Day 39 – Aviemore to Home!!

By the time we organised bikes and faffed about it was gone 10am when myself, Luke & Peter Porteous set off on our mtbs’s up the infamous Burma Road from Lynwilg Junction at Aviemore. A grinding 2 mile climb of about 1700ft then a quick walk up & down the remainder of Geal Charn. Peters determination to keep using his biking shoes from the 1800’s came back to haunt him when the sole fell off and he had to return direct to Lynwilg instead of following me & Luke down the fabulously fast & potentially dangerous descent on the other side to the river Dulnain and then onto meet Brenda and Dot at Slochd car park. A very fast whizz on the road bike for 13 miles to Coignafearn where some twitchers were with big scopes spying a fledged Peregrine chick on a cliff edge, and let me have a wee look – magic! Luke had to depart to start his new job in Brighton the next day, but many thanks for a couple of good days on the hills on new ground. Back on mtb again and a big climb most of the way into Carn na Saobhaidhe then the last mile or so on foot in now baking heat. Hazy views at the top before a fantastic shaky descent and out almost to the big lodge, but turning south up another track for a few miles before meeting up with Dot who was taking the bike out again, while I dashed off on foot over rough ground across the watershed back to the upper Dulnain and the wee bothy that sits there. A fast pull up from the end of the track there, then cut onto the top of Carn an Fhreiceadain. A note thanks to Russell Jones for planking his mtb there in the morning. The weather had turned much colder from the north in the last hour and it was freezing on the summit so I was grateful for a very fast and bone jarring descent with numb fingers all the to the bottom and cycled back to our house!
A real team effort today, thanks to Finlay Binnie for a loan of his mtb for Luke, to Russell for his bike on the last top and especially to Dot, the Doughnut Queen, not only for taking my bike out from the back of beyond, but for the priceless tips on the tracks in Coignafearn which are not marked on OS maps!
A great day for us finished off with the good company of my 2 handsome sons Manuel & Duncan for dinner/beer & pool in the Glen Hotel.