Day 40 – To Tomintoul

Friday 4th June

I needed to go into Inverness for some dog food, fuel and a check of the crank (bike). All were achieved with no fuss. I had a click on the pedal and had left my pedal spanner and crank tool at home. The guy in Alpine Bikes checked both immediately for me. The left pedal was very slightly loose, but that was what was causing it.

It was then a morning when my brain didn’t function correctly. I went to Aviemore, I can’t think why. I left almost as soon as I had arrived; even at quarter occupancy it’s too busy for me. I took the backroad to Nethy Bridge, hoping to find somewhere quiet for the rest of the day and night in Abernethy Reserve. I was asking a lot though, as I wanted a 4G signal also for the Sale game later in the evening.

Unsuccessful, I headed round to the east of the National Park on the spectacular Old Military Road. I went on far longer than I intended, but ended up in the Glenlivet Estate at Tomintoul. I had read that here, the Bowling Club offered pitches in exchange for a donation. At 1164 feet above sea level, the village is the highest in the Highlands, and a great place to be based. The eastern Cairngorms are much less visited, and of far more interest to me.

Highly recommended also is the Glenavon Pub; very welcoming, to dogs as well as people, and good beer. It is still very quiet, perhaps as Glasgow is still in lockdown, and it was good to chat with the Landlady about how she has managed to keep the place going, and the ferocious winters they get here. They have had snow in the village until mid-May this year.