Knappach - Park Bridge Wednesday afternoon run

Dick, Keith and I decided that, as our Wednesday golf had now stopped for this year, to go out for a cycle yesterday afternoon to get rid of some of the excesses of our weekend at Boat of Garten. The usual Torphins and Drum loops were briefly touted but we finally decided to head for Knappach and then up and across the Stonehaven road, through Durris then down and over Park bridge and back.

I, for one, still felt a bit heavy-legged but we managed to cover 34 kms with over 1,000 feet of climbing with a few adventures along the way - https://www.strava.com/activities/388584970

The tarmac section on the first half was on what are normally very quiet roads, but our timing wasn't great as we got to Durris just as the school was coming out and the yummy mummies were out in force in their 4-wheel drives to pick up their offspring. The harvest has started as well and the farmers were moving machinery around, but that didn't last long and soon we were whee-ing down the hill towards Park bridge.

As we crossed the bridge, Dick suggested we go back along the fishermen's track beside the river - a route that he and Rob had done once before. This meant climbing over a fence on the right hand side of the road, immediately after the bridge, down a short steepish slope, but when we got to the bottom our path was blocked by a huge, recently erected wooden fence. A small typed notice was lying face down on the ground, telling us not to come this way but to go past some house instead. Too late - we were already committed so we hauled the bikes over and climbed the barrier:

Under the bridge, we posed for the team photo:

It's a nice ride along the Landrover tracks beside the river, but it comes to an end eventually and heads back up to the Deeside Way. Dick was determined however to stay on the river bank and get along to meet the stretch that we'd cycled along a couple of weeks ago, under the Crathes bridge, but we weren't sure if it could be done, so, spotting a lone fisherman, Dick stopped to ask him if he knew? Dick didn't realise it - and nor did Keith - but I recognised him as the comedian Paul Whitehouse (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Whitehouse). I didn't ask him to pose, but took this back shot a bit further on:

He was unable to help us with directions, but Dick and Keith sought a solution, looking for some way we could continue:

We pressed on and we pushed our bikes along a narrow path, overgrown with nettles etc., until we came to a burn barring our way. It was probably about 6 feet wide and Dick was keen to go on and proposed taking a running jump at it. At this point, I demurred - no way, not with my knees. Sorry, guys, I'll have to go back up the Landrover track to the Deeside Way. A little reluctantly, Dick and Keith followed me back along the path again, picking up some more nettle stings along the way.

Even when we got back up to the Deeside Way we were faced with a tall gate that was padlocked so we had to lift the bikes over. The reward was the sweet, tasty brambles on the other side.

The ride back to the Legion was uneventful and we were joined there by Ken for a couple of pints. No tea and scones today.