Last of the Summer Wine - A day oot with the Lycra Lads 19/02/13

What better to do on a sunny day off than have a day out to St Cyrus with the mid week crew.

We left the Outdoor Store on the High Street amidst some confusion with people heading in different directions but the main group headed out towards Brechin and had a few stops en-route, one for yours truly with a puncture.

Through the back road to Brechin and out to Leightonhill Wood,

Logie Pert and the Gallery.  From there we went to Marykirk and took the long clim up Kirktonhill where we stopped to enjoy the views.

From  the top of the hill we headed down to St. Cyrus with a few miles detour going back to look for a couple of miscreants who decided to turn left with out waiting but we got there in the end.  Good bowl of soup, coffee and cake lots of discussion to the rights and wrongs of heading off without waiting.

We headed back to Montrose into a light breeze turing right to Hillside then the Montrose Brechin road up as far as Bridge of Dun where we met Colin heading back to Montrose on his chrome Moulton putting in some base miles for the LEL.

From the bridge of Dun it was straight home to Forfar, lots of laughs, faffing about and chat - 58 miles of fun.  Click Here for the route

Dunkeld 31/03/13

A big turn out for Easter Sunday saw 9 head for Dunkeld.  With a slight wind behind us we went out along the Bogside Rd to Miegle where we turned right towards Aylth then left along the bottom of the golf course and up the steep brae to the main Blair Kirrie Rd where we took our first break - well needed at 20 miles.

We continued into Blairgowrie with Ron turning for the Bothy and home and took the main road to Dunkeld where we were lucky enough to find a cafe with enough room for 8 all at once.  After refueling with a good bowl of soup some good scones and coffee and discussions of which way to get back.  

David knew of a route through Murthly Castle grounds, home of Thomas Steuart Fotheringham the 14th, so that's where we went.  It meant a mile on the busy A9 and fortunately it passed quickly without incident.  The gate in the middle of the castle grounds had been locked - maybe to many cyclists taking advantage of the scenery through the estate, meaning we had to lift the bikes over but it gave us a breather before we headed to Murthly and the Kinclaven Rd crossing over the Tay heading for Coupar Angus, Ardler and The Tav.  

Three headed straight for home and five went into the pub for a well earned warm up sampling a couple of pints and a comfy seat in front of the fire.  The temperature and the wind had dropped by the time we headed for home - a baw hair under 70 miles and a pleasant day out - Route Here

Montrose - 24/03/13

We were due to be heading to Laurencekirk but the weather had been awfull all week and many of the side roads were covered in ice and snow.  With a strong easterly wind blowing we headed into it and towards Montrose instead with Keith turning right and for home and shortly after Brian turned left, maybe he he saw the sign for the Danish Tea Room in Farnell and an early stop.  Four of us ploughed on into Tesco in Montrose.

We headed for home via Brechin with the wind behind us Charlie picked up the pace and we flew along.  Through Brechin and up the two long climbs to Aberlemno.  Gus & I fancied a pint so tried the Finavon Hill road but we got less than 200yds when we had to turn back due to deep snow, it would have been treacherous to try and get down the other side so it was back to Forfar and a dry Sunday.

A short day out but all considered pretty quick - Route Here

The Horn - 17/03/13

Five headed from the leisure centre in a light rain  up the Dundee Rd with thoughts of not going as far as planned, as we climbed out of Forfar it looked like it was brightening up a little and it did for a wee while.

We rolled through Inverarity heading towards Carrot Hill but took a right at the fork and headed to Tarbrax Wood where we regrouped before a short blast on the dual carriage way where sheltered from the wind it was bitterly cold.  It was a relief to get of the main road and rest on the downhill through Todhills and turned right and crossed the A90 proceeding through Tealing and passing by the now defunct RAF Tealing base.  We made good progress with the wind behind which helped us up the short climb to Templeton Wood and into Birkhill.

As we headed down Liff Rd the rain came on and by the time we got into Liff it was thundering down - that was enough for Gus and Charlie to head for home, albe it via Ardler for some soup and beer.  The three of us continued through Fowlis, Longforgan and passing Castle Huntly through the the back roads into The Horn Milk Bar.

We were pretty much soaked through but Soup, rolls and coffee soon warmed us up as we contemplated the return and the inevitable climb up the Rait Rd to Balbeggie.  From there we took the usual route back via the  Tav in Ardler where we warmed up and had an enjoyable three pints.  It had brightened up a bit by the time we came out and the wind had dropped  a wee bit.

63 miles - not bad for a cold wet day, thankfully we were wet on the inside as well which certainly helped - Route Here