More falls!

Archie led the way (hat-trick hero), and Iain W followed, but now Aidan has had a tumble too. He reported as follows:

"I won't be joining the "Freewheelers' for a wee while. I unfortunately came a cropper on Scolty yesterday. I came to sudden and unexpected stop  causing me to fly over the handle bars, landing heavily on my right shoulder, the same one which took the brunt of a similar fall when I was exploring Corsee woods 2-weeks ago. Bugger !  This time, I didn't get off quite so lightly.  In a lot of pain, and feeling a strange and significant bump on the top of my shoulder made me realise it was A & E time for me. Manage to walk the bike through the woods and cycle home. My cycling companion took me to Aberdeen A & E which is a new facility.  Was initially assessed after only 5mins !  And left the building less than 2-hrs later.  I haven't broken a bone in my shoulder, but have a "disrupted AC joint" , which as I understand it, is a stretched ligament that joins the shoulder blade to the collar bone.  So, I need to wear a sling for a few days and take pain killers, hence me checking the correct dosage of Glenmorangie:

Interestingly, wasn't seen by a Doctor, but instead by a Nurse Practioner, who's a specialised A & E nurse apparently.  Felt less sorry for myself after chatting with a fellow A & E attendee......a farmer had lost the end of his middle finger in some machinery. He behaved as if it was only scratch !  Respect !

I haven't been 'Freewheeling' regularly recently, mainly due to me having to spend extra time helping my elderly father who's based down in Motherwell. He's having to give up driving, which is long overdue given that he's 90 and is increasingly frail. He's not at all happy about being denied access to his car.   One thing that came to light was that when reviewing his mail, I came across his car insurance renewal. Had I not intervened and suspended this he'd have automatically been charged £2,250 !  I found this shocking and suspicious. I need to make enquiries to see if this is typical for elderly people. That apart, I think it would be good to pass this experience to others who might also have elderly parents to ask them to make sure they are paying reasonable insurance premiums and not getting ripped off. 

Despite my accident, I'll be back to Scolty Hill as soon as I can (though with some additional due care, of course). It's a fantastic resource right on our doorstop. I'm not sure if it is common knowledge, but apparently the planning permission for the proposed Sandlaw Farming development at Braehead was recently rejected which is great news. However, I'm told that the developers are likely to 'keep trying' so we should be vigilant. On a similar vein, it be of interest other interested parties that Aberdeenshire is currently reviewing the Special Landscape Areas policy in which the Dee Valley corridor has been included, and which specifically notes the importance of the Falls of Feugh and Scolty Hill to the landscape.  It would be good if as many people as possible could contact the relevant authorities (ldp@aberdeenshire.gov.uk) to urge them to give our local landmarks Special Landscape status, and give them maximum protection against current and future development proposals."

That report came in the day after the Monday Freewheelers ride that was reported by John M:

"Whilst a number of our group attended to the developing golf season four Freewheelers made the cut at the Guide Hut 1 30 pm Monday .

Jeff , Dick , Mike and John M headed towards Torphins agreeing to stop at Platform 22 then decide on the route back . Craiglash was mentioned , rejected then neither spoken about again or visited .

The afternoon was quite warm as we proceeded through Burnett Park and up the (still stony) track to the Brathens road .  The off-road section at Glassel was partly resurfaced and very rough for a short stretch .

Platform 22 was very quiet as we enjoyed our coffees and fruit scones . Beer was offered but not taken although threats of breaking that taboo in warmer weather did emerge . Dick put the team photo up on Facebook:

The return route went out on the track to the golf course road , then main road through Sundayswells to the minor road left over to Kinardine O Neill - quite a steady hill with an enjoyable descent to Kinker . Then a cruise along the Deeside way to Potarch before grinding up to Shooting Greens .

The group split here with John and Dick taking the second track left just before the summit with Mike and Jeff opting for tarmac to Strachan.

John and Dick went down to the river then out through the arch ( with a minor landowner encounter at Blackhall) . Strava had 39.8 k and 488m .

Jeff we believe stopped home at Strachan as intended while Mike put in an extra loop up via Knochburn towards the Slug road then back in on the South Deeside . A strong extra effort giving 53.3k and a lofty 631m.

A great afternoon ride ."

John also took a couple of (very similar) photos:

Yesterday (Thursday), six Freewheelers went on the familiar Finzean run via the AA box:

35 kms with 373 m of climbing.

John M sent the following match report:

"Culprits were myself , Rufus, John P , Dick , Scott , Iain W , Bob .

It was a cool 8 degrees or so as you can see from the jackets and gloves. Agreement was on an AA Box Finzean run with a possible split group on return as some needed to be back by 12 .

At the 'Box' we had a couple of encounters - the guy on the Brompton  bike was heading over the Cairn to Clatterin Brig and back . His name I think  was Stuart Clark from Inverurie raising funds for a heart charity . He has done a lot of serious rides on this thing and was giving us a full low down until Jeff appeared at speed on a solo loop and said 'Your not going over the Cairn on that ? - at which point Stuart moved onwards and upwards .

After a fine stop at the Farm Shop Bob proposed that we all head back to Strachan then up to the flank of Scolty . The group stayed together and Bob was duly red carded as we crawled up a longish hill into Scolty but then enjoyed an interesting descent to the car park and home .

Iain W was sporting an extra pannier on his hip which is reducing 2 weeks after his meeting with the gravel . Rumours of a crash by Aiden were floating - which now prove to be true as his first one was minor . Good luck with the recovery Aiden My Strava had about 35k and 320m See you in a week or so - I am off to the South of France for lazy cycling"

Lots of solo rides this week as well - Les, Peter, Jeff, Malcolm L, Mike, John M - all busy boys. 172 solo rides in all this year - over 5,000 kms with in excess of 50,000 m of climbing. The ratio of group rides to solo ventures is about 3:1.