Cycling sunday

Date: 26th February 2012
Length of route: 14.0 miles/22.5km
Route: Old Aberdeen-Hayton-Danestone-Dyce-Bridge of Don-Aberdeen Beach
Difficulty level: Easy

I recently found out about a Cycle Touring Club in Aberdeen who do different kinds of runs on different days, and as today was a Try Cycling day, and I fancied a relaxing cycle ride, I thought I'd try something different. Unfortunately, I woke up rather late, and dashed out of the house at exactly 10 o'clock, when they were due to leave. Anyway, I decided to circle Seaton Park (the established meeting point) and luckily I spotted a group of suspicious-looking cyclists doing the rounds and caught them up - fortunately, it was the Cycle Touring Club.


As they had only just started, I cycled up to them and introduced myself then we set off through the back lanes of Aberdeen and out into the open country lanes heading towards Dyce, where we saw a plane landing as we cycled along the way. I don't know about everyone else, but for me this is always an exciting thing to see in the country, especially as Air Transport was my undergraduate major. After gradually climbing up through Dyce, the rest of the route began to level off and then head down into Bridge of Don.

While we were cycling, I got chatting to a few of the others about cycling and other things, and it really made for a pleasurable experience and took your mind off the effort involved. Whilst we were talking, the miles/kilometres seemed to just fall away with the legs feeling little or no effort. Having said that, this was not the most demanding of routes and the weather was clear and bright, with little wind. However, it really does help if there is something to focus your attention other than the efforts of cycling.

It was decided that we would head from Bridge of Don down towards Aberdeen Beach to stop for a drink, which is where the run ended. I myself felt I could have carried on cycling for another few hours, and have already planned routes to Stonehaven via the back roads and along the Old Deeside Railway to Banchory (and perhaps beyond!). When we stopped for coffee, I noticed that we'd done 22.5km - which was amazing considering the other day I'd done 5k and felt tired! I guess it depends on your preparation and what you've had to eat, but I shall most certainly be looking to join in with the CTC again, perhaps on a longer run next time.



For full route information: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/71223528