One of the things we just love about ExPlus tours is the two-night stays that have a loop ride. It just seems so nice to be able to spread out in your room a bit and not have to pack up the next morning, which was today's treat.
After a leisurely breakfast at the Glen Lui, we got on our bikes about 10 AM and started our 25 mile loop ever so gently upwards. We had a time slot to tour the Royal Lochnagar whisky distillery at noon so it seemed that 2 hours was a very generous time frame for an 11 mile ride to our first stop...until at around mile 3 we came upon the sweetest herd of Highland Red Angus cattle, aka "hairy coos" in the local parlance:
Lore has it that the common angus color is far darker, but the red-headed Queen preferred the light red variety so the Royal Red Angus was bred!
You who know me well can only imagine how difficult it was for me to tear myself away from this bunch.
We continued on and just soaked up the incredible beauty of the ride, of course having to stop for photos of scenic river crossings, cute road signs and to pet local dogs out for walks.
Guide Lucy and June on bridge - yes Lucy is 6'-1"! How cool is that?
Never did see a squirrel cross...
Riding thru the Scottish forest - amazing and UP UP UP
We had a very quick visit to the Crathie church, where Queen Elizabeth and family attend church when they are in residence at Balmoral Castle.
We did manage to arrive at the distillery on time (despite a short but super-steep climb that took us, and our lungs, by surprise) and started with a brief whisky tasting - then we toured the distillery with guide Eric from Montenegro (who had a passion for the subject but an accent that made it difficult to totally understand the topic!). Royal Lochnagar is a very small "boutique" distiller owned by a gigantic conglomerate called Diagio. It has no computerization and all the processes are run manually with data recorded in ledger books!
A great highlight was coming out of the tour to find that our guides had laid out a delicious picnic of wonderful foods for us to enjoy before we headed to Balmoral Castle. What a great treat, especially as the weather continues to be perfect for all outside activities.
Balmoral castle is only a brief mile ride from the Royal Lochnager distillery. As Queen Elizabeth is due in on Friday this week the grounds and ballroom are still open to the public for touring and will close for the duration of her stay (EP guide Lucy described it as a total lockdown with huge levels of military, government and local security making sure no one gets even close to the Castle). We very much enjoyed touring through the stables, gardens and ballroom of the castle (the only room open to the public). No indoor photos were permitted - sorry!
Around 3 PM it was time to finish the loop ride and head back to our hotel. BUT it also meant taking on the biggest climb of the day, about 2.5 miles up and over a very challenging Highland pass. The road was fascinating - paved single track open to cars, but with passing points every 1/2 mile or so to allow 2-way traffic. We felt very successful when we crested the top and were rewarded with spectacular 360 vistas.
Of course you mountain denizens know the joys of a climb often lie in the descent! The remaining 8 miles were 90% downhill at speeds topping 30 MPH in places. We exercised caution as the single track road required giving way to cars at a few junctures, but in general it was a gorgeous joy ride back to Ballater!
We capped this fab day with a truly memorable meal at the Glen Lui Hotel - marvelous food (Peter had local venison, I had local lamb, both were excellent and so well presented with great service by Murray, our host). We also indulged in "Sticky Toffee Pudding" dessert - indescribably delicious. We could rationalize this indulgence knowing the Day 4 ride tomorrow, while only 24 miles, has some of the most challenging climbing of the tour (Day 6 being the #1 tough climbing day). They call it the Highlands for a reason! More fun tomorrow and no rain in the forecast - yet.
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