Wheelie Big Ride: Day 7
Day 7 started off with another car park donation, this time from a lovely chap who had seen us cleaning the bikes the night before and thought it crazy what we were up to. This was followed by some American tourists who also deemed us crazy, “maybe even as crazy as them”…as they were going off to the local golf course – pure mental stuff!
So the next up was the Forth crossing which we were all looking forward to. Unfortunately when we got there the cycle lane was closed. Not great when the alternative is a rather long detour so we decided to try our luck and were promptly informed by bridge staff that the cycle way on the OTHER side was still open…phew!
Cue the expected photo shoot on the bridge! The old and new…bridges that is!
Our first food stop was for breakfast at The Earn in Bridge of Earn. Though the cake selection was tempting all members of the team ignored their sweet teeth and went for some delicious cooked breakfasts instead.
Back on the road the team hadn’t gone far (round Perth and climbing past Scone Palace to be precise!) before some placard bearers were spotted at the side of the road. This turned out to be more member of team Gaffney – Louise and her girls – who had popped down to cheer the team on!
After some delicious toasties (the folk at The Lair very kindly continued to serve lunch after they normally stop to fuel up the riders) it was on to the main climb of the day – to the Glenshee Ski Centre. With two Inglis vehicles now in convoy there was no escaping the cameras, as Dave and Malena played a game of leapfrog with the riders, snapping away at every opportunity.
The climb started gradually and kicked up to 12% at the top with very little wind to cool the riders down, but everyone made it up safely and into Aberdeenshire!
The day ended with a fantastic, speedy run down into Braemar to meet the rest of the DDK team for a brilliant BBQ. It was excellent to see everyone and the effort in the prep, execution and clear up was very much appreciated – thank you all!
Oh and congratulations to Caroline for winning the inaugural DDK sack race…you sure showed those kids how it’s done (though that technique was amazing!)
Starting the day as the previous day ended – we had more lovely hospitality from Norman and Mary, breakfast and coffee, a great start for us all!
First stop was at Lockerbie for a bacon roll and coffee, always a welcome stop after a good few hours of cycling. As the heat was continuing to fry us, we ended up stopping in Moffat (for an Ice cream), but we were taught a lesson, not to stop! As a result of this stop, a puncture was experienced (once more by Stuart, no more wheelies for him, it really would save his tyres).
Upon arrival at Bigger, Dave once again came up trumps and found a great lunch spot (The Kirkstyle) who serve great food! As the afternoon continued the spirits were lifted at the sight of the Forth road bridge, with this in sight we knew the end of the day was nearing….
Despite some shonky overtakes (mostly drivers which we then caught up with in the next queue of traffic…) we made it to first stop at The Barn in Scorton. What a pick of a place! They had 44 different flavours of home made icecream on offer along with a HUGE selection of cakes including a Percy Pig inspired Cookie Pie. Between the coffee and the sugar we were flying!
