Tweedledon and Tweedledee- The Road to Morven

Our last big ride before the Etape was a grand randonnee, 180km through Aberdeenshire at an average of 23.7km/hr. The route was Aberdeen-Alford-Strathdon-Morven-Ballater-Aberdeen. Cycling out along the Don we could already see the black clouds swirling over Morven and anticipated with dread what lay ahead of us. Although this might look like The Shire I was feeling edgy as Ringwraiths on motorcycles bore down on us from every direction. Stopping for a drink I heard a bloodcurdling scream- I quickly drew my sword (aka pump) ready to defend my stead only to find that Dr Strangeglove had dropped his peanut butter sandwich in the mud. Maybe my imagination was getting the better of me but exercise induced delirium encourages both paranoid delusions and strokes of genius-but who can tell which is which when half way up a 1 in 5 gradient?

“I thought of that while riding my bike.” -Albert Einstein, on the theory of relativity


Just as we reached the base of Morven the sun came out to reproduce the conditions we are to experience in the Etape. Somehow we managed to make it to the summit despite the blistering 17oC heat and cruised down to Ballater for a raid on the bakery. We hammered back to Aberdeen along the Dee and reached home glad that Sunday would be a day of rest-from cycling anyway. I had foolishly agreed to partake in a little cross training-the Ythan Challenge. A 10km Multi-Terrain Adventure Race, but more about that later.