Pitlochry Ride Report

Expecting some dry, sunny but maybe cool weather I slapped on the suncream for a day of biking in the Perthshire hills with Dawn, Sam and Gav.  As we approached Pitlochry the clouds drew in, the hills disappeared and the rain started – what on earth!?!  Here’s what happened next……It was decidedly cool in the car park during the final pre-ride faffing and I’d wished I’d packed more clothes as it looked like it was going to be a wet day with limited views.  Never mind, let’s head up and see how it looks.  If it’s that bad we can head back and do some low level riding.  We’d come this far and it was Gav’s first proper day out on the MTB for ages.  We headed out of Pitlochry on the lochside trails, dodging the walkers and the odd staircase.  It looked like the rain was more like heavy showers and the trails under the trees were bone dry and fast with lots of roots to hop over.

The dry trails didn’t last however. We’d made quick progress to a section of trail which is always boggy.  This time though the boggy trail was blocked by a lot of wind blown trees which needed a lot of swearing and a detour to get past.  Shortly after that we were back on the road and heading into Glen Fincastle for a lunch stop.

Sadly, with the best of the day’s riding yet to come, Sam had to turn around and head back to get a disco nap before heading out to party.  Myself, Dawn and Gav headed out onto the moors to begin the first of the day’s descents and it was a hoot.  Following a thin ribbon of singletrack through the heather and keeping your eyes peeled for hidden rocks waiting to knock you off course.  The trail widens and steepens as it descends, getting faster and faster with the odd rut thrown in to keep you on your toes.  By this point in the day the clouds had lifted and so had the spirits as there were great views over to Blair Atholl and the surrounding hills.

Before long we were refuelling at a cafe in Blair Atholl with tea, coffee, hot chocolate and cakes!

Carrot….. In Cake Format

The next section saw us starting with a warm up on the cycle path before climbing up on steep farm tracks to the final descent of the day.  By this point the sun had made an appearance and finally I felt justified on putting on the suncream about 8 hours earlier.  The final descent was a peach – pretty overgrown, fast and flowy with a few switchbacks thrown in for good measure.  It was all over too quickly but there were smiles all around!

Final Descent Awaits

A quick blast back along the riverside trails took us back to Pitlochry for about 5:30pm.  The big day out had left us with tired legs and empty stomachs so Dawn took over navigation duties and guided us expertly to a pub in Dunkeld for stovies, pie and fish & chips.  Happy days!