Going off the rails on a cycle trip to the country
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Plenty of other people seemed to have the same idea as me – to make the most of a fine Sunday morning and escape into the superb Moray countryside.
I lost count of the number of cheerful “hellos” I exchanged with other cyclists, walkers and runners enjoying the sunshine as I toured around the outskirts of Elgin.
The weather may be getting a bit chillier with the arrival of autumn, but I love this time of year. On this bright day the mix of colours added an extra dimension to the undulating hills all around, with their hay bales rolled and ready for market.
The yellows, reds and browns of the leaves glittered in the wintry sun and made me glad I’d made the effort to get outdoors and make the most of this rare break in the weather!
My ride started at the railway station, turning left out of the car park then going left again just after the fire station onto Wards Road. Take the first turn left – just after Hay Place on the opposite side of the road and before a solitary tree – to cross the railway by a level crossing.
Head straight up the road to a give way sign, then go ahead to join the shared-use path in front of you. This tarmac track continues beyond the next junction, taking you right up to a new housing development beside a roundabout.
Rejoin the road now and continue past the development and the golf club beyond, then take the first right where the road forks.
You soon pass an old church at Birnie – which has a surprising connection to Elgin Cathedral (which we visit later in this route). The kirk here was built around 1140 and served as the first cathedral of the Bishops of Moray, lasting through four tenures in this role. Birnie Kirk has been in continuous use ever since and is beautifully situated here above the River Lossie.
As I continued, I followed the road over a weak bridge across the river and turned right onto the B9010, then took the first left at an old sign for Miltonduff.
The sun was warming the day nicely by the time I reached the war memorial at the small village, so I stopped to take off my jacket and wave to a group of cyclists coming the opposite way. Go left at the memorial, then right just before the speed limit changes. This short climb up Milton Brae is the most strenuous of what is a largely flat route, and it eases quickly before you take the next left down a weight-restricted narrow road.
After a mile-and-a-half the road bends sharply right before a fast, straight descent to a crossroads. Turn left here and then follow the road right at Cloves before crossing the railway line and reaching the A96 at Alves.
Go left then immediately right across the busy trunk road and you are straight back onto a wonderful country lane. This one passes a campsite at North Alves, where the road skirts left over the old branch railway to Burghead.
Continuing to the crossroads, I turned right and stopped as this road crosses that line again. The tracks are still laid here, though massively overgrown, and you can picture a time when trains took visitors to the seaside village. Perhaps a better use for it nowadays would be to turn it into a footpath or cycleway.
Now I was on the National Cycle Network Route 1, which I would follow some of the way back to Elgin, though I wanted to return to the cathedral city by a slightly different way.
Go straight on at two crossroads before following the road to the right at Orchardfield. Take the next right, marked only with a cycle sign for Route 1, for another short but gentle climb to a junction.
Keep left here but, instead of following the Route 1 signs up a traffic-free path to the right, cross the B9012 and follow the sign ahead to Findrassie through a gated entrance into the woods. The sun shone through the trees and dappled the road’s smooth new surface with majestic light.
Once I reached the end of the road I turned right to head back to Elgin, going straight ahead at a roundabout where the housing begins.
Just before reaching the junction with the main road, you can go right onto a cycle path to cross at the traffic lights. Follow the path to a junction then cross diagonally right on to another tarmac cycleway with a grassy area to the right.
At the bottom, go left along the riverside then cross the bridge into Cooper Park, which was bathed in autumn sunshine as I arrived. I turned right in the park and followed the wide path around the outside, past the pond and the library (ignoring more Route 1 signs leading out of the park) and straight ahead to the commanding Elgin Cathedral.
The ruins are cared for by Historic Scotland and there is an entrance fee for non-members.
There are plenty of places around the park to sit and enjoy a picnic after the ride and, once I’d had a look around, I headed back towards the library, going left just before it to cross the main road by a footbridge.
At the other side, go right then turn left up an extremely narrow on-road cycle path. Where it ends, turn right then left to head up Commerce Street, and go straight on to join Moss Street at the top.
This leads down to a roundabout, where a right turn will take you past Lidl to the railway station. I was pleased to arrive before the skies darkened and the forecast rain arrived.
I had enjoyed a fine tour of the countryside around this attractive city, and had seen it in the best autumn light.
