Tea Room Trundle

After many false starts to the summer already this year, our small group of SMC bikers met at Dobbies Garden Centre, Stirling, in anticipation of a warm, dry outing, with maybe a bit of sunshine thrown in!
There were only four of us, but it was good to see bikes from four different manufacturers. Ride leader Ian McIntosh on his BMW, TEC for the day John Cairney on Suzuki, sandwiching Ed Mackey on Yamaha and myself on Triumph. Our destination was Rannoch Station Tea Room.
Google Map’s quickest route suggestion involved taking the dreary A9 most of the way. Not an enticing thought for a biker! Fortunately, Ian had a much more interesting route in mind.
We set off, up through Callander and northward towards Killin. The dreaded rain had started as we rode alongside Loch Lubnaig, but fortunately it was short lived! As usual, Killin looked quite busy. Tourists were taking in the picturesque views of The Falls of Dochart, although they weren’t at their most spectacular after the recent dry spell.
Over the bridge then out of the village, we enjoyed 10 miles of spectacular scenery as we continued along the northern shore of Loch Tay. About three miles before the end of the loch, we took a left turn and a few minutes later crossed the River Lyon. We then followed the road which passed the famous 5000-year-old Yew Tree in Fortingall churchyard, to reach Keltneyburn. From there, we headed north towards Tummel Bridge but then diverted to take the Braes of Foss road that would take us to Loch Rannoch.
As well as having lovely biking roads, this area gave us the opportunity to appreciate one of Scotland’s best-known mountains – Schiehallion. We stopped and admired the whaleback, side-on view of Schiehallion. The hill looked so different from the classic cone profile that can be seen from the north side of Loch Rannoch.
A short distance on from our view point, we stopped at the Braes of Foss car park where we were able to read a plaque dedicated to Rev. Maskelyne. A mathematics graduate and Astronomer Royal, he demonstrated gravitational attraction due to the mass of the mountain. His Schiehallion experiments in 1774 resulted in the first determination of Newton’s Universal Gravitational Constant – more than 100 years after Isaac Newton discovered gravity.
We reached Kinloch Rannoch village and saw a sign telling us that there were 16 miles still to go…a long walk to the train station! 14 miles later, we stopped at Gaur Power Station, had a walk around and admired the view and the fish ladder. A couple of miles further on, we arrived at Rannoch Station.
Looking at this place on a map, it wouldn’t be considered unfair to describe it as being in the middle of nowhere. However, the car park was very busy. We crossed the footbridge over to the platform and on reaching the Tea Shop, we could see that it was also very busy. We asked inside and were told there was no space but seats outside on the platform were available. We made ourselves comfortable and had a look at the menu as we waited for the waitress.
Although there had been drizzly rain for a while on our approach to Rannoch, it had gone off now. We very quickly realised, that rain wasn’t the reason for the packed café and empty platform tables. The place was swarming with midges and they were in a Braveheart mood. We walked around the platform while we waited for our refreshments in an attempt to shake off the midges and minimise the number of bites we were getting. Ian maintained that they weren’t bothering him! Ed discovered that the café had a range of anti-midge products for sale, so he bought an anti-midge spray. Can’t help feeling that there should have been one sitting on the table beside the ketchup!
The midges must have been invigorated by the drizzle, because as the weather cleared up the midges disappeared. After a long refreshment stop, we got back onto the bikes for the ride home. Because it was now later than we’d planned, we took a more direct return route back, sticking with the B846 from Kinloch Rannoch to Tummel Bridge, then down to Keltneyburn before cutting across to Aberfeldy. We stopped there for a quick leg stretch and chat. It had been an excellent day, riding through some of the nicest parts of the country with great roads and brilliant company.
Before riding the lovely stretch of road down to Crieff, we decided that when we reached there Ian and John would stop in-by Strathearn Tyres to check out some tyre options, while Ed headed home eastward and I went back down to Stirling.
For me, it was a day with 5.5 hours riding, covering 172 miles. A big thanks to Ian for planning and leading a fantastic Club run and to everyone for their great company.