Dalwhinnie Summit to Perth

23 July 2012, 61 miles (day 4)


"It's better going downhill"


Light to soft rain, strong but not diabolical headwind at first, cool to warm.  Have decided to include the video we took on arrival last night:

So we were much happier with the view this morning:

A great breakfast, bacon for some, fabulous kippered smoked salmon for others.. then bye to Ann and Phil .. and we hit the road after a teary bye bye to our first stage fridge and alpha male Paul "see you later, pal" said Jan ... and so Dave adopted the role of alpha male "hello ladies!".

The headwind was there, the rain was lighter .. and our spirits were brighter.....and we made the actual summit in a few moments

AND THE PATH WENT DOWN THE MOUNTAIN!!!!!!  Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!


We went by Fran's "somewhere where I wanted to go all along cos it goes to the west coast" view:

Of course, we rescued a ram that had hooked horns onto the fence:

Took in the heather: Note that for those interested, the cycle path route 7 follows the ancient A9 along the main A9 dual carriageway with many dedicated cycle path parts as well.  No cars, wonderfully safe.

Also, we spent the time waving to the red lorry yellow lolly drivers who honked their horns in reply.  Kept us well distracted!

Here's a riding picture in the woods on the way to Bruar, Dave didn't drop the phone... phew

And then Fran introduced us to the "Harrods of the North" the House of Bruar with the best cake display for miles around (it's all about the cake Mandy).  The toffee apple cake was the winner (middle left in the picture)...  Note handy tip, not all of the slices are the same size - see picture, Jan picked the piece on the plate at the front lower left... hmmm weren't we here for the cycling????  

 Full up, though we couldn't go shopping for mohair and cashmere smalls, we met Rita and Margaret (thanks for the donation!) and headed off south to Blair Castle (memories of Alex and Neil's fairy tale wedding).

Lunch at Pitlochry - cheese and pickle sandwiches:  But couldn't stay for the Highland festival:

The cycle path out of town (cycle route 77) crossed a wobbly bridge and a wooden planky bridge over the Tummel river:

Further alone the Tummel joins the Tay river and the path follows the banks up and down (up???? no-one said there would be hills today) to the Hilton at Dunkeld for a few snacks, phone calls home and posing:

Dunkeld:

Finally, up hills and down dales, through Waterloo, Dunfallenandy ("are you alright Andy?"asks Charlie) we got the outskirts of Perth on the cycle track and switched to real roads with cars and lorries, nearly joining the motorway - it was scary for all-  "Me no likey" said Jan.  We realised that we hadn't been amongst traffic since Inverness.  It was a rude shock.  We worked our way into town and out to the Travelodge at Broxden Junction.  Jan and Charlie took a cab to the supermarket for dinner items and we took to the drink.  


The new replacement fridge and alpha male, Chris arrived to join us on to Penrith.   "Hello, ladies...."

Jan: "Hey Paul, me and Chris are like this"!

On to Edinburgh (Penicuik) tomorrow.  Hope someone's home !!!!