I felt like I wanted to do something a bit bigger for June, ideally maximising all that lovely daylight. Inspiration came in the shape of an email from Restrap, exhorting riders to do a Solstice Century and earn a badge. Always a sucker for earning a free badge I will never get round to sewing into a cap, I signed up and got thinking. As much as I’d love to do something more exotic, the travel time to get somewhere away from home always reverts me to riding from the house to minimise domestic disruption. Luckily Aberdeen has plenty of interesting options once the ride distance goes beyond a hundred miles!
My last century for the winter solstice had taken me north, but I fancied heading out to do a loop taking in Glenshee, which I have gone over several times in the past, but always heading south. This time I would head over to Angus and along before turning north to tackle Glenshee from the steeper side. I finally headed out on Saturday night at 7pm, knowing I still had lots of daylight to play with, despite having to double back for repairs after my brake pads fell out at the first set of traffic lights! Unfortunately, the weather had also gone downhill from the beautiful conditions we’d been seeing earlier in the week. so I was surrounded by warm greyness as I climbed up and over the Netherley road to Stonehaven.
I’d gone slightly off course to stock up on food at the M&S in Peterculter before climbing over the Netherley road, completely forgetting I would pass right by a Co-Op in Stonehaven. Never mind, I’m sure the weight training would do me some good! I climbed away from the coast on the back roads, with Fetteresso Forest on my right. Normally, I would take the route past Drumtochty to avoid traffic, but it was unlikely to be an issue at this time of night. I wanted to make as quick progress as possible, so I dived down through Auchenblae and joined the B road for Fettercairn as early as possible. This was the right choice, as it was smooth and fast and I barely saw a single car.
After resisting the temptation to stop at the pub, my next waypoint was Edzell and I rolled along at decent speed, though I still had a fair way to go to reach my tentative bivy area.
Time dragged on as I headed westwards, impatiently waiting for the junction I would take to climb a hill and get some sleep in the trees at the top. I’d thought of not bivying and riding through the night, but then I’d be a BAM down for no good reason. I pushed ever onwards into the dark, finally reaching the turn off I wanted some time after midnight. I’d prevaricated over what I was going to sleep in all day, eventually deciding on just my Exped hammock and light sleeping bag. I’d toyed with the idea of my SOL bivy and a warm jacket, but it added up to practically the same weight (More If I took a mat) and wouldn’t be as comfortable. I got the hammock slung up in the trees just over the crest of the hill and settled in after some food and drink.
I slept okay, thanks to the hill deflecting the worst of the wind, a lack of midges and the luxury of a sleeping bag. My faith in the weather forecast paid off and I didn’t need to pack up and go due to any late night showers. I was up and about around 4am, though my hopes of getting some nice sunrise shots were dashed by the continued cloud cover. Never mind, at least I was warm, dry and slightly rested! I hopped back over the fence to rejoin the road, which would drop me quickly to my onward route.
From this point onwards the route was going to trend upwards all the way to the ski centre, so I knuckled down and headed up Glenisla, at one point distracted by a hare that insisted on running up the road ahead of me for a good mile or so before hunkering down in an adjacent field fully in my view. It was interesting to take this stretch at a more sedate pace, as I’ve always flown down here pretty quickly in the opposite direction, aided by gravity.
The deserted roads were a joy to ride on at this hour and I eventually emerged onto the A93, where the climbing would soon start in earnest. Although this was supposed to be all uphill, it felt fine for the time being, though I knew what was coming in the last stretch to the ski centre. It was around 0700 by now and I was seeing the odd car coming along, but still peaceful enough to feel the whole road was mine to enjoy.
Finally the climb began to ramp up properly and I settled in for a tough slog. I’ve only ever come down this side of Glenshee, but I knew it was a lot steeper than the northern side by the speeds I’ve hit during the descent! It very gradually gets tougher and tougher, right up to the last agonising drag over the top, where I paused to gather my thoughts and alveoli.
Despite the fact I was hot and sweaty after the climb, I stuck on an extra layer for the descent, which was going to go on a while! My reward for the steeper climb should be a longer descent towards Braemar, where I planned to stop for second breakfast. I went into a nice aero tuck and flew down the first section, eventually resorting to casually turning the pedals as the gradient eased. Soon enough, I reached the wee bridge onto the old military road, which would make for a nicer entry to the village than the main road.
As I reached sleepy Braemar the sun was warming things up nicely, so I basked on a bench for a while, working my way through my treats from the Co-Op, before availing myself of the toilets nearby.
I wasn’t going to hang about for the rest of the ride, as it was all trending downhill and I wanted to be home handy for taking the kids swimming. I stuck to the A93 the whole way, as it never got too busy until I passed Banchory and it was good to ride on a road that wasn’t mainly constructed out of potholes for a change.
I arrived home a few minutes after midday, feeling great for my little adventure – 153 miles in the bag and only a morning missed with the family. It’s not a bad compromise I suppose!