Through Drumochter to Aviemore

Distance 61 miles

Climbing 891m

Cumulative 927 miles

We knew today would be long with quite a good climb up Drumochter pass, the forecast was for rain most of the day so we thought it would be pretty tough- in fact it was one of the nicest days so far- just one big climb at a reasonable gradient rather than lots of shorter steep ones, and a fantastic off road Sustrans route for much of it on the old road.

We left our fun hostel in Pitlochry after an early breakfast , topped up with food for lunch at the Coop as we knew there would be no more shops until Newtonmore and set off along the B road- nice and quiet as nearly all of the traffic thunders along the A9. The route took us through Blair Atholl- full of coffee  shops and Highland souvenir emporiums but none of the coffee shops were open at 9.30 in the morning. Eventually we reached the Atholl Arms- a grand looking establishment but the nice lady on reception assured us that they could provide coffee, however the austere butler like figure that appeared looked at us very disapprovingly in our (admitedly damp) high fashion high viz cycling gear and seemed reluctant to provide us with the goods- when asked if they ran to a tea cake the answer was a curt “certainly not” , oh well we have been blessed with great kindness and support on this trip, I suppose that we were lowering the tone of the establishment.

Lowering the tone at the Atholl Arms

The Tilt river, full after the rain

We set off again and soon the Sustrans 7 route left the road and took us on a magical path through the woods- the remains of an older road . with generally a good surface and quite a steady gradient. Most of the way up the pass was traffic free. Our friend Rick had assured us that we would enjoy the ride and that we would hardly notice the proximity of the main A9 , a dual carriageway for much of the way but Rick was right anad with the trees and the slightly different routes we were hardly aware of it.

lovely woods

Lichen

We didnt use this bridge

Cycle path

Sustrans art

There were a series of signs on the cycle way warning of how serious the weather could be on the pass- we didn’t need any reminders as we had crossed Drumocheter a few times in winter in our younger days including one time when the snow gates were closed to stop people going over the summit and we spent the night sleeping on the floor of a pub (not what you think) along with about fifty other stranded motorists. The owners of the pub took it all in their stride as it was a regular occurence

As we got higher the rain got heavier but the main problem was the wind- a strong northerly driving the rain into our faces and making it hard work- harder work in fact than the slope. The empty old road remained perfect cycling though and we only joined the A9 right at the summit of the pass- a dramatic gash through the moutains  shared by the main road to Inverness, the railway line , the power lines- and our little cycle track.

We looked eagerly at all the vans stopped in a layby and thought that perhaps one might be a tea van as we were getting cold by now- unfortunately not. We set off down the other side of the pass but there was no respite as we were having to pedal hard downhill to mke progress against the wind.

Orchids

Battling the wind

After a few miles we reached Dalwhinnie and a cafe at last- the cup of tea became lunch as we huddled out of the rain, and then we heard the dreadful news from Birstall about the murder of Jo Cox MP.

Although Britain is a country with a low rate of violent crime compared to many others it is sobering that someone working hard to improve the lives of others should die in this way, we just hope that the spotlight will fall on those that preach messages of hate and intolerance that make this more likely to happen.

Rather sobered we set off on the last twenty miles- mainly flat with a few undulations along the Spey valley, along a quiet and very lovely road past the JacobiteRuthven Barracks on a striking natural glacial hump in the Insh marshes and the site of castles since 1200.

Ruthven Barracks

Mountains in cloud

The road then wound through the lovely woods and clearings of Glen Feshie and Rothiemurchus and on to Aviemore

we had originally planned to camp but when we saw the forecast we booked a place at the Youth Hostel and were glad to have a dry night after a long day.