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.
RIDEWITHGPS.COM 
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
