Scotland, Bike Tour in Perthshire

After the previous bike tours in Ireland (2008) and Austria (2007), this time it's Scotland's turn!!!

Departure 27 May 2009, again from Rome Ciampino, but due to an unforeseen event in the final days, for the 2009 tour I will take part only with my father Luciano; indeed my uncle Roberto will be absent, who in the previous edition was an excellent rider.

So the two of us set off, a perfect flight, then by coach from Edinburgh to Perth and finally by taxi to our 1st b&b, booked through our tour operator Verde Natura, which will take care of our luggage for the whole week.

Briefing in the afternoon with a local guide who, along with the bikes (excellent this year too), provides us with maps and advice on our route, which will be harder than the previous ones.

So we begin our ride; this time the stages are about 60 / 70 km, but full of continuous ups and downs that really put us to the test.

Luckily the weather was good, indeed beautiful: pleasant temperature and constant sunshine every day, so much so that my father had to buy a sunscreen because we were really roasting!!!

The landscapes here in Scotland are exceptional too; many lochs along the way, not to mention castles such as Scone Palace (Perth), Glamis (Glamis), Blair (Pitlochry) and beautiful cathedrals like the hidden one at Dunkeld along a river and that of St Andrews.

I loved the bagpipe player we met at Blair Castle, to whom we devoted minutes and minutes of filming with our camera.

The stage that took us to Dundee was nice, a slightly unusual town because it is beautiful, yet at the same time very dirty and full of people who aren't very reputable.

Among the b&bs the nicest was the one in Wormit (Dundee) called The Boat; indeed it was right by the river, and from our window you can see the great river with some sailboats and Dundee in the background.

Demanding was the stage that took us to the Queen's View: afterwards we did about 5 km of continuous climbing before reaching the top, from where you could take in an excellent panorama.

The most beautiful stage of all was the one that took us to the North Sea, to St Andrews, where there is a distinctive cathedral very famous in Scotland.

Before reaching this town, the finest of all those we met on the route, we crossed the forest... which now and then offered particular views of the North Sea, which that day was at low tide; indeed it was wonderful to ride our bikes along the shoreline. A shame we didn't swim as many Scottish lads were doing, but for us even though there was a blazing sun the water was freezing, and after all we were on the cusp of May and June.

Once the tour was over (6 stages), before returning to Italy we stayed an extra day to visit Edinburgh (without bikes), certainly prettier than Dublin. In short, we loved Scotland so much!

Together with my father and my uncle we are already thinking about the next tour: Sweden and Denmark await us...

Greetings from the Scottish heroes Claudio and Luciano

Scotland (27 May 2009 - 4 June 2009)