Such a tough day. We ended up having 4 or 5 climbs (depending on your definition of a climb). The last climb of the day included a couple of stretches at 25% +. I’m sorry to disappoint but I had to walk them. I never had any chance to make it but it was also in my head as Rod and I thought we’d completed all the climbs for the day when we were faced with this doosy 5km climb. The worst part was we were faced with a forecast 29km/hr winds on the nose which ended up being about 30+ as it funnelled over the passes. All this would you believe with a icy light rain that made it difficult to see and a temperature that didn’t rise above 10degrees and was probably only a couple of degrees in the passes . We rode up the highest road in Scotland today through the highest pass to the highest town in the Scottish highlands. The whole group made it which was amazing. We got in about 6pm and some arrived just after 7pm.
On the good side, we rode through the beautiful Braemar and past the Queen’s Balmoral Castle.
So glad we made it.
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- Looking across to Balmoral Castle. If you look really closely you can see a yellow flag flying from the ramparts.
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- High country Scotland
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- Top of the highest road pass in Scotland. Rod so cold he and his bike got the uncontrolled shakes on the way down and had to stop to save it.