Myself, Chris & Nick (who’s just joined the club) headed up just North of Perth today for a ride round Glen Garr and Little Glen Shee. It turned out to be a bit of a winter classic, with the weather far exceeding the forecast and a very varied mix of riding around the 41km loop . It’s only just over an hour from Glasgow, which is great considering the quality of the riding.
Setting off from the main street in Bankfoot we has a few km of road to warm up on before heading up onto the hills. It was a very still day so it felt reasonable mild for the time of year and the forecast fog hadn’t materialised. We made fast progress on well made tracks through fantastic scenery. Little Glen Shee was unexpectedly beautiful and remote, with remnants of crofts dotted along the old track through the glen. The good progress didn’t last and snow induced hike-a-bike ensued. The scenery and mild weather meant it wasn’t a chore, and the sun even came out to create a spectacular back drop.
After a short road section along the River Braan to Rumbling Bridge we had a good look at the scary falls under the bridge. The snow melt had brought the river up so they were quite something. We took a detour down the the Hermitage to look at the falls there and Scotland’s tallest tree no less. This is the amazing thing about Perthshire – one minute we were riding in remote glens with a very “Highland” feel and the next we were in a green river valley filled with tall trees and waterfalls.
The route guide had promised great rocky flowing singletrack back to the Bankfoot. For the first part the only thing that was flowing was the stream running down the trail. It was fun and techy all the same, before the trail suddenly and unexpectedly turned into a fast narrow descent that wrapped around the hill. Mild euphoria was cut short by a few hundred meters of cow field before a spin back on the road to Bankfoot. The Bankfoot Inn turned out to be a good find. Real fire, great coffees and a resident cat and two black labs. The journey back was mainly occupied by debating the relative merits of of different takeaway options for dinner after a big all day-er, and if there was a decent Indian takeway near Hynland?
Aye, it’s nice up there for sure.
Nice wee write up.