Scotland 2.0, Day 1 : Distilleries 0, everything else 1

So, nearly eleven weeks after leaving Stirling Community Hospital with my arm in a sling, I was back on the roads and tracks of Scotland. I hadn't realised it was the 13th until I wrote the blog, that might have given cause for concern to some! Given the weather forecast, I decided that the first trip would be up to Pennan on the north coast, and then along the coast route to Fraserburgh before dropping back down via the Formartine and Buchan Way. Following the traditional full Scottish, I set out from the B&B towards Maud, immediately encountering the rolling roads that seemed all pervasive on the route. More than once I looked at the old railway trackbed on my right and thought that's where I should have been. However, the road allowed me to make a short diversion from my planned route to visit the stone circle of Aikey Brae. Well, as I was now an ancient monument I thought it appropriate to visit one!

Aikey Brae stone circle, something older than me.

 The detour involved some more climbing, but soon I was there and walked up to the stones for a look. As it was so high up, there were some fabulous views across the countryside in all directions. After a walk round I descended back down the track that led to it stony descent, (now where have I done that before.....) and rejoined the planned route. More rolling roads took me into Maud, where I stopped for a photo at the NCN Millenium Marker outside the Station Hotel. That done, I then joined NCN 1 out of Maud for a short while before branching off northwards. The roads were amazingly quiet and the traffic courteous, something I encountered on most of the roads during the day. Again they were rolling, although not too steep, and afforded some great views of the countryside. The fields were either full of cattle with calves or sheep, or were arable and had been recently harvested, evidenced by the many haystacks that were on show. I passed through the village / town of New Pitsligo, full of the typical style of house you see in Aberdeenshire with granite blocks, and found myself climbing for a considerable way, again with stunning views, before hit the high point of the road and I got my first glimpse of the sea. I could see from here back to the Grampian mountains, and also to the hills of North West Scotland. Descending now, I reached the coast road and crossed for a 14% descent (remember that for coming back!) into Pennan.

Pennan

Pennan is stunning, no other word for it. I spotted a sign for the Coastal Cuppie, a cafe I'd noticed online, so headed over and got myself a coffee. I was joined by a medium sized dog called Oscar, who kept giving me his felt frisbee to throw for him. In the midst of this playing, I was watching a heron out on the rocks at sea, together with dozens of cormorants sunning themselves. Eventually I said goodbye to Oscar and set off up the 14% ascent, cycling up it ok. It was a long drag back to the main road though, and a mile or so later I found another steep incline too much for my legs to take and so walked up for a short bit. After remounting, the road continued with its rolling nature, shortish, steep, sapping ascents followed by equally short descents which didn't allow much time for recovery. The views made up for this though, particularly to the left where the sea looked impressive, and there was even a long stretch where fuschias lined the roadside. Eventually I came to the crossroads for Rosehearty, but instead of turning left as intended I made another detour to visit the wonderfully named Mounthooly Doocot.

Mounthooly Doocot

 It was built around 1800 by a local landowner. The purpose of a doocot is for housing pigeons (for harvesting their eggs and meat), and this is a pretty posh one. The views from it are amazing though, to east and west along the coast. It was well worth the diversion to make the short climb up to the top. After rejoining the planned route, the roads became less arduous, still rolling but not quite reaching the heights of the previous miles. I soon reached Rosehearty, which has a pretty little harbour, and then continued on towards Sandhaven. One thing I'd noticed was the lack of people around on the streets, maybe something to do with the pandemic perhaps? From here it was a short hop (or should that be pedal?) on to Fraserburgh, at which point the wind, which had been fairly mild and benevolent previously, started to become a nagging headwind. There is plenty of evidence of a thriving fishing industry in Fraserburgh, and while I was relaxing on the promenade I watched two fishing vessels come in, and one go out. 

Map for Fraserburgh - Strichen section outside Fraserburgh

Leaving Fraserburgh I picked up the Formartine and Buchan Way and headed south. The track was a varied surface, sometimes hard packed gravel, other times wetter and with more vegetation pushing through the gravel trackbed. There was plenty of evidence of its former usage still around, with station buildings and bridges still surviving. The vegetation was growing back at pace in some places, threatening to crowd out the track, and in the wind a constant stream of Rosebay Willowherb seeds was being pushed into my face. Where road crossings were necessary though, I had to dismount to get through the barriers which was a little irritating, but at least it was easy to wheel the bike through them. 

A consequence of the recent harvest was an opportunity for the local birds of prey to get a decent meal, and in my travel I disturbed at least three from their watching to take off and fly away for a bit of peace. After the third, I saw something dark on the ground a couple of hundred yards ahead, and slowed down in case it was something interesting. It turned out to be a chicken, one of four who were crossing the track to..........well why DID the chicken cross the track? 

Strichen station building

 Soon after the chicken episode I reached Strichen. Here the old station building is still in situ, and the current owners have left a reminder of its former life in the form of a clock on the outside wall. Strichen itself looked very pretty too. In the fields I came across a farmer in a tractor toiling away, and eventually got back to Maud where I took the Formartine and Buchan Way branch back to Old Deer. There was more gorgeous scenery on this stretch, with a couple of rivers (or large streams) being crossed, and again much vegetation, including a number of very healthy rowan trees, judging by the amount of berries on show. Just before I left the track at Old Deer, I passed the ruins of Deer Abbey, which were situated by another lovely river. Shortly after this I left the track before Mintlaw Station (the place, not the actual station) and returned back to Old Deer and my bed and breakfast.

 I'd had a great first ride back in Scotland, having seen pretty much everything that could be offered. No distilleries though (although I did pass Tullibardine distillery on the way up yesterday), that's for later in the week.