"No time to write report yet so here is a summary.
10 Freewheelers showed up - Bob with friend Alan , Ian Sh , Ian D , Iain W , Jeff , Ken B , Dick Dave W and myself .
Bikes went on cars to Potarch - I cycled there .
Route was Potarch , Kinker , Deeside Way to Aboyne then Dinnet . South Deeside back to Banchory then coffee at Spider on a Bicycle. Alan baled at his home just over the bridge in Aboyne.
Return route via Birse to Potarch . Ian Dring and I went up to Shooting Greens then back on the Deeside Way to Scolty car park and home . Very good weather - warm , light winds ."
"Part 1
This is a bit of a follow on from the 21st March ride to Melmannoch Col. Since no-one submitted a formal report, I am now at liberty to state that this was a marvellous day out thoroughly enjoyed by all! Having negotiated an interesting new route at the start, thoroughly describing the hazards and challenges ahead in meticulous detail, and thereby securing complete immunity from any red cards, a totally motivated and enthusiastic crew set off for a new off-road, south-of-The-Feugh experience. Dick has been asking for years if this route "went"; well now he knows!
This outing proved so popular, that clearly the FreeWheelers route card needs some more chunky off-road, south-of-The-Feugh experiences adding to it. With this noble objective in mind, I set off solo on Tuesday 4th April for an ascent of The Cairn. Having noticed that some trail work has been done behind Glen Dye House, on the approach to Clachnaben, your reporter went exploring.
There's still the odd gate, but decent track quality is now maintained all the way to the Spital Cottage bridge, cutting out the ascent of the steep hill south of Bridge of Dye. This bit of new track opens up all the offroad stuff off to the west as well for future adventures. On Tuesday though, I rejoined the main road and hit the top of Cairn o'Mount (selfie stop), then returned down the main road, but cut off to the east to follow the forestry tracks down to Heatheryhaugh (or the "Trail of the Lost Aussies", as I like to call it), and rejoining the main road at Bridge of Dye. A minor diversion over Ord of Tillyfumerie completed a Cairn-with-maximum-off-road route for your future enjoyment!
Part 2 Photos from today (6th April) - the troops gazing in wonder from the dizzy heights of Dinnet Bridge, and putting the fisherman below right off his game.
Bob's attention is focussed on the golden coloured thing he found. If he starts eating raw fish, and muttering "my precious, gollum!" we'll know what it was."
This was the 36th BVCG/FW group outing on this year's database and Alan Watson became the 32nd Freewheeler to register a ride. Strava shows the distance covered was 40 kms with 306 m of climbing. Last week's Strava stats for our group shows -
Last Week's Leaders
| Distance | Longest Ride | Climbing | |
|---|---|---|---|
207.5 km
|
2,203 m
| ||
191.2 km
|
1,962 m
| ||
84.1 km
|
898 m
|
Mike Reilly and John Meaden were away ski-ing - otherwise they would surely have been contending the leader board with Messrs Morton and Larkin. It's getting pretty obvious that we have a 2 or 3 tier group in terms of ability, with a number of former regulars now appearing only occasionally - or not at all. The extreme distances and heights covered by the elite riders in our group are mostly, of course, done on road bikes, whilst the Freewheelers group rides are all partially off-road, using hybrids and mountain bikes.
Statistically, the average FW group ride this year, however, is only 32 kms in distance, climbing 294 m and attended by just 8 riders - on the face of it belying the oft-heard comment that the group is getting too big and travelling too far and too high. Whilst that is undoubtedly true some of the time, it's not always the case. Perhaps an early warning of the likely route may encourage a few more to come along - and, even if there were too many, then just split into two groups.
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