JUNE 2010
The
VILLAGERS
40p
Price
T he Vo i c e o f B a l q u h i d d e r, Loch earn h ead , S t rat h yre & S t F illans
Fiona
Laura
The ‘Saddlebags’
Karen
Ollie
! ! ! t I d i y! We D
Hoora
At Aber d
een...
Well, it certainly was the trip of a lifetime! We rose to the task and cycled 197 miles coast to coast from Aberdeen to Fort William. We expected a challenge and had prepared well for the physical aspect of the trip, but were caught off guard by Mother Nature’s intervention in the form of flash floods and snakes, not to mention ‘The Grim Reaper’! FRIDAY EVENING
Having arrived at Aberdeen train station armed with our Global Positioning System (GPS), maps and various tubes of anti-chafe cream we disembarked from the train and headed out to Banchory on our trusty steeds (generously provided by Janet and Mark of Wheels fame in Callander). We were greeted by the lovely Jacqui at the Burnett Arms Hotel, who fulfilled our numerous requests and very kindly donated something towards our two causes: The Lilias Graham Trust and Callander Youth Project. SATURDAY - Day 1
Our first day proved gruelling to say the least. Up until this point the flash floods from the thunderstorm the night before were not in the forefront of our minds, but we were forced to find alternative routes for several sections of our track as they were impassable due to the excess water. We were three hours late for our rendezvous with Campbell Cumming who cycled with us as far as Glenshiel Lodge. His parting words of comfort, “You’ve got some way to go before reaching Tomintoul,” were never so true. We had four hours of ‘Find a Track!’ followed by an adder alert when ‘Indie Ollie’ fought off the advances of a ferocious serpent! Then we met a solo walker who, as an experienced mountain cyclist himself, warned us of imminent dangers ahead in the form of raging torrents, bogs and impassable tracks due to the recent stormy weather. He went on to say that he would not tackle it. However, we soldiered on regardless of the Grim Reaper’s advice and, as we were past the point of no return, we decided that we should follow Magnus Magnusson’s motto and ‘finish what we had started’ by battling on to conquer all the obstacles in our way. Tomintoul, the highest village in Scotland, was a very welcome sight!
En route!
Fort Wil li
am
SUNDAY - Day 2 .... is that all it was?!
Starting off earlier, we headed off into the Cairngorms with beautiful scenery, pine forests, peat bogs, high heather and overgrown tracks which allowed for exfoliation of the legs en route! Our map readers Ollie and Fiona kept us going in the right direction whilst Karen catered for First Aid eventualities (no broken bones!) and cycle chain lubing, leaving Laura to look after our psychological wellbeing in the form of, “Just get a grip and you’ll be fine!” With the sun setting over Ruthven Barracks we had a final 8 mile push to Laggan, where the Rumblie B&B with its strong Eco links and fabulous food provided us with our third night’s accommodation. As we had arrived late, the lift to the local pub by the kind proprietor was more than welcome by us all.
The Glen Way t ea Gr (Continued overleaf)