Day 15
Braco to Dalwhinnie 67miles/6000ft ascent
I left Braco at 8:00am after a wonderful stay where we all agreed to try to keep in touch and see one another again sooner. With some careful navigation I managed not a Golden Hour but a Golden Four Hours as I climbed, rolled and pedalled up and down beautiful countryside filled with fields, trees, morning light and glimpses of hills.
Rain again today but the waterproofs had been on from the start so It wasn’t a problem. I headed up what is called ‘The Sma’ Glen’ which at first I thought was going to be a bit of an epic so I zipped up and fueled up at the bottom first. Funny how you can sometimes think the worst when it is cloudy and raining. Later on I arrived at a place called Amulree which led to a beautiful, remote glen surrounded by hills where the sun was splitting the sky. At the very end of this glen I knew there was a very steep road climb to take me over to the other side with a warp speed descent to Kenmore for lunch. Disappointingly I didn’t get my gear dried out much as I enjoyed my lunchtime salad in Kenmore. In the end it didn’t really matter as the drizzle and rain were never really that far away all day.
After lunch I realised that I was now going to be riding on roads that I had visited earlier this year during The Etape Caledonia as well as the steep wee climb from Trinafour across to the A8 and the National Cycle Network track to the hostel in Dalwhinnie. Neither of the climbs felt as tough as they did earlier in the year which was a satisfying feeling to know I had got fitter on this ride.
The garage at Dalwhinnie is an excellent resupply stop, I know because I have used it three or four times now. Today I simply bought my usual snacks for the ride and food for dinner. Earlier at Easter I had sat on the forecourt guzzling energy drinks and shovelling chocolate and sweets into my face as I prepared for my first 100 miler of the year from Killin to Grantown on Spey via Ben Lawers, Innerwick, Trinafour and the back roads parallel to the A9.
It had been a while since I had stayed in an independent hostel so I was not quite sure what to expect in Dalwhinnie. I needn’t have worried as Lee, the manager runs a welcoming, clean and extremely well fitted out place. He showed me to a nice quiet room, the spacious kitchen and secure bike shed. This was all that I needed as tomorrow I had to make the committing ride over the Corrieyairack Pass to Fort Augustus and the forecast was ‘poor’. Tomorrow and the next two days were all that stood between me and a successful completion of this ride. I was NOT getting carried away yet.
A Teacher trying to Divide. 