The following morning was a tad surreal as I was the only person having breakfast that spoke English as a first language..  Ended up having a long long chat with an Italian about his bike back home in Milan and somehow got on to the price of fishing in the rivers in Scotland - like I know anything about that!

Finally left the B&B after a very leisurely breakfast and went about 500 yards to the tourist information centre - I have a thing for picking up local maps and stuff :-)  Then had a quick wobble round Pitlochry which is nice, but a tad twee.  Then joined back up with the A9 heading towards Inverness.

By Blair Atholl it was starting to look a bit of an overcast soggy morning, but in Scotland you have to kinda expect it.  Continued up the A9 passing Dalwhinnie and Newtonmore seeing the sign post for Aviemore decided it was time for some petrol and a bit of a wobble.  A month or so later and I might be skiing here (shoooop shooooop tastic)

Aviemore has changed a little since the last time I was there.  Finally gone are the really naff 70’s lumps of concrete and are being replaced with buildings more in-keeping with the area. �Had a bit of a wobble up and down the main street in what was now sunshine :-)  Had a look round a couple of outdoor shops and then went to fill up. �Mmmm not the ceapest of places is the one and only fillling station, but I wanted petrol and they had it

Joined back up with the A9 at the other side of the town to start the steady climb to Slocht summit - Even being on such a major road the views keep me looking from side to side all the way.  Went through Tomatin and then the descent towards Inverness.  Along here the weather had changed and now was slightly drizzly.�

Inverness awaits…….

This section of road has quite a few twists and turns which was nice and the road was oddly quiet to say it was a brown signed tourist route.

Crieff itself was quite nice, but the day was starting to close in and I was feeling a tad knacked.  Went looking for a campsite for the night.  The only one I found in the area was full.  I now know where there is another, and was within a couple of miles from it :-(  So after a quick swig of water decided to push on……

The A822 from Gilmerton is totally a biking road, and the scenery is great as it winds its way towards Aberfeldy and changes its name to the A826.

Even though the A9 goes straight through to Inverness this was a worth while detour - just for the road

Got back onto the A9 just south of Pitlochry and headed for another campsite…… Yep it was full - shame really cos it looked like a nice one down by the river (guessing thats why it was full!)  On the outskirts of Pitlochry was just thinking what to do (pitch the tent on the football pitch???) when there it was…… A little sign for a B&B.  And what a cracking find.  20 quid for the night and secure off road parking as well

One question though……. why are most B&Bs a tad on the chinsy side??????

This is starting to sound more like a ride report instead of a general trip report, but then again up to now Id not really done anything other than get here.

So started out thinking Id be camping at Crieff and ended up B&Bing it a few miles further up the road, but that means Ill have a nice head start the next day

Dont forget to have a look in the ‘photos’ section

Anyway —–

Set off on the road to Scotty land along the M1 and then A1 to get me onto the A66.  Now that is such a cracking road.  It was a tad misty/drizzly up on the tops, but as I came down the other side towards The Lakes it brightened up.

having a break on the A66

After a quick blast up the M6 finally crossed the border into Scotland.  Now if you and not from these parts crossing this border is far from complicated……. There is no border only a sign saying ‘Welcome to Scotland’

Abington services were a good place for another break as I was to be leaving the motorway behind for a while and picking up the A73.  Dont really know why I opted for this route as it takes in quite a few built up areas and the going was of the slow kind (traffic lights, queues etc), but it cut a bit of a corner and got me off the motorway for a while.

On this part of the trip there is an amazing lack of photos - dont know why, but there you go.

take it easy

See I said it was simple!

Because of that this is being put together in a bit of a past tence kinda way now that im back.  Im hoping to get all the notes and pics up in the next couple of days.  Hope you enjoy - Cheers