Day 21 - Weem Inn (Aberfeldy) to Kinguisse

Day 21 – Weem Inn  to Kinguisse

What a day. The hotel we stay in the Weem was a really strange affair.  From the road it looks good. It is run by an old chap who may well have done well in his prime  but is now losing the capacity to care for the place well. Much of it has gone to the dogs. Our room was large and okay however. There were a few broken things in the room and bathroom.  We make our own breakfast downstairs in the kitchen come dining area.  

Today we've got 95 km ahead including a big hill climb to a pass and the highest point of the trip at 454 metres. Our guide warns that the upper area of this climb is very exposed to the weather.  And it is a bad forecast.  So I have my worries. There are a few scattered showers about but the weather does not seem too bad so far.
 First we will cycle mainly downhill for 20 kms. We race down very quiet back roads with beautiful houses beside the road and even wonderful gate houses that are just a prelude to some mansion up a grand drive in the forest that we can not see.  

There are surely some people in England and Scotland with a lot of money.

At the bottom of this section we turn left and head up a quiet back road to Pitlochry. In Pitlorchy there are  Highland games on.  We are told they are the last of the season with thousands of visitors. We met a group of 10 Austrian men wearing lederhosen - the  national traditional dress of Austrian/ Swiss/ German mountain people. . Zita chats easily with them for a little in german.  There  are many nationalities who have come to visit. The events include pipe bands, toss the caber, tug of war, bike race.  Zita enjoys taking lots of photos.

I played the pipes when I was a teen. We looked and sounded just like this.

On we go.  I had thought we might get a train from here to the first town over the pass if things seemed too bad with the weather but it looks OK. So on we cycle. Not to steep at all for now.  We have over 40kms to ascend  to the 454 metre summit of the pass.  We have a falafel burger for lunch and then on through forest on a continuous cycle path.  The cycle path follows near or a little further away from the motorway at different times as we get higher.   15 kms from the top -The Pass of Drumochter - we see a warning. 

Mountain views become spectacular but the weather also worsens and becomes quite extreme as we gain altitude.  We are cycling uphill into a direct headwind of 40 knots or more and now solid cold rain showers. According to my map guide it must be that the wind will go around behind us at some stage and become a tail wind  but at the moment it is being funnelled through the pass ahead directly towards us.  As we head further on the trail the road bends more to the east  but the wind stays ahead. It is very intense cycling and the atmosphere is electric.  

Finally the road curves around enough to the east for the wind to go behind. Thanks be to God!  The rain clears. What a glorious place in this stormy ancient landscape. At the summit we officially move into the Scottish Highlands

On we zoom  now and our trail becomes a pretty even gradient. Because of the weather there are wonderful photos to take.

 Now we are  onto a perfectly formed cycle path near the highway that is new seal and that winds and falls downhill like an exhilarating downhill ski run.

We meet a group of trampers (hill walkers)  who have been up on the peaks nearby.  They say they got to the top of one but they had to flag the second summit because the weather was too intense. I would have fitted in well if I had  joined them for a day out on the hills.  

We stop for afternoon tea at Dalwhinnie where we meet a sweet young cycle touring couple. They are going in the other direction into the weather and they are quite late in the day.  Good luck to them.  As we cycle on we join up with another cyclist.

He is one of only two we have seen throughout the UK with the same route guide as us.

 Now it is always downhill, always strong tailwind, always beautiful Scots mountains about.  3 km from Kinguisse, our goal for today,  I get another puncture. Damn. Hard to believe! We pump a bit and ride, pump and ride.  We get to our  accommodation. I try to fix the puncture. But  now the crappy pump which has been a problem already doesn't work at all. Frustration.  We go round and ask at the local Co-op store  for help. Someone there has a pump and brings it back to the hotel.  

The back wheel is now okay again. It was  probably another thorn on the cycle path. I will try and get a new pump in Aviemore and maybe a new tyre as well the next morning. After Inverness (in two days)  there are no more bike shops for three days until Thurso in the far north.  That is quite a distance without support so we don't want to have tyre problems that could stop us.

What an exhilarating day we have had with a frustrating finish.