Mercian - King of Mercia - Touring Geometry 653 - update Page: 6

[Jamiedyer]

Sundays Photos from Callander ride - North towards Killin

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

 

[Jamiedyer]

Thursday I managed time off so Wednesday Brian and I hatched a rough plan to go on a road ride, I know, I know, not what anyone was expecting
First thing Weds I headed down to Brians with the plan being to head out to Marybank way and ride down the other side of the river to Meig dam and then head down into the estate roads and head to the end of the road. As usual we would take detours as and when required.
Luckily the weather was decent and stayed that way for most of the day though it was quite breezy heading out.
We were out for about 5 hours or so riding through some lovely scenery going from glen to glen being spoilt for views around each bend.
I was on the King of Mercia and it was it's usual well riding, enjoyable self. Sure footed whether on or off road.
We did discover a few well off road loops that we will investigate further on the 1X1s later in the summer. If anyone wishes to join us just let one of us know and we can work around it.

Jamie

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Brian crossing one of the rickety bridges
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

The end of the road just before the house in the distance
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

 

[3wheeler7]

You're very lucky to have that gorgeous scenery - looks like the traffic gives you 1.5m passing clearance (where the m stands for miles!)

 

[Jamiedyer]

Out and about pretty late on this afternoon and you can certainly tell winter is starting. Lucky with the lack of rain and is has been pretty damp most of the week through to early this morning.
A little bit of off road while meandering round the coast but a bit too muddy to be mucking about on in the semi dark conditions.
Sky was its usual loveliness and everchanging which made the dark creep in unexpectantly.
The KOM was its usual joy to ride, really loving this now that I have it set up how I wanted and imagine it will be a bit better once I tidy everything up. It is such a sweet ride and ranks right up there on a par with my Jack Taylor. The more I get it sorted the better it gets, and it handles and rides so stable and comfortable it's not surprising it's similar to the Jack Taylor. It's definitely the long wheelbase and rake that work for me these days.
Jamie

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

 

[Nob]

Place is deserted…..

 

[greytyke]

loved the photos. What a carless joy it must be on those roads!

 

[legrandefromage]

saw this thread and rode my Raleigh!

 

[Jamiedyer]

That could be one of my roads Big Cheese.
You need to come up here riding with us as you look well used to the open spaces and you have the perfect ride with that Raleigh

Jamie

 

[Jamiedyer]

Well it was such a nice forecast today and with the family having other things organised I decided to head south and ride with my usual fellow retrobiker, Brian.
A nice if delayed drive south seen us heading out of Brians in Dingwall planning to go out towards Maryburgh and then over the dirt roads into the hills out of Easter Oury, over the back roads and drop down into Marybank and then back to Dingwall via one of two ways. The plan was going well even after a nice coffee and cake stop paused proceedings for a bit. The weather was lovely, some high cloud, some sun, cool but no rain forecast made for some really nice riding.
We also made a quick stop at the bust of the fallen motorcyclist on one of the railway crossings. I have mentioned this in other posts and even on the blog. The story goes that a young man back in the 1920's or '30s crashed his motorcycle into the bridge when it was under construction. The stonemasons put a bust of him, which even I can remember when I first seen it, was a head with a leather style motorcycle helmet. Brian, who is slightly older than myself was told this as common knowledge even when he was a young man riding these local roads. When the new bridge was built in the 70's, the engineers put the sandstone bust, as it was, into the new brick wall. It has now worn away and is looking more and more like a skull. With us both being motorcyclists ourselves, we always stop and pay our respects. Today we pondered whether anyone who knew him would still be with us?
But I digress, the small backroads were still wet from yesterdays rain and also covered in leaves. It made the sections of dirt and even the dirt climb up to the back of Marybank a bit more predictable than some of the wet slippy tarmac bends.
We were also delayed slightly at Marybank as Brian needed to stop in and see a friend who then plied us with mugs of tea and cake which meant we had to really race the darkness back to Dingwall, as per usual, we didn't bring lights as we weren't going to be out long.
We made it back just on darkness by sticking to mainly the dirt tracks through the estates and then the cycle path into Dingwall.
Another great ride and always made better by being on the Mercian.

Jamie

Racing the darkness at the end
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

 

[Jamiedyer]

Had a couple of hours spare after lunch and as it was such a nice day up here I didn't want to waste them not riding.
Even though I had somewhere to be with the family later in the afternoon I still didn't want to rush anywhere, I more, just left the house and headed south on some of the quieter roads and just thought I would see where I end up. My plan was to stick to the backroads and just loop back to home, pretty much making it up as I went.
The bike of choice was my equal favourite King of Mercia. This bike is perfect for these rides where you are out meandering around the back roads at a leisurely pace, equally at home on a long fast audax, pretty much perfect for anything As it was today.
Anyway here's a few photos.

Jamie

Overlooking home, back down on the coast
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Looking south west
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Further round the loop looking east/south east
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr