Four of us met at the Crieff Visitor Centre, with a few clouds in the sky but otherwise very mild with the temperature around 12°C. We headed to Aberfeldy for a fuel stop, then took the A827 and a short stretch of the A9 to reach our first stop, the Clunie Memorial Arch.
After taking some photos, we continued back on the A9, and then through Pitlochry we took the A924 and B950 to join the A93 towards Glenshee, arriving in Braemar for lunch and a second fuel stop. After a good rest we carried on along the A93 through Ballater to the AA Box 472.
The weather really picked up at this stage, reaching around 18°C and turning into a very pleasant ride. From the AA Box 472 we continued on the A93 until we reached the B976, and then followed the B974 to the Montrose Air Station Museum. From there we continued via the A934 and B9113 to our final stop, the Aberlemno Village Hall and the Pictish Stones.
After the last stop we rode together to Forfar, where we split and headed home.
Many thanks to Ian McIntosh for organising and leading the run, to Ian Ness for acting as TEC and helping us out when we had a few GPS issues, and to Ali Lazizi for joining me after the run to visit one more challenge site, the Abernethy Round Tower.
Thanks very much for picking up run report duties Antonios! It was good to have you, Ali and Ian on the run and, I think it’s fair to say, we had a fairly full day out on the bikes. In fact you Ali obviously hadn’t had quite enough as you both picked up another challenge site on your way home – well done!
Thanks too to Ian for TEC duties and for the chit chat on our six hour ride as we hooked up our comms at the start of the day.
Until the next one……
Thank you Antonios for such a Comprehensive report. It was a most enjoyable day. My old bones are still in recovery mode after such a long stretch. Nothing that ibuprofen and heat bags can’t sort out. Looking forward to further runs (hopefully a little shorter) in the near future. Great run, great company and great day: thanks a bunch everyone.
The first SMC run of the year and what a cracker it was. The weather gods were certainly with us, dry and sunny all day with temperatures ranging from 12c to 18c, it was hot. Fantastic route, lunch stop and all shared in excellent company. Many thanks to Ian for organising the day and to Antonios for the report.
Roll on the next one 🙂