Type 2 Fun...

I've wanted to link up a few tracks in the SE Cairngorms for awhile, and had the brainwave to do this yesterday. I'd seen the mt bike route in a guidebook and it sounded quite mellow, 26km, with 450m of height gain/decent.

And we are off..

I'd nearly done it a few weeks ago, but waited for a thaw to ensure that the snow and ice was definitely gone. Given its modest length and the positive description I thought that we had time to dawdle over to Braemar, start about 1pm, giving us 4-5 hrs of daylight. The perfect plan, right?!

A busy Bob Scott's

Not quite... We set of from the Linn of Dee at 1pm, passing Bob Scott's bothy (full of lunching folk) and Derry Lodge. I love this side of the Cairngorms and was full of positivity and happiness pointing out various features, hills and landmarks to Abi as we headed West.

Towards the end of the 'riding' near Luibeg

I knew the track gets more technical, and problematic for a bike around the Luibeg Burn, but with the river high (snow melt), we had an extra carry to the bridge instead of fording, which in retrospect would of been better. I think somewhere around here Abi questioned the ride-ability of the days enterprise....

pushing

More pushing

Things deteriorated in a sense from here... it was a push mostly round the shoulder of Carn a' Mhaim (which I knew), but even down the other side it was only partially rideable down towards the Corrour bothy.

a little more pushing

I was very conscious that time was slipping away, and tried to keep us moving even though the terrain was pretty awful for the bike. Abi pointed out that it would of been a nice walk (without a bike), and she had a very valid point!

First views of Devils Point

The scenery was stunning, I'd not seen Devils Point from this direction before and it was fantastic, reminding me of a winter camp years back near its top with Ben who wanted to play cards (I hate card games) after we got in the tent after 10 hrs walking in a storm, when all I wanted was food and sleep, but we did have a 'cheese course' and hip flask during that long stormy night!

Heading South on dream single track - View N to Lairig Ghru

The guidebook had suggested fantastic single track from the Corror bothy, South to White Bridge, so I thought that this would be our saviour and we would get back before dark.

Tick, tock...tick tock...time marches on and the track South was 80-90% unrideable, a boggy, rocky, hell! Our spirits were pretty low by now, in fact probably had been for a while. At one point I worked out we only had 6km to White Bridge and a good estate track, but this took forever as we were pushing, lifting, carrying the bikes mostly.

couple hundred meters of nice trail

I realised we wouldn't make White Bridge before dark and dug out the head torches for the last 2 km or so. As darkness fell it felt quite serene trapped in the capsule of light from the head torch, blackness all around. We started enjoying the adventure again :-) .

Arriving at White Bridge and the rideable track we were both pretty happy to be out of the worst of it, only another 3-4 miles back to the Linn of Dee, and the track gently descends following the river so it is easy riding at least. It was nice riding along by torch light.

I can't actually remember another bike ride as exhausting as this, or one were I have been caught out by darkness. Definitely a type 2 fun day which we finished with fish and chips in Braemar.

Oh.. time to push again

Footnote - It's now funny looking at my pictures. Some are good photo's that capture the magnificent scenery, and without knowing the detail and ordeal required to get them, or to the particular place then it would be easy to think that it was all just an easy and scenic ride and day. The photo's hide some (?all) of the harshness and physical and mental stress that formed most of the day! All said though I did enjoy the adventure, but I won't take a bike on this particular route ever (EVER) again.