Day 4 - Aviemore to Perth
Distance: 86.8 miles
Elevation: 3218 ft
Average speed: 12.4 mph
https://www.strava.com/activities/2437342032
Another early start as this was the furthest daily distance of the whole trip. As we packed up the bikes, a couple of fellow travellers arrived with their steeds - electric fat bikes! We were rather jealous as we looked at our leg-powered skinny tyres, and hoped our route would be kind to us (spoiler: Ha!)
The weather was overcast, however the promised headwind still hadn't materialised and the loch was glassy smooth as we rolled out of Aviemore.
We pulled over for a banana/flapjack stop in Newtonmore, where the wet roads suggested that we'd managed to miss the worst of the early rain. As we left again, we had one of the highlights of the trip so far for Dad as a red squirrel ran across the road in front of him (fortunately avoiding our wheels!).
We met up with Mum at the Snack Shack in Dalwhinnie, having followed a nice quiet road for a while. We'd been riding uphill for a while, but the climbing was nothing like the high gradients of yesterday, so we had time to watch copious numbers of rabbits, sheep and cows in the fields. I also spotted a grouse herding her young across the road - I'll miss the wide open spaces and wild-ness of the Highlands when we leave!
From the top the only way is down, but unfortunately we had some more rough surfaces to contend with which stopped us from picking up any real speed. We also had the challenge of cattle grids and gates. Just after stopping for one such gate, we came across an older couple who were kitted out with full hiking kit - they were on day 49 of their journey from East to West across the country, hoping to make it to Dalwhinnie that day. Very impressed, as you don't get to coast down the hills when you're walking!
Fortunately, not long afterwards the road surface got much better, and we had a lovely descent through the woods, following alongside the river Garry into Calvine for another flapjack stop. For the next leg, we rejoined the road, and it got somewhat wetter. With jackets not quite fully waterproof, we didn't hang around and headed for Pitlochry.
Morton's Coffee Lounge in Pitlochry furnished us with overflowing doorstop sandwiches and yet more coffee, and we took a few minutes to check the bikes over after the rattling they'd had that morning!
Once again, we moved away from the main road, this time climbing up onto a ridge overlooking the valley. The weather was better, and the road was great! We cycled over the Tay Viaduct ("Beautiful railway bridge of the silv'ry Tay!" - Not that one, McGonagall!!) which didn't have a surface so much as floorboards! The road would have been perfect, if it hadn't been for the cars. Descending into Dunkeld, we were met by Mum who'd found a hotel terrace by another good bridge for tea - we'd cycled 70 miles at this point so were very grateful for the hot drink.
Leaving Mum to explore Dunkeld further, we set off on the last stretch towards Perth, through green fields and over rolling hills, though unfortunately a lot of the road surfaces were still pretty bumpy!
As we neared the city, we remarked on how much the scenery had changed - we'd well and truly left the moorlands and bleak hills of the Highlands behind us. In fact, as we rolled into Perth, the ride alongside the river felt very much like the riverside path in Derby - far more familiar!
Having made it through the 87 miles of our longest day, we were keenly anticipating a bit of a lie in as Monday's a "rest day" of only 43 miles.
Dad's also keeping some notes on our journey - you can find them on our sponsorship page here:
www.virginmoneygiving.co.uk/andyhouse
Elevation: 3218 ft
Average speed: 12.4 mph
https://www.strava.com/activities/2437342032
Another early start as this was the furthest daily distance of the whole trip. As we packed up the bikes, a couple of fellow travellers arrived with their steeds - electric fat bikes! We were rather jealous as we looked at our leg-powered skinny tyres, and hoped our route would be kind to us (spoiler: Ha!)
The weather was overcast, however the promised headwind still hadn't materialised and the loch was glassy smooth as we rolled out of Aviemore.
 |
| Contemplating the day ahead |
We pulled over for a banana/flapjack stop in Newtonmore, where the wet roads suggested that we'd managed to miss the worst of the early rain. As we left again, we had one of the highlights of the trip so far for Dad as a red squirrel ran across the road in front of him (fortunately avoiding our wheels!).
We met up with Mum at the Snack Shack in Dalwhinnie, having followed a nice quiet road for a while. We'd been riding uphill for a while, but the climbing was nothing like the high gradients of yesterday, so we had time to watch copious numbers of rabbits, sheep and cows in the fields. I also spotted a grouse herding her young across the road - I'll miss the wide open spaces and wild-ness of the Highlands when we leave!
 |
| Bacon sandwiches and carrot cake at the snack shack (plus coffee, of course!) |
After we left Mum to head for the highest point of the trip, we picked up the cycle path that would lead us onto Pitlochry. There was a warning of "rough surfaces" - well, the fat bike tyres would have suited nicely at this point! I had a great time, as I discovered that a gravel bike is, strangely, very much at home on gravel, but Dad found it more of a challenge on his road bike, and from the look of his tyres by the end of the day, the bike didn't enjoy it much either!
We finally reached the summit, where we watched a train pass through the highest point on the UK rail network. And of course, we had to stop for yet another selfie - this is the highest point we'll reach on our end-to-end journey.
 |
| Drumochter summit - made it to the top! |
Fortunately, not long afterwards the road surface got much better, and we had a lovely descent through the woods, following alongside the river Garry into Calvine for another flapjack stop. For the next leg, we rejoined the road, and it got somewhat wetter. With jackets not quite fully waterproof, we didn't hang around and headed for Pitlochry.
Morton's Coffee Lounge in Pitlochry furnished us with overflowing doorstop sandwiches and yet more coffee, and we took a few minutes to check the bikes over after the rattling they'd had that morning!
Once again, we moved away from the main road, this time climbing up onto a ridge overlooking the valley. The weather was better, and the road was great! We cycled over the Tay Viaduct ("Beautiful railway bridge of the silv'ry Tay!" - Not that one, McGonagall!!) which didn't have a surface so much as floorboards! The road would have been perfect, if it hadn't been for the cars. Descending into Dunkeld, we were met by Mum who'd found a hotel terrace by another good bridge for tea - we'd cycled 70 miles at this point so were very grateful for the hot drink.
 |
| Bridge over the Tay in Dunkeld |
Leaving Mum to explore Dunkeld further, we set off on the last stretch towards Perth, through green fields and over rolling hills, though unfortunately a lot of the road surfaces were still pretty bumpy!
 |
| Dunkeld Cathedral - Mum's exploration and scoping of places for future holidays! |
Having made it through the 87 miles of our longest day, we were keenly anticipating a bit of a lie in as Monday's a "rest day" of only 43 miles.
Dad's also keeping some notes on our journey - you can find them on our sponsorship page here:
www.virginmoneygiving.co.uk/andyhouse
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