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Day 17  Monday 10^th May 2004

Inverkeithing to Rattray (nr Blairgowrie)

I awoke this morning to a beautiful sunny day with the mist rising off the Firth of Forth.  The aiming point today is Perth and a few more miles the other side, conditions permitting.  The forecast was for sharp showers and maybe even thunderstorms in the afternoon – a reason for making good progress this morning.  The following day I will be in the Highlands and if the Lowlands are anything to go by I will need plenty of energy to conquer the very long climbs.  I had again decided to deviate from the CTC route which made a very wide loop round Perth to avoid the very busy A9 which leaves Perth on the north side.  By going through Perth I would have to endure this dual carriageway for a couple of miles.  There were other reasons for my madness.  It reduced the mileage but it also would enable me to book a B&B for next week and also to allow me to call in at Perth Railway Station.  Why?  Christine had been working overtime behind the scenes to trace my railway tickets for the return journey.  They still hadn’t turned up at Hinckley and the latest plan was that I would have to repurchase new tickets at Wick for the journey to Perth.  When I arrived at Perth next week I would call into the ticket office and pick up the tickets for the remainder of the trip as authorisation would be faxed through from Newcastle.  I decided to call in at Perth a week early to pick up the tickets just to make sure.  The cycle reservations had been made for the whole trip I had been reliably informed.  I might not have the tickets to prove it but I had the telephone number of a very helpful lady at Glasgow reservation office who said I could ring her if the guard was in any doubt.  It was not possible to fax authorisation to Wick as this station was unmanned or didn’t have a fax machine or the pigeon was on leave or something.  Because of this late change of plan it hadn’t occurred to us to get all the tickets faxed to Perth – never mind.

So I began the days ride.  It was the first day for a week that I hadn’t had to wear my thicker windproof jacket and I still felt too hot.  After about 10 miles I left the Kingdom of Fife and moved into the county of Perth and Kinross.  The county sign was just at the point at which the electricity board had the road up and it was reduced to one lane working with traffic lights controlling the flow of traffic.  I have been in the habit of taken a photo of these signs as I passed and sometimes managed to get a photo with me in shot also by using the self timer.  This one was a little difficult – I had to take to the grass verge to give the traffic enough room to pass.  One of the electricity board workmen saw what I was up to and he came across, shook hands and offered to take my photo by the sign.  We spent a few minutes chatting before I moved on again.

The road that I was on was to run parallel with the motorway (M90) over the next 20 miles until I reached Perth.  Sometimes it was right alongside – at other times much further away.  This meant that there was very little traffic on the road I was on – the majority was using the motorway – bliss!  I passed Loch Leven – the largest inland loch in Scotland – and then stopped for a while in the park that borders the Loch at Kinross.  In Kinross a kilt shop selling nothing else but kilts caught my eye – not the sort of shop you come across in England.  On the way into Milnathon, a small town just north of Kinross I came across a coffee shop called I think “The Common Ground”.  It was also a second hand book shop and it sold Traidcraft, Fair Trade and Cafod items as well.  The shop was fairly full with ladies from the village but I managed to find a spare table.  Obviously a popular meeting point.  The cake selection which looked homemade was appealing.  I felt justified in filling a small corner as it was now two hours since I had had my full breakfast.  I opted for a pot of tea and a Scotch Pancake.  Delicious!  I came to leave and enquired about the price – there was no charge!  The shop was run on a voluntary basis and I was asked to place any donation that I might wish to make in the China Teddy Bear money box standing by the counter.

It was now only 15 miles to Perth – I should get there in time for lunch.  The Tesco on the outskirts of Perth provided this and I took the opportunity to stock up on items for a tea later on in the day.  Then I made my way into the centre of Perth to find the Tourist Information Bureau.  I wanted to book two B&B’s – one for tonight about 10 miles or so north of Perth and the other one as I have previously mentioned in Perth close to the station for the overnight stop on my return at the end of the trip.  The computer booking system was a disaster.  It’s a good job that others were not waiting to be served.  The process must have taken 45 minutes.

I then moved on to Perth Railway Station – miracles will never cease – they had received the fax and the tickets were waiting for me.  And they didn’t even ask my name or check my identity – all I gave them was the booking reference number.  When I mentioned about the first part of the trip from Wick to Perth and the possibility of getting a fax sent through now, they didn’t seem to want to negotiate any more changes.  I can’t blame them.  Mission accomplished I made my way down to the River Tay to potter around before leaving for Blairgowrie and Rattray.

The information board beside the river caught my attention – it gave you the history of some of the bridges including the one I was standing by at that moment – Smeaton’s Bridge.  He built it in the late 1700’s and although very bad floods threatened to bring it down within 10 years of its completion it has survived the forces of nature ever since.  At that time, ice flows were carried down the river on the flood water and got stuck underneath the arches.  There are marks on the parapets of the bridge indicating the worst floods over the years.  It was surprising to see that two of the worst have occurred in the last 15 years of its 200 year history.

It was 3pm and time to leave Perth.  I left the centre and had nearly arrived at the ring road junction to the north of the city when I spotted an ominous black cloud with lines of lightening radiating from beneath.  Time to baton down the hatches and take cover I think.  I had too much food in my rear saddlebag and so it was in expanded mode – there is an extra zip which allows the bag to expand but unfortunately it is not waterproof in this mode.  It was a Muller Rice which was the cause of the overload – this had to be eaten.  I then donned my waterproof overshoes and my waterproof jacket and crossed the road to a Shell petrol station which was at the road junction to shelter under their canopy.  I spent the next half hour sheltering here as the rain lashed down on all sides.

Eventually the rain eased off and I ventured out onto the main A9 – a dual carriageway with lots of traffic.  I didn’t waste much time – it was full speed ahead in an effort to get to the first exit and hence onto the quieter roads again.  At 5pm I reached the B&B in Rattray.  There had been another short shower on the way but I had sheltered under trees.  It has been another day without getting wet – wonderful.  And the forecast is good for tomorrow when I take to the hills.

Today I have cycled 54.4 miles at an average of 10.9mph.  This now brings my total mileage to 847.7

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