchory and Milton was impassable. Crossing the river south didn't seem like a good idea either, so the only option seemed to be to head east towards Drum via Hirn, so off we went.

There was plenty of water around and we splashed along happily, out past the Battle Grounds Paintball until we came to the T-junction at Couper's Road where we spotted distant snow-capped Bennachie and stopped for some photos:

I tried for a full team photo but my camera timer was acting up so here's the other five:

Bob Elder, John Perry, Ian Dring, John Meaden & Ian Sharp

 John P came to the rescue with his camera and gorilla tripod:

Ian Stewart, John Meaden, Ian Dring, Bob Elder, Ian Sharp & John Perry

John M also took a couple here:

As we headed down Couper's Road, we came to some low-lying land where the road was nothing less than a pond. We could see a large car parked on the other side, having made its way through the flood, so most of us just cycled straight through it. In the middle, the water came up to mid-calf height, which would have been knee high had we been walking, but we kept on going - all except Messrs Elder and Sharp who somehow clambered along the verge with their bikes. As we were to discover later, Ian was determined not to get his feet wet.

It was then that we got a closer look at the car - the driver was inside studying the manual. I guess the engine/exhaust must have been flooded

Turning left towards Drum, we eventually came to the junction where the road we joined crosses the Mony Burn, which had turned the adjacent fields into lakes. Several photographs were taken here:

As the pictures above demonstrate, there was a lot more snow and ice here than there had been in Banchory. Fortunately, most of it was fairly easy to cycle through - either slightly crunchy or melting. We made it safely to the Drum Garden Centre where there was a mini constitutional crisis - four of our group ordered bacon butties, instead of the traditional scones! They got their come-uppance when they got to the cash desk, however - £4 each plus coffee took their bills up to £6.50 each in what is probably the cheapest of our coffee stops. Ian Sh and I smirked as we scoffed our scones, which cost less than half this.

We decided that the best - and safest - route back would be along the path beside the main North Deeside Road to Drumoak, then on to the Deeside Way until Myrebird. There was a late change of plan when we got there as we suspected that the Bo Burn might be flooded, making the road impassable, so instead we carried further along the Deeside Way to Crathes. It was pretty wet in parts:

Mr. Sharp dodged these puddles too and cycled along the main road instead.

Knowing that we couldn't continue along the Deeside Way past Crathes, we had planned to head up towards the castle and down the hill to the West Gate, but there was a schism at this point as Ian Sh led Ian D and John M down towards the river and under the bridge - a route that John P, Bob and I thought might be flooded and dangerous, so we waved farewell to them at this point. Ian did send the following photos of their little detour however:

My Strava stats show the distance covered was 34 kms with 218 metres of climbing - https://www.strava.com/activities/465683178.

John P did the honours as usual with the route map:

He did even better with this lovely video - check it out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rn78IynyXg

Fun morning.