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This was a route I had been tinkering and playing with for a long time, inspired partly by some winter wanderings on the CX bike along the banks of the Tay between Perth and Dunkeld, and also the contributions to Google maps by a certain Mr Allan Anderson, who I've never met but adds some cracking trails to Streetview!
NOT to be confused with the River Tay Way which it turns out we crossed or used parts of, this route appears to be a pretty nice wee loop in its own right following the river (in parts) but also detouring up and over the Griffin wind farm.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/55895383
The 5:26am Ember bus from Dunblane got us to Tyndrum for 6:47am. We would have preferred to start in Bridge of Orchy (as per attached route) but Ember aren't stopping there at the moment due to roadworks or something. At least this allowed for second breakfast at the Green Welly stop which opened at 7am.
The first bit along the West Highland Way and up to Loch Lyon is just a means to an end to pick up the source of the River Lyon (from a layperson's point of view, I don't know the precise hydrographical source of the Lyon, and in retrospect I would have loved to start at Tigh nam Bodach for a sort of spiritual slant to the ride...). We rode the south bank of the loch as I hadn't ridden it before, I think I preferred it to the north bank for the views and slightly easier going. We were soaked from the early morning rain anyway so the multiple river crossings weren't an issue, even though I slammed a rock with my front wheel and went in early!
The drizzle was gradually easing and Glen Lyon was trying its best, a beautiful glen and it was great to be able to enjoy the full run down with a tailwind and eventually some sun. We stopped at Bridge of Balgie for third breakfast then joined the signposted gravel route on the other side of the river down to Invervar.
From Invervar we enjoyed a bit more tarmac as far as Fortingall where we checked out the famous Yew, crossed the bridge at Duneave and followed the minor road to the start of the riverside path into Aberfeldy. It was here that I regretted not doing the trail a month earlier as the overgrowth was just starting to obscure the otherwise fine singletrack, we were riding on faith a lot of the time and there were maybe one or two holes or roots which could have been unpleasant if ridden into unseen and at speed. One for Spring or Autumn I think!
Pt 2 in the next post...
Pt 2...
We crossed the (now) Tay by Wade's Bridge in Aberfeldy and stopped for snack. A friendly local dog-walker spotted the bikes and gave us some tips for avoiding a short overgrown section that would otherwise have slowed us down. We picked up the riverside path again (old railway) and followed this to Grandtully. Due to the state of the undergrowth we skipped a couple of singletrack detours down to the river banks (included in the route posted above) which I regret as when we saw them rejoin they looked clear and well used (and very nice). Will need to go back...
I had originally planned to cross the Logierait bridge and follow some very nice looking gravel on the levees following the east bank of the river, down to the A9/Jubilee bridge just south of Inchmagrannachan. However, I was anxious to avoid all the roadworks and chaos over that side of the water so we stuck to the minor road on the west bank. This should have been some nice easy going but the south westerly tailwind we had been enjoying became a southerly for this portion and was hard work.
The reward was the awesome section of singletrack along the riverbanks between the Jubilee Bridge and Dunkeld (via Inver due to a washed out bridge near town). I didn't get many pictures of this sadly but it was all good stuff.
We did the usual lunch thing in Dunkeld and left via the Birnam Oak Walk, more lovely compact and sandy singletrack. The next section to Murthly concerned me slightly as what little beta I could garner suggested it might also be quite overgrown, but it was actually pretty cool, albeit we had to detour around some construction works at the start which resulted in a very very short scramble over a couple of fallen trees to pick up the trail again. Worth it for some tight and twisty singletrack with some steep punchy climbs (my buddy suffering with his Gralloch 'race' 1x drivetrain, but a couple of the climbs were too steep even for my 31x36 lowest, although mainly just too steep for my wayward line choice...). We stopped to check out the old 'Roman' bridge which now appears to basically be in someone's garden, and continued through the Murthly castle grounds, including some excellent singletrack, to cross the A9 again via the road bridge at Caputh.
Once over the water the trails and scenery changed again and we were skirting big open fields full of swaying grass. There was an opportunity to try a little detour to hug the riverbank even more and ride along what looked like quite an extensive gravel bank, but once again the desire to make progress and avoid overgrown paths took precedence. We joined the road near Meiklour (massive bush!) and crossed the River Isla this time via the Bridge of Isla.
....aaaand Pt 3 will have to wait as my battery is almost dead and I have an early start tomorrow. Stay tuned for Bridge of Isla to Perth to Dundee.
Hmm, Pt 3. will have to continue to wait, can't post pics right now...
We lived on Murthly estate for three years when I was primary school age. Always meant to go back for a ride through the estate sometime.
We lived on Murthly estate for three years when I was primary school age. Always meant to go back for a ride through the estate sometime.
It definitely merits a bit of a potter around in there! Lots of wee bits and pieces to explore and you could incorporate it into a bigger loop of the general Stanley/Kinclaven/Murthly/Bankfoot area
OK part 3...
From Bridge of Isla a decision is required. I had already linked together some great wee trails from Ballathie back to Perth on the west bank, but was aware of some trails on the east bank. The first section from Cargill to Campsie looked to have some lovely gnadgery riverside singletrack, but also almost certainly some sections of pushing where the trail got too faint or rocky. The second section from Cambusmichael church to Stormontfield and the Destiny Bridge looked better still (suggest anyone who is interested checks it out on Google Streetview courtesy of Allan Anderson as mentioned in the first post).
We took the east bank this time as I thought some of the west bank stuff might be a bit overgrown. We skipped the Cargill section in order to make some progress along the A93 for 7km to pick up the second section at Cambusmichael.
These trails brought us very enjoyably to North Inch park in Perth, a beautiful way to roll in to the Fair City. We ducked in to town to pick up second lunch then crossed the Tay again on the railway viaduct to pick up the final leg to Dundee.
I have ridden various routes connecting Perth to Dundee via the banks of the Firth of Tay. The reed beds around Errol are very evocative in the winter mists and the muddy trails are great fun on the CX bike. It was a bit of shock hitting them at speed in the dry and dusty conditions, some of those roots are bigger than I remembered!
After a final fast gravel section, some quiet road miles and some pleasant trails through Riverside Park, we picked up the final shared use path past the bridges and in to town to catch the 21:15 train back home. I always seem to enjoy rolling in to Dundee, granted usually off the hills on the south bank of the Tay and over the bridge, but we had some fun with the seagulls and the penguins then raided the station Tesco for our dinner for the train home.
Strava activity here. It was one of my bigger days 'off-road' although there were several tarmac sections and of course it was a very gradual downhill for most of the way, and with a tailwind, so apart from some minor discomfort from being on the saddle that long it was a bit a of a canter really.
https://www.strava.com/activities/19120184628/overview
In a perfect world it would make a great two-dayer with a stop in Dunkeld, there were lots of fun bits we had to miss for the sake of making the final train, two days would allow for lots more exploring, more relaxed food stops but still some reasonably purposeful daily mileages. I think it could be a great autumnal weekender.
Nice ride!
I assume Ember back from Dundee?
I didn't even think to check Ember, I still prefer the train when the times suit and there was a very convenient Glasgow Queen St service waiting for us.
I learned to drive on a thiwaites three speed manual dumper on weekends in the Murthly ex psyc hospital grounds age 10. Don't tell the HSE. Went looking for it on the way to crieff recently and couldn't find the hospital grounds anymore I guess it's all houses by now ?
Looks like a cracking trip. Never explored that area off road been round it heaps from forfar on the road bike
