Scotland 2.0, Day 2 : It was a drizzly Tuesday........

I woke feeling tired after the ride yesterday, not what I really wanted. However, a hearty breakfast of fruit and yoghurt followed by a good helping of porridge set me up for the day. Today, I was going south on the Formartine and Buchan Way (F&BW), to Dyce just outside Aberdeen, returning via the NCN1 from Newmachar to Auchnagatt. As I started off, I felt some spots of rain falling. This definitely wasn't on the radar, however it wasn't enough to warrant carrying any extra waterproofs. Leaving Old Deer I picked up the F&BW and headed towards Maud, glancing at the road to Maud on my left and thinking this was a much better option for a tired cyclist. At Maud, I passed through Maud Junction station, which was the biggest on the line and still has four platforms standing, one of which includes the Maud Railway Museum. From here I followed the F&BW south towards Auchnagatt.

Lineside hut

The scenery here was arable farmland, similar to that north of Maud, however there were fewer wheat fields and the animals were fewer and further between. I did stop to talk to a herd of cows, but they weren't in the mood for conversation. More evidence of the history of the track was present with several lineside buildings, such as the one on the left here. The drizzle was falling slightly heavier now, and these buildings offered at least some cover should it become much heavier. 

At Auchnagatt the track crosses the road and resumes on the opposite side. It left me wandering what was there when the line was in operation - maybe a level crossing perhaps? I then thought I should get out more.

The stretch from Auchnagatt to Ellon was 7 miles, and the track here was a much firmer, gravel surface than I'd encountered north of Maud, although there were still patches of grass covered bits to watch out

"For Karen" playground

for. At one point I came across the incongruous sight of a Welsh flag flying, with "For Karen" stitched on it and a small children's play area alongside. There were still some good views either side of the track, and more old railway history, including some lineside mile markers which indicated I was around 22 miles from Aberdeen. There was also a white field mushroom growing at one point! The drizzle was also increasing at this point, and didn't show any signs of stopping.

On entering Ellon, the track became tarmaced, which is good / bad depending on your point of view. I exchanged pleasantries with a local as I paused to take a photo of a group of brown mushrooms by the track. The track skirts past Ellon so you don't see much of the town, but it does cross the spectacular River Ythan via a lovely stone bridge.

Shortly after the bridge the tarmac runs out, and the track returns to its gravel / packed dirt state. Just before Udny Station I noticed a box of tennis balls on the ground, these had been left by the owners of the recently deceased dog Ziva Diva for others to use as the dog apparently loved this place. What a lovely gesture.

After Udny Station I came across a set of level crossing gates alongside the track, so there was at least one level crossing along the line. At Newmachar there is a lovely little wooden train pulling a set of planters with flowers in them. 

Wooden train with planters at Newmachar

Here is where NCN 1 leaves the F&BW to go northwards to Auchnagatt via local roads, and you can see that the F&BW section to Dyce is part of the National Cycle Network by a colourful mile marker one mile outside Dyce. At this point I should have turned and headed back, as the last bit of my ride was on a soulless tarmac track in a built up area, good for commuting and local travel but a far cry from the rest of my journey. There were a couple of highlights though, crossing the wide and incredibly clear River Don being one of them. The chatter of helicopters was also very apparent here, being close to Dyce airport, and indeed I saw several helicopters flying during the day, no doubt off to one of the oil rigs in the North Sea.

On my return trip I left the F&BW at Newmachar and followed NCN1 northwards, with the drizzle now having stopped. Rather typically I had no sooner rounded a bend than I was faced with an uphill stretch, and to rub salt into the wounds the sun came out and I started overheating. The roads were rolling around here as they had been further north, but the gradients here weren't quite as bad. And on a positive note, after a fairly long uphill there was an even longer downhill stretch. At one point I'd clocked another uphill ahead, and decided to get up enough speed downhill to use the momentum going up. It was only at the last minute that I noticed I had to give way at a road crossing, fortunately there was nothing coming nearby. The road climbed up into Udny Green, a lovely little village with a restaurant from which some lovely smells were emanating - what a temptation. There was also a nice looking church which I stopped to take a photo of, and noticed opposite me something I may have found useful - a phone box with a defibrillator!

Tree lined lane

Leaving Udny Green behind, the road headed towards Tarves, and took me through a wonderful lane with trees overhanging from either side. It also took me past a farm where the roads were covered in thick mud, it must have been there a while as the bits at the side were dried and packed. Tarves was a nice town, although there seemed to be a big building expansion going on. After Tarves NCN1 takes you to the entrance to Haddo House with its Gardens and Country Park, which is owned by National Trust for Scotland. It then skirts the grounds, although you can't see any of the park as there are copious amounts of fir trees growing, in addition to the usual walls you get around these type of properties. At this point, the roads were getting a bit too rolling, and were starting to have an effect on my legs. I'd had both of my bananas, although still had some reserves, but it was taking longer to get up the uphill bits.

Tanglandford bridge

At Tanglandford, the road went over the River Ythan via a bridge, originally built in 1864, from which I saw a train of ducks, and a fish jumping. The road carried on rolling, passing the quaintly named Quilquox, and just before reaching Auchnagatt a buzzard flew up from the manure heap it was hiding behind and hung in the air on the strong breeze, looking around before drifting off to get away from me. Another example of birds of prey using harvested fields to search for their food. Back at Auchnagatt I availed myself of an energy bar, then binned off my original route plan of going over the back roads to Old Deer, instead choosing to return on the F&BW to Maud and then to Old Deer. This wasn't because I couldn't stand any more rolling roads, although my legs were putting up a strong case for the prosecution on that one, rather I'd spotted a cafe at Maud Station on the outward leg, and was hoping to avail myself of a coffee and cake there. Given my previous history with cafes I wasn't 100% hopeful, but set off nonetheless. Outside Maud I heard the unmistakeable noise of buzzards on the wing, and looking over my shoulder spotted a couple wheeling in the air. On reaching Maud I was delighted to find that the cafe was indeed open, and took the opportunity to stop for a rest, a coffee and a cake (not necessarily in that order).

Aaah, an open cafe!

Having satisfied my cravings I set off again, with heavy legs from the stop, and eventually rejoined the F&BW branch to Old Deer, finally rolling up to the B&B for a nice hot shower and a lot of recovery. Another enjoyable day, and the entire F&BW from Fraserburgh to Dyce covered.

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.

It's not the Amalfi Coast, but it's real!

Today, six weeks after breaking my collarbone, I got back on the bike. Not on a stationary trainer in the garage, but in the real world!  Virtual rides with videos are all very good, but it's nowhere near the real thing, you don't get the smells, you don't get 360 degree scenery, you don't get the warmth of the sun when it comes out, you don't get real interaction with other cyclists.

I was a bit nervous at first when loading and unloading the bike into and out of the car. My collarbone feels to have repaired itself well, but there is some tendon / muscle discomfort at times, exacerbated by lifting or moving in certain directions, so I'd planned a long route and prepared myself to turn back if it got too troublesome.

My planned route was from Hadfield to Penistone, on the Trans Pennine Trail. I'd ridden a little bit of it previously, and thought it would be a gentle test of the injury and how well it had healed. Well, I was mostly right! From the first few pedal revolutions it felt really good to be out on the bike again, and I swiftly settled into my rhythm. In the first few hundred yards there was a plethora of sights, sounds and smells that I had missed these last six weeks. The track went on at a gentle incline up towards Woodhead Tunnels, where the original railway line burrowed under the Peak District rather than facing steep inclines. No such luck for the cyclist, the tunnels are closed to the public, so the Trail goes overland. 

Woodhead Tunnels

Here, the trail leaves Woodhead Station with a sign pointing up a fairly steep access road. I rode up to the top to be faced with the busy A628, and no indications of which way to go. I thought this couldn't be right, so went back down the road to the station, checked the map on my computer for an alternate track out, didn't find one, so struggled up the hill again. I was wavering over whether to continue or not, before finally deciding to risk a ride up the still rising main road to try to find a track somewhere. The road was very busy and a little unnerving, and continually rising, but fortunately I spotted the Trail coming in from the left and crossing the road to continue on the right. The Trail then descended a gravel path to cross a small bridge before ascending another steep rocky path alongside some fields, eventually turning left and levelling to rejoin the A628, this time to cross the road again to pick up the road into Dunford Bridge.

The road started with a climb before topping out and descending into Dunford Bridge with views of Upper Windleden Reservoir. It was a steep descent with a long set of traffic light controlled roadworks on the right. At the end of the roadworks, I turned right onto the Trail into Penistone. The track here was a good gravel track with a slight descent, and the scenery in the sun was terrific - the decision to continue at Woodhead proved to be a good one. On entering Penistone, the Trail became more of a pavement than a track, so I decided to stop for lunch at Penistone train station.

Bench and sculpture at Penistone Train Station

Once refreshed I set off for the return journey, only by this time grey clouds had rolled in and a fresh breeze had sprung up (headwind of course). I stopped to have a chat with a group of Sustrans volunteers before getting back to Dunford Bridge, and the steep climb up to the A628. I passed the lights at red, as there was plenty of road inside the cones to use, and struggled uphill. On reaching the lights at the top I saw a line of a couple of cars waiting to come down, and sure enough just as I was wanting to come out of the cones to pass the lights, the cars started to move. Fortunately they realised I needed to avoid stopping and waited for me, for which they got my grateful thanks.

At the A628 crossing I followed the track around the field again, and coming to the second crossing of the main road, decided to follow the Trail rather than the busy road that I'd come up. This turned interesting, a wide rough track with large puddles, and plenty of sheep. At one point I thought I saw a large dog ahead, possibly a Dobermann, and wondered if I was in for a savaging. Fortunately it turned out to be just a closely shorn black sheep! The rough track eventually turned into a grassy track, and started dropping down towards the reservoirs around Woodhead. Most of it was rideable but I came to a set of terraced deep steps, and with thoughts of six weeks previous on my mind, decided discretion was the better part of valour and walked down, eventually ending up at yet another crossing of the A628. Here, the Trail doubled back on itself and dropped down another steep rocky track, which I managed to carefully ride down, and popped out on the steep access road to Woodhead! It was easily missed going up, as the entrance was hidden by overgrown hedges, but I really should have seen it when I went down earlier. 

The return from Woodhead was nice and easy, being a gentle downhill back to Hadfield where I loaded the bike into the car and drove home. I really enjoyed the ride, and had no reaction from my injury which bodes well for my return to Scotland in just over four weeks time.