Guys,
I'm agonising over this one…
I've got a sore throat and I'm generally feeling a bit run down (sympathy needed… :(). I've had a few call-offs and the weather forecast doesn't look particularly promising (BBC site is ambivalent and usually wide of the mark, MWIS is predicting 75mph gusts and general meteorological Armageddon – the truth will be somewhere between the two). I'm reluctant to travel up there if I'm feeling shite and the weather is going to be more of a challenge than the riding.
So I suggest we postpone this for now and perhaps go with Sanny's excellent suggestion of a weekend up there, staying in the bunkhouse in Ballater and get two quality days in. If there is a spell of settled weather in the next wee while, I may resurrect this thread, otherwise I reckon we leave it until the spring.
Sorry if you've made plans around this and these have now been thwarted, though there is nothing stopping you from going anyway – just go imbued with the spirit of the Dangerous Brothers and through caution to the 75mph winds…