A change from the Lothians this time: our cycling buddy Susan offered to take us on a tour of the countryside surrounding her home town of Crieff in Perthshire. Nine of us arranged to meet at Macrosty Park in Crieff, but Colette and I arrived ahead of the meetup time, so that Colette could catch up with an old friend who now lives in Crieff. Fiona and her younger son Struan met us in the park, bringing a flask of coffee and some tasty beetroot brownies. It was a lovely way to start the day and the coffee was very welcome, as it was a bit nippy first thing.
Once the others arrived, we got our bikes ready, said cheerio to Fiona and Struan, then headed off in search to the nearest loos. They would be the ones at the top of Macrosty park, so we followed the path up a set of hairpin bends to the toilets, only to find that they were out of order. Luckily, Susan’s brother has a garage almost nextdoor, and he was happy for us to use their toilet.
As an orderly queue was developing, I realised that I’d left the water bottles in the car, so I went back to retrieve them. After coming back up the hill, any lingering chill had left me, and I was raring to go.
Susan led the group out of Crieff and into the countryside, heading for Comrie. The road was gently undulating, with a good view over to the River Earn on our right. We met a long line of parked cars as we entered Comrie, and it wasn’t long before we realised their significance: there was a large congregation of black-clad figures gathered at the centre of the cemetary. We all stopped chatting and whirred past quietly.
At the next junction, several of us removed our outer layers as it was feeling a little warmer, then we pushed on towards more hilly country. As we rounded the first part of the climb, we could see a large array of Nissen huts on the flat land to the right. That was Cultybraggan, a preserved WWII prisoner of war camp. Fiona remembered bringing her son there while he was at school, for army cadet training. The accommodation certainly looks bleak and uninviting, but presumably (hopefully) character forming.
The climb that followed was fantastic from a cycling point of view, with a good surface and a gradient that never got challenging, and with enough turns to keep the view fresh and interesting. We made our way into proper moorland, greeted by the calling of lapwings. The infrequent farmhouses suddenly felt very remote and isolated. Then a red kite flew past very close overhead and I felt so lucky to be there.
View to the Perthshire hills after the long climb
We paused at the top of the climb for some sweets and a swig from the water bottle then continued along a flat section of moor road for a few miles before getting into a fast downhill. Lots of freewheeling fun to be had there, before we stopped next to a T-junction. To our left there was an impressive, perfectly-formed pine tree with a plaque alongside. As it turned out, the tree was incidental and the lumpy ground surrounding it was the remains of a Roman fort. Apparently, Crieff was about as far north as the Romans ever managed to get.
Nice tree and some welcome sunshine
The route then took us right, heading towards Braco but we veered east before reaching the town and through some undulating countryside. We passed some recently felled forest on our left, then some newly-planted trees on our right. A group of deer spotted us passing from inside the latter enclosure then bounded off. It was as if they knew they weren’t supposed to be in there.
Further on, the road started to climb a bit more steadily, then inexplicably got wider and better surfaced. We went past a bus-turning place, apparently in the middle of nowhere, then we came alongside a golf course on our right. This, Susan explained, was one of the Gleneagles courses, and I expect that this road is where coaches come to park during big golfing events.
Very soon, we arrived at the entrance for Gleneagles hotel, and we all cycled in. We passed the hotel on our left, looking not quite as grand as I might have expected if I’m truthful. The grounds however were immaculate. There was a lovely loch on our left and the prestigious golf course and headquarters of the PGA were on our right. Fairly soon, we were back out on public roads, turning left then right, heading for Auchterarder.
After getting to Auchterarder, or the “lang toon” as it’s known, we stopped outside the Synergy Cycles bike shop. This is a very upmarket bike shop, befitting its location in the heart of wealthy Perthshire, but the most important thing for us at that point was its cafe. Susan had called ahead and reserved us the central table which was perfect for our group of nine. So we chose from soup, filled rolls and paninis, and had a great lunch, surrounded by an impressive display of sleek, high quality racing bikes. The staff were very friendly and helpful, and we left in good spirits, ready for the rest of the ride.
Leaving Auchterarder, we passed through farmland and came up to a tractor on the road ahead. Scott sped up to catch it and get some slipstreaming effect. It’s unusual to be faster than a modern tractor, but this one was of an earlier vintage, so he pulled over to let us past. Nice of him yes, but that meant we now had to push on, no slacking! Over the next bridge, there was a hill, so Scott and I had to put in quite an effort to stay ahead of the tractor. Luckily the hill wasn’t too long, and we stopped at the next junction to await directions from Susan. We exchanged waves with the tractor as it headed east, then our group went west at the junction, on our way back to Crieff.
As we cycled on, Colin explained that we were coming to an interesting place called Innerpeffary, with the country’s oldest lending library. They have some rare manuscripts too, including some by Robert Burns. We paused at the Innerpeffary turnoff. It turned out that the library was closed, and it was nearly a mile down the path to get a look at it. The decision was made to give it a miss this time and we carried on.
A little later, a headcount revealed that Colin was missing off the back. Someone quipped that he was taking his books back, but when he returned a different colour, it was clear that he’d just stopped to put on his jacket.
An impressive gatehouse
So we carried on, arriving at the village of Gilmerton, then taking the left for Monzie. It was uphill a little through woodland, then a nice glide down towards our afternoon coffee stop at Glenturret distillery, the home of the “Famous Grouse experience”. We were greeted by a massive copper-plated grouse at the car park, where a group photo was called for. The bikes were then parked and it was into the cafe for teas and coffees. Sadly no time for whisky tasting this time, but it was a very comfortable place for a break and a chat before finishing off for the day.
The Famous Grouse was hard to miss
It was literally just a mile further down the road that we reached Macrosty park again from the opposite side. Time to pack everything away and head home. We all had a very enjoyable time, and all thanks to Susan for opening our eyes to the delights of cycling in Perthshire.