Drum

Just three of us on this week's cycle - Dick, Colin and I. We had no route planned and Colin, having just returned from a weekend walking in the Western Isles, requested a nice flat route, so we thought we would cycle out to Drum and stop for coffee there.

The Deeside Way sits halfway between the River Dee and the North Deeside Road, but, past Drumoak, there's quite a distance between both and neither are in view from the Way, so we weren't quite sure where to turn up and we had to use Google Maps to guide us safely up from the Deeside Way, but we got to the Drum in the end. The weather was kind enough for us to sit outside for our tea/coffee and scones:

It had been 9.6 miles from the Guide Hut to the Drum. We decided to try a slightly more direct route back to Drumoak on our return, but it was a little bit close to the main road, although it did shorten our journey back a little. The warm weather and the adjacent hedges emitted a virtual plague of flies - we'll need to get mouth guards this summer if this continues!

Back in Banchory, Dick and Colin stopped to sun themselves and watch the river flow:

I had work to do so I hot-footed it home where I stopped the app, which showed a distance of almost 19 miles and elapsed time (including our coffee break) of virtually 3 hours with total climbing of 850 feet:

Here's the route: