Some of our most memorable rides over the past few years have been gravel rides, but they have been off the cards for a while, due to Colette’s broken wrist. She rode into that fateful pothole back in February and it took a long time to heal fully. She has been able to get out on her bike after the first 8 weeks of healing, but anything bumpy was too painful to bear.
However, over time, this has got gradually better, and I helped things along by changing her tyres to tubeless so we could run them at a lower, more comfortable pressure, as well as changing her stem for a suspension one (Redshift). Both made a good difference, and she finally felt confident to take on today’s route that I planned back in April.
The idea was to ride through Glen Almond, which is about 12-13 miles of gravel track. My research seemed to show that it was a fairly benign, well surfaced and not too steep track although a couple of miles of it looked to be just grass, which could mean getting off and pushing for some of it.
Anyway, it is all part of the fun, so we set off for our start location of Kenmore on a lovely sunny Sunday morning, with next to no traffic at our early departure time. The only thing delaying us was several fruitless circuits of the back streets of Aberfeldy looking for, and failing to find, their mythical Publicly Available Toilets.
We arrived at Kenmore to find our usual parking spot full of camper vans, although a car park just along from that had plenty of spaces. We got ready and set off, with a quick detour to the toilets at the Courtyard, which had just been opened up and freshly cleaned. Now we could concentrate on the ride!
We were taking the quiet back road towards Aberfeldy, passing through Dull, where Colette was not the only one stopping for a fun photo of the sign at the side of the road. It made a nice easy-paced start to the ride, and soon we were passing through Aberfeldy. On the other side was a 1,000 ft climb, although traffic lights at the bottom meant it took a while to get into the groove. After that, I tried to keep a steady tempo and wasn’t tempted to chase after Colette when she upped the assistance level on her e-bike and shot past me into the distance!
This was an A road, so there was a fair bit of traffic, some passing a bit too close, so I was happy when I got to the top and rejoined Colette where she had stopped next to a small loch. Some photos were taken, then we headed off downhill.
The downhill was not particularly fast, as it wasn’t all that steep and we had also run into a bit of a headwind. It took us through mostly open countryside – moorland and low hills, till we finally reached a T-junction and turned right onto the A822 and through Amulree. The road undulated gradually for a while, then took on a steep descent where the entrance to Glen Almond lay at the bottom.
We turned right for the glen and then stopped to survey the road ahead. We were going straight onto a private estate road, where the only public access is by foot or by bike. Straight away we could leave the stress of the main roads behind and enjoy the peace and quiet.
The off-white gravel surface was well compacted, but still not so smooth that you’d want to take a road bike along it. We paused briefly moments after starting along the track to let an estate 4×4 go past, and watched its dusty trail blow away into the distance as we set off in slow pursuit.
I thoroughly enjoyed the sight of our gravel route snaking off into the distance surrounded on both sides by rounded, heather clad hills, with the lively River Almond’s racing water and inviting pools as a constant companion to our left. No jaw-dropping craggy cliffs but just pleasant, restful scenery, which just went on and on.
We passed a couple of farms along the way, one of which appeared to specialise in the supply of grouse. We certainly saw plenty of the birds along the way, and were glad that we made the trip before the shooting season opens, when I bet things get a bit busier.
I could hardly believe how gently the track climbed as we headed up the glen, but as we got higher, we inevitably had the odd short steep section to negotiate. Colette would have struggled without the e-bike, which allowed her to ride up with ease. Unlike me!
We stopped after one such rise to take a breather and also break out the tuna rolls that Colette had prepared earlier. Tuna mayo on a soft sub roll is so tasty and so easy to eat when you need to refuel on a gravel ride, and is now an essential whenever we venture too far away from any cafes.
As the track got more lumpy, we started to find little splash throughs and burns to ford. Mostly easy enough, but a couple needed Colette’s bike to be carried safely across, as we didn’t want to risk getting the motor wet.
Then the gravel track ended abruptly, as I’d seen from satellite view, turning to a grassy track. It was still fairly flat for the most part, but grass is much slower to ride on, and I was restricted to my bottom two gears going along that. The grass track took us gradually uphill towards the head of the glen, which is marked by a boarded-up house/bothy at Dunan.
As we closed in on that, we came across an embankment with a short, steep slope leading up to it. I though I’d have a go at riding up it and started pedalling hard. I made it up to the top, well my front wheel did anyway, then I stalled. So I put my left foot down but there was nothing there, and I toppled sideways onto the grass. I felt a couple of knocks from the bike landing on top of me but thought nothing of it, till I noticed the pedal had taken a bite out of my right shin and it was starting to bleed.
Luckily I had some plasters with me, so I rinsed the wound with water from my drinking bottle then put on a plaster. I was happier having it covered up when splashing through stagnant puddle water.
After Dunan, the grass gave way to gravel once more, and there was just one small rise to ride up before we could see down the other side, with Loch Tay way below in the distance.
The downhill from there was a lot of fun until we reached Claggan farm. After that there was a seriously steep descent, which was best tackled cautiously. That took us to a bridge, and beyond that, the surface returned to tarmac. The descent that followed was still steep, but with better grip assured, it was less scary.
We finally reached a T-junction with the Loch Tay south road at Ardtalnaig and paused to shake our cramping hands out. A lady was busy doing her recycling at the wheelie bins across the road from us, so Colette asked if she wouldn’t mind topping up her water bottle. She kindly obliged, and then we set off east, towards Kenmore.
There were a few more undulations to deal with before the end of the ride, and I did my best to keep up with Colette on the uphills, but never quite made it. There were also some fast and safe downhill bits to enjoy as well, then eventually we reached the end of Loch Tay and the start of Kenmore.
We packed the bikes away feeling great after a wonderful day out, and got some ice cream to cool down. The town was now thronged with day trippers and the road back much busier. Then we reached the A9 and the traffic was at a standstill. No breakdowns or accidents to blame, just so much traffic. The journey back was interminable, leading us to swear never again to venture over the Forth for a day trip on a Sunday in the summer.