Sunday Saunter & Monday Meanders

John Morton and I took a spin up to Torphins on Sunday morning and made our first visit to a new coffee shop - the Learney Arms Bistro. It was a beautiful morning with low-lying mist everywhere:

We bumped in to and had a nice chat with former squash player Alan Fish, who may potentially join in with the Freewheelers some time. Platform 22 is closed on Sundays, so there was no guilt in us trying out the new bistro:

A lovely morning's ride - a comfortable 30 kms with 279 m of climbing.

Monday's noon meeting saw another big turnout of 13, with Aidan claiming a first - cycling with kilt!:

We decided that Potarch would be the coffee stop, and Jack had devised a route via Glassel and the quarry, returning up and over past Shooting Greens and down to Mill of Cammie, but some were a little time-restricted, so a mini group of 5 set off first - up to Home Farm, then back down to the North Deeside Road briefly, over the Bridge of Canny and up to the quarry. When we arrived at Potarch, John Meaden headed for the Dinnie Stanes, wearing his Santa hat:

The second group of 8 arrived just a few minutes later, and, after coffees, we lined up for the team photo:

l-r: Jack Simpson, Ian Stewart, John Meaden, John Larkin, Scott Hunter, Dave Williamson, Bob Elder, John McWhinnie, Ian Dring, Aidan Meehan, Ian Sharp, Dick Taylor and Drew Leslie

 All 13 of us then headed up the hill towards Shooting Greens, with some heading down through the forest to the river and others sticking to the road and going over the top to return via Mill of Cammie, but our timing was impeccable and we met up again back in Banchory outside the Scout Hut.

It transpired that the two separate outward routes to Potarch were less than one kilometer different in distance - approx. 30 kms with over 400 m of climbing. Those doing the Mill of Cammie return route did a few kms more on the tarmac.

John Meaden supplied several photos to further embellish the blog:

Have I dozed off on Jim's Seat?