"8 of us met at the Guide Hut this morning. 3 of us decided to stay locally, namely Ken (P), John (McW) and Scott. They headed off on their travels. That left the 5 adrenalin junkies - Peter, Jeb, Dick, Ken (B) and Les. Peter and I travelled with Dick in his new Porsche Macan, with his remarkable bike carrier on the back with 3 bikes. It took us just over an hour to get there.
To
get to the bike trails you go through Tomintoul and bear to the right at the
bridge. We were the first to arrive, the cafe wasn't open and the car
park was empty. The scotch mist was down and there was a fine drizzle, but the
intrepid 5 set out on the 9 kilometre run - the blue route. Nice track with
good surfaces and some interesting technical sections through the forest. Nice
trail, and a good break-in for what was to follow.
The
cafe was open by the time we got back and we enjoyed fine bacon and egg rolls
and coffee. We got chatting to the South African proprietor of the cafe who
pointed out the Strava record on the wall of 54 minutes for the red route.
We asked him how long he would suggest that we would take and he said
between 2 1/2 hours and 3 hours.
As
we started the red route the rain went off and the sky cleared, although it was
still pretty dull. Everything went well for the first 15 minutes but as we came
out of one of the technical stages Dick lost his front wheel and took a tumble.
His knee was badly grazed and bleeding profusely, but the Gray medicine
chest came to the rescue with wipes and antiseptic sealing spray.
We
continued on our way on the red route and started climbing, and climbing, and
climbing, although the track was well laid out with flat sections to recover.
The last part of the climb beat us all, although Jeb and Ken made a
valiant effort. At this point we were 550 metres above sea level.
Overall the red route rose over 2000 ft. While at this vantage
point a group of Swedes came up the hill with one of the girls effortlessly
passing where we had stopped. It transpired the girl (Emma) was over for
the world orienteering championships around Inverness somewhere, where she took
2 gold medals. As you will see from the pictures she took a shine to Dick
and Les. They were doing 2 laps round the red route and this was their
second lap! We let them go off downhill in front of us.
The
downhill section was fairly technical with divisions to follow the red route or
take your chances on the black sections which involved jumps and slippy stones
etc. Peter and Jeb were jointly crowned as kings of the black zones, the
rest of us sticking to the red route. The red route is quite technical,
with narrow paths, and needs full concentration at all times. Fortunately
there were no more incidents. We got back to the cafe in under 2 hours,
which the proprietor thought was pretty good for blokes of our age. Bikes
and riders received a good hosing down, prior to soup and paninis in the cafe.
Great day out which everyone enjoyed and we were back in Banchory about 4
o'clock.
Jeb supplied the following photos:
Les also supplied another 3 photos:
Dick also supplied this photo:
Dick's Strava stats for the 9 kms Blue Run, which involved just under 700 feet of climbing are here:
https://www.strava.com/activities/362405066. For the 22 kms Red Run, the climbs totalled almost 2,200 feet - https://www.strava.com/activities/362503616
The total distance travelled was a relatively modest 31 kms, but with almost 3,000 feet of climbing, I'm glad I wasn't there!
The "B" team going on a local run should have been 4 in number, but I was a late call-off as I discovered a completely flat rear tyre on my bike when I opened the garage this morning. All dressed up and nowhere to go, I spent the morning repairing the puncture and cleaning and de-greasing my bike. I bumped into the other three on their way to Torphins, and Scott supplied the folllowing match report from this outing:
"Having waved off the “A+ Team” adrenaline jockeys as they headed West, anxious to put their advanced mountain biking skills to the test at Glenlivet, the remaining more sedate bikers Ken P, John McW. Scott H, set off through Inchmarlo golf centre, over the hill, across the A980 and along Craigmile Rd into Torphins. Too early for coffee and scones it was decided to head for Kincardine O’Neil Ken assuring us that he knew a route avoiding the killer hill. We headed up North out of Torphins branching off on the Learney Rd and round the back of the golf course. Up and up the easier hill we went eventually reaching the top then a great ride down to Kincardine O’Neil for a well earned coffee and scones We then headed along the Deeside Way to Potarch and up (again) towards Shooting Greens and back to Banchory through Scolty Woods and along the Dee.
Feeling a little frustrated, I tried to set up a "C" team ride this afternoon, but the only other person around was Keith and he was otherwise engaged, so I set off alone along the Deeside Way, where I appreciated some of the repair work that has been partially completed on the Banchory section. I went out to Drum and circled back round the castle - a total of 34 kms, with just under 800 feet of climbing - https://www.strava.com/activities/362645779.
Photograph? Of course:
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