On Monday the 29.8. I rose at 5 am, jumped into the car in Kirriemuir or “Kirrie” as the locals say. My goal were the snow roads, a 300+ km round with more than 4000 m of ascending. I did not manage to mount my 30 mm Continental racing bike tyres so I was stuck with the 38 mm gravel grinders which meant slow pace. Just after 6 am, I left Kirrie and went via Fettercairn up the cairn o’mount and descended via Benachie (or was it Ben ???) into Banchory. From there a long ride on curvy small roads towards near Inverurie. From there another long drive on rollercoaster roads to Rhynie and from there up the Cabrach, a high moor, and then down to Dufftown, the centre of the Speyside whiskey country. I stopped at the central tower to have a sandwich, crisps & coke lunch. This was the far point of the ride. Then on to Tomintoul in the Cairngorms national park and the Lecht which had a 20% climb down to Deeside and Braemar where I had another food stop. I then ascended Cairnwell to the Glenshee skiing centre and descended in drizzle and dusk before finally cycling through Glenisla towards Kirrie which I reached at 9 pm in the dark. Altogether 310 km because of two wee detours and 4200 m of ascending. As I had paced myself on the climbs and was cycling fit, I surprisingly did not feel exhausted.
Here the Strava record…
The next day we took it easy and only joined the Tayside sea kayak club paddle in the evening with 20 boats. Great to meet many new members and really great to see Paul, my partner in crime for exercise, kayaking and fishing, and David. We paddled to the Tay car bridge and back and then Ana and I put the kayaks on the roof.
On Wednesday, Pam, Marina, Ana and I met in Anstruther to paddle to the Isle of May which is 8 km offshore in the Firth of Forth. The tide was out so we had to carry the kayaks a lot. Under sunny skies and with a decent swell, we paddled the 8 km to the Isle of May where we heard the seals howling. We paddled the Eastern side and first missed the channel to the harbour but then saw Crispin with a friend who showed us the hidden entry. I had my Korean noodles, went up to the lighthouse and had a snooze whilst the others were exploring the island. We then paddled the Western side of the island followed by nosy seals and explored caves. This is not always possible as this is a bird islands and in nesting season you must not go too close to the cliffs. Some good caves and arches. We then returned followed by two seals who tried to bite the toggle and even had a nibble on Ana’s paddle. We reached Anstruther harbour in the afternoon.
Here is the harbour in Anstruther…
On Thursday, Ana, Gladys, Brian and I met in Arbroath to explore the cliffs and sea caves on the way to Auchmichtie, another club classic. We paddled at low tide though and could not enter all the caves. But we could do the giant, rectangular arch and other classic caves.
Then on Friday a cycle lap of Glen Clova. Nice but only 20 km. On the way I saw some red cap mushrooms so I was aware that it was mushroom season. In the evening we drove to Forfar to stay at Paul & Sharon’s, some kayaking friends. Paul has similar ideas as I have, so a giant gym, hot tub, various floating devices plus two Beagles which are Zander the puppy and Alfie the grown up. Really good fun.
Here is Ana in Glen Clova…
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