I got the opportunity to wear my new waterproof jacket for the first time as I left Strathyre but fortunately the shower didn’t last long and the rest of the day turned out to be very pleasant.  The route rises gradually up Glen Ogle before becoming very steep around Lochearnhead at which point it joins a former railway line and provides a very pleasant route that climbs gradually up and then over the Glen Ogle Viaduct. At the top of Glen Ogle it drops steeply and joins the route of the former railway line going to Killin.

I stopped in Killin for a coffee before carrying on down the south side of Loch Tay. Lochs are flat but in Scotland, the roads alongside them are rarely flat and this one is no exception. Where there is no room beside the shore, the road climbs up and then drops down and Loch Tay is about 13 miles long which is a lot of up and down. While on this road I came upon the first instance on the whole route of seeing a cyclist ahead of me. This turned out to be two heavily laden cyclists from Holland who were camping as they moved up the country and it turned out that I had met them the day before in a café in Drymen. We hadn’t spoken but I remembered the lady in the café having a bit of difficulty convincing a Dutchman that the notes she was giving him in change were Scottish and were, in fact, legal tender. He seemed to be checking that the ink was dry. I had noticed that they were both tall and athletic and looked as if they had probably cycled in The Tour de France in the 1970’s. I got tangled up with them for a bit and realised why I had chosen to cycle on my own before managing to lose them when they stopped to take photographs.

After Kenmore the route is on road towards Aberfeldy and I made good progress. Aberfeldy isn’t actually on the route but is such a quirky Scottish kitsch village it is worth the detour of a couple of miles to see it. I had lunch in the village and took some pictures before getting back on my way to Pitlochry which was a very pleasant cycle ride if a bit hilly.

I got to the hotel on the main street just before 5pm after 52 miles and 3,100 feet of climbing. The route came into the town right beside the offices of J&H Mitchell, solicitors, who were one of my customers in my previous existence as a member of the wage earning society. I thought about going in to see them but chickened out on the basis that no one would be interested in seeing that old duffer again. I got myself installed in my hotel, had a shower, got changed and went for a pint and the first person I met in the bar was Craig – from J&H Mitchell, and we had a jolly good natter to finish off a thoroughly good day.