462m above sea level. The pictures show that the early morning promise of good weather was not fulfilled!
Route available here and below.
After a few wrong turns we managed to find our way out of Perth and followed a minor road that ran approximately parallel to the A9. It turned out to be Sustrans route 77 as well with signposts to Pitlochry - the last town of significance on the road to Drumochter Pass - so we had signposts to guide us as well as the map.
Our planned route did not take us into Dunkeld. Instead, it joined the A9 just outside the town for a couple of miles before getting onto a B road. However, Stephen was off in front blithely following the cycle route signs and took us into the town. At least it presented an opportunity to buy lunch!
Seeing another cycle route sign pointing towards Pitlochry we decided to ditch Plan A and trust in Sustrans. The route took us up the long drive of a hotel with a view of Dunkeld cathedral before veering off onto a track alongside the River Tay. It was extremely pretty and much more enjoyable than the A9.
All too soon the route headed away from the river and onto a footpath beside the main road for a brief spell before turning onto the B road that was in Plan A. A few miles along this road we joined another Sustrans route (number 7) which Stephen had ridden with Alaric 8 years ago from Inverness to Glasgow. He immediately claimed that he recognised it but Christine quickly began to have her doubts as he stood puzzled at a junction. His excuse was that it all looked different because we were going the other way!
Pitlochrie was a bustling little place but we rode straight through as we had a lot of climbing to do. The route followed the old road and so was much quieter although there were several coaches as the area is quite touristy. There were a few short, sharp climbs including one signed at 14% (or 1 in 7) which was not as steep as some of those that we had come over in a short stretch before Pitlochrie which went from the Tay valley to the Tummel valley. These climbs were often followed by descents which made out hearts sink as we knew we would have to regain the altitude soon.
After a while, all motor vehicles had to join the main road leaving the old road as a cycle track which, of course, deteriorated in quality somewhat but was perfectly rideable. The climbing became much more steady but was quite a gentle slope and, with the tailwind, was easily manageable. All the time the views were spectacular but your correspondents are not competent enough photographers to do the scenery justice with their digital Box Brownie!
All the time the weather was closing in, with some of the hilltops in cloud and a few spots of rain in the air. As we got nearer the top it got worse and the warnings on signs about weather conditions rang true.
Once over the top it was only a couple of miles of gentle downhill to the hotel in Dalwhinnie (a name that may be familiar to the whisky drinkers amongst you as there is a distillery there producing what Stephen considers to be a very nice malt). On the way down we saw four cyclists battling their way into the wind and rain the other way - but on the main road. Now, we would defend their right to use the road, and also acknowledge that the road is quicker and more comfortable because the surface is better - BUT the traffic was pretty intimidating especially in that weather. It just escapes us why they would choose the road over the cyle track.
Walking into the hotel we were struck by the warmth - they had the central heating on - on the 3rd August! This chimed with something that we observed a couple of days ago but forgot to put in this blog - that was riding past houses with log fires going on 1st August. Ah, the delights of a British summer!!
The hotel was a little “odd” - very relaxed - the sort of thing that would appeal to, say, the surfing crowd - but also very good food - the beef came from a local herd of 500 Highland cattle (the really shaggy cows) and it was cooked beautifully! The room was not particularly brilliant but, if you are in The Cairngorms, it is worth the trip for the food.
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