Monday pre-rain cycle

The BBC weather app forecast that the rain would arrive at 3 pm - and they were almost spot on. Our plan was for a short local loop so that we could escape back to the safety of our homes should the wet stuff arrive early, but conditions for our cycle were pretty good - a little breezy in places, but otherwise OK.

Jeb and John P, both rarely seen recently, appeared out of the woodwork to join Ken P and I, and John Meaden made only his 3rd ever Freewheelers appearance, complete with brand new bike:

(That's his "old" bike, now owned by me, in the background).

The wind was coming in from the east, so that's the way we headed - out the well-trodden path through Crathes, then out the top and up to Hirn, which was the furthest north east we were prepared to go. From there, it was back towards Raemoir Road and up to what used to be I.T.E., then on to Home Farm with today's scone destination the relatively new cafe in the main clubhouse at Inchmarlo. This was a dangerous move for us, knowing who was now running the catering there - especially as two of us were former Squash Club Captains.

Ken and I boldly stepped in to the unknown, and, sure enough, there she was - the Wicked Witch of the West. RS-M spotted us as we marched down to our table, but she then made a beeline, exit stage left, never to be seen again.

The scones were a bit stodgy and only averaged 4 stars out of ten from our group, but those in the know tell me the coffee was OK.

As we emerged back in the great outdoors, the rain started - right on cue, but we didn't have far to go to our homes - or, in Jeb's case, back to his car.

My Strava stats show the total distance covered was a modest 26 kms, but this included a warm-up/trial loop round Burnett Park first of all - https://www.strava.com/activities/406873670

John P supplied the usual route overview: