High hopes win out after battle with the elements
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
ROAD CYCLE
Strathspey loop
Distance – 26 miles
Terrain – Mostly B roads
Maps – OS Landranger 35
Start/finish – Rothiemurchus woodland car park, Inverdruie, near Aviemore
A winter cycle offers inspiration for more adventures in the great outdoors
Pedalling around Speyside on this great bike ride I was struck with a sudden burst of optimism about the year ahead.
This was my first real bike ride of 2012 – my aching legs can testify to that – and I began to think about all the adventures that lie ahead.
With the Cairngorm mountains on one side and the Monadhliath on the other, I was able to put the sapping headwind to the back of my mind as I rode from Aviemore in the heart of Strathspey to Kingussie, the capital of Badenoch.
The rain was coming down, too, so it was best to think about the future rather than the present!
The cycling route, all on road or tarmac, begins at Rothiemurchus in the woodland car park – on the right-hand side of the B970 Aviemore to Coylumbridge road beside the tennis courts.
I got geared up for the cold January morning before heading out of the car park on the bike and turning left onto the cycle path that runs parallel to the road. Where the cycle route crosses the road, join the carriageway to continue over the River Spey and up to the roundabout then go left towards Kincraig and Kingussie.
Immediately the wind hit me and I knew the next 12 miles were going to be hard work. However, the return from Kingussie would surely be easier as the route should make its way through glorious woodland with the wind at my back.
Strathspey is a soggy place at the moment and the lochs and rivers were full to overflowing. There are still a few flood warnings on the roads but there was nothing that was difficult to cycle round or through!
The road skirts close to Loch Alvie after the A9 turn-off and you begin to feel like you’re out of the throngs of Aviemore. This can be a busy road in the summer with tourists going up and down but at this time of year it is fairly quiet.
Eventually – or so it seemed against this wind – I reached Kincraig, where a road links to the return route. It was tempting to take this shortcut but I was glad I didn’t, as there are some fantastic places still to see on this ride.
As the road parallels the railway line ahead there should be stunning views of the Cairngorms to the left. Alas, all I could see was a mass of cloud above the lower slopes, and the wind looked really fierce up there. For today, I was glad to be down here on the bike instead of up in the hills.
Even here, I had to take a break in a lay-by to get some respite from the wind, but it wasn’t long before I was through the hamlet of Lynchat and approaching Kingussie, with views of the Monadhliath mountains ahead. The weather didn’t look so bad on this side of the strath and the sun was even glinting off the snow-covered slopes.
I kept straight ahead under the A9 and through the village then turned left at the sign for the railway station and Ruthven Barracks.
Already I was out of the headwind and really starting to enjoy myself, even though my feet felt like blocks of ice. I went over the level crossing beside the station and continued, over the Spey again and under the A9 again, before the road bends left at the top to reach Ruthven Barracks.
Briefly, the barracks, which were built in 1719 after the Jacobite uprising of four years previous, were illuminated in glorious sunshine, then – before I could get the camera out – shrouded in cloud once more.
I took a break at the bench here and enjoyed the view over the Insh Marshes RSPB nature reserve and back over the Monadhliath. When I got going again, the ride was definitely wind assisted.
Crossing the spectacular Tromie Bridge with the water powering through below, I was reminded of previous mountain-biking trips through the Gaick Pass, a route which emerges on the public road here.
This part of the ride is narrower and more twisty than the outward journey, and it’s also more remote from the major traffic routes. It makes up part of the National Cycle Network Route 7 which links Inverness with Glasgow.
Heading north, I passed through the village at Insh and rode alongside the beautiful Inshriach Forest before reaching the "shortcut" to Kincraig.
Keep ahead here to Feshiebridge, which the road sweeps over before climbing past the Glen Feshie road and on towards the excellent tea shop at Inshriach Nursery (closed for winter unfortunately).
Still the Cairngorms were largely hidden from view as I passed the turn to Loch an Eilein, a popular spot for walking. In no time I was back at Inverdruie where, just after the road forks, you can get back to the woodland car park via a gate on your left.
The mountains may have been hiding today, but with another year of adventures ahead, this was a perfect appetiser for what’s to come in Active Outdoors.
