Of Bikepaths

The descent from the Cairngorms down into Perthshire turned out way less fun than I hoped. This was due to the severely degraded road surface on the cycle route along the A9. Nothing the Marathon Plus can't handle, but a slow and bumpy act nevertheless. Also the bike route near Perth was a muddy narrow path riddled with puddles so I and the bike both collected a patina of dirt for the first time on this trip.

Scone

Another bucket list item got checked today: It took some negotiating but eventually I received permission by the staff of Scone castle to push my bike on the site of Old Scone, ancient so to speak "capital" of medieval Scotland. Taking a seat on the Stone of Scone -- a replica, of course! -- I suddenly felt very royal myself. Sadly the site was crowded with visitors of some pottery festival so it wasn't the best day for a visit. Anyways I am very grateful to the castle staff who were so kind as to let me on the site without having to leave the bike out of my eyes. A great many thanks to them, they made my day.

(It is not a coincidence that the book that I picked to read on this tour is Pratchett's Fifth Elephant.)

Into the South

Leaving behind the Cairngorms I also finally exited the Highlands region. The weather while not entirely dry was rather pleasant all day. Overcast at all times, so it didn't get too hot or too cold. At around 12 degrees it was perfect for riding in a thin jacket. This being Scotland, of course it started raining later in the afternoon. At this point though the rain doesn't faze me anymore.

At the Kinross campsite the second spontaneous Surly meetup of my trip took place with a tourer from south west England, Tony. His steed is an LHT, classic build. Has a lot more road behind it than me but was also rather unlucky so far on the current trip, requiring wheel changes and flatting Marathon Pluses. Ouch.

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