The things a girl will do for chocolate..

36.04km/22.39 miles
1579ft ascent
3 hrs 53 mins
Snow, snow and more snow

By 9am this morning, as the sun was splitting the alpine blue sky for the third day in a row and the temps were creeping up from -10C,  I had already decided there was no way I was staying in today, rest day or no rest day, iphone or no iphone. Nor was I being hindered by a dental appointment right in the middle of the afternoon. So I cancelled it, stuffed a bagel down my throat, hurriedly packed my biking pack and set off around 11am. My objective was the Hill of Fare. Never been up the thing in my life but thats what Days Off are for. Doing new stuff.

The Hill of Fare was the scene of a battle in 1562 between George, the 4th Earl of Huntly and Mary Queen of Scots, his first cousin. At the foot of the hill lies Cluny Crichton Castle which dates back to Jacobite times though was never inhabited and used primarily as an ammunitions store.

History lesson over....

After an hours ride on back roads over a couple smaller hills, I arrived at the start of the offroad. The track takes you through the woodland at the back of Raemoir House Hotel. Its been messed up by forestry plant recently but is still rideable in most parts. I stopped and had a SiS GO gels (jesus, they are disgusting aren't they?) and a scoof of water and then set off up the hill. Its hard, especially when you're constantly battling to stay upright on the frozen rutted sections but about 45 mins later when you get to the shoulder, about 3/4 of the way up...it suddenly all becomes worth it.

 

My bike camera is rubbish but next time up, I'm taking the D80 and will hopefully manage to get some shots closer to reality. You can see right from Morven, across to Lochnagar, the Cairngorms, Clach na Beinn, Kerloch, Carn mon Earn and across to the North Sea at Aberdeen. I'd left Bob the Hardtail about 1/4 of a mile back next to a little cairn and ran the rest of the way to the summit. I spent an hour up there, perfectly alone, just wandering around, taking photos, glissading down and kicking steps back up. I had forgotten how happy I am when I'm up high.

After a banana, headed back down to Bob and took some more shots (including the obligatory self portrait) and then just let loose on the descent. It took and hour and 10 mins to ride up, and 23 minutes to get back down. I have a nasty elbow and shoulder now from one involuntary dismount but hey :) Alright for a cheap(ish) bike and the more he does and the more I learn, the more I grow to love him and am loathe to upgrade. I don't think I need to right now either...I will one day I guess but right now, me and Bob go everywhere hand in hand :)

 

Amazing few hours. And at the end of another hours ride home...my reward :)