GM IV Details & Itinerary

[Blue Flame]

It is safe for you to assume that it will be one loop for those that are going and if they wish to do it again then they may well do so on the way back after Aviemore. We will suck it and see on the day.

Just to say that, there is no obligation for anyone to do the rideout or any part of it. It is also entirely your choice if you want to do your own detours. It's entirely your choice if you want to do any loops twice.

SV4ME, Christopher - it's entirely up to you guys if you want to do the loop all the way round - I'm only passing on what me and Dean discovered when we did the recce last week. The roadworks may or may not be there on the day. I can't see any mention on the traffic websites but on the Lecht we were sat with the engines turned off while they were moving pylons into place. I don't know if this is classed as roadworks or not so it may be why it's not listed? The 30mph stretch was a mystery tbh. It seemed to go on for miles and there was no work going on. IIrc it was the stretch between Tomintoul and Bridge of Brown. There was definitely no fuel pumps at Spittal of Glenshee and this is a refuelling point so you would need to be mindful of this. There is fuel at Braemar but they sometimes close early on Saturdays.

Christopher - I promise you that the route was definitely not picked from a map. They have been well ridden. As I said, Dean and me did the loop and it is simply too long for the majority of riders. If any of you can keep up with Dean then bear in mind it took us about 7 hours with only 4 short stops and we cut out the stretch from Killin to Dunkeld. Ideally, we would do the full loop but with 40+ riders, fuel and lunch stops, people might be in the saddle for between 10-11 hours. It isn't fair on less able or less experienced riders and we have to cater for the majority. Bear in mind also that if it rains on the day, it will be very long indeed and going across the Lecht in the rain is no fun at all.

On day 1, the stretch between Spean Bridge and Aviemore is 52 miles of pretty much non stop twisties. The last time we did this as a group the people who had never done it before were amazed and everyone wanted to do it all over again. If you're not grinning from ear to ear at the end of this stretch I will eat my lid.

On day 2, there is a very wide mix of roads including zig zags, switchbacks, rough gnarly and flowing roads. So this covers two days of varying roads and is very much a riders weekend.

As I said above, there's no obligation on your part but I'm only giving you as much information as possible so that you can make your own decision should you want to do your own thing.

Thanks Grant - appreciate that.

Originally Posted by Quedos

and yet we wait and yes i'm impatient.
simple enough question though I'm not sure whether stuarty is on 3-4 times a day or only occasionally as said in two different threads?

The Kinlochleven loop is once only and the stop will be for approx 30-35 minutes. There to Kinlochleven and back to the service station.

It's optional on the return journey depending on how people feel.

There was the couple of cycle road races up that way a couple of weeks ago.. Could the 30mph be a left over from that?

Originally Posted by The Guru

There was the couple of cycle road races up that way a couple of weeks ago.. Could the 30mph be a left over from that?

Interesting! The signs were dotted all along the road for quite a distance. They also looked permament? Maybe a new restriction between villages. OR maybe the pylon works? I'll see what I can find out.

Originally Posted by stuartyboy

On day 1, the stretch between Spean Bridge and Aviemore is 52 miles of pretty much non stop twisties.

Stu, have you got your route link correct on the OP? Of that 52 miles, it shows 18 miles of A9 in that route, which ain't twisties. Are you taking them up the A9 or should the route show the A86 to Kingussie, then one of the B roads up to Aviemore?

Can I just say to everyone that if anyone needs any information in a hurry then please see this thread here post #1. I've mentioned this several times. I have said that I will reply quicker by PM, txt or email rather than go through forum posts. My settings do not subscribe me to all threads so I don't get notifications. I do get txts and emails quickly. HTH

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Stu, have you got your route link correct on the OP? Of that 52 miles, it shows 18 miles of A9 in that route, which ain't twisties. Are you taking them up the A9 or should the route show the A86 to Kingussie, then one of the B roads up to Aviemore?

You're looking at the cut off route for those that want to go back to the campsite. There's no a9 on the way up.

The Spean Bridge to Aviemore route is http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&so...,0.672226&z=11

Edit: Col - can you post on here what you are seeing? I'm not seeing any of what you're describing. Yes it's the B roads to Aviemore


Cheers

[TamSV]

Ralph's right enough - I'm seeing a big chunk of A9 in that linky. I didn't notice that - just assumed we were staying on the A86 (which is presumably the intention).

The route in that link cuts off towards the A9 at Drumgask, bypassing Newtonmore/Kingussie.