And so it begins. 200k DIY Audax.
What should have been a standard 200k Deeside loop became a bit of a PITA.
Checking the Council's road closures website, there was no mention of the C1K at Carmont still being closed on account of the train crash, so I presumed it had re-opend now. Wrong. Cheers, Aberdeenshire Cooncil! The way was held against me, with a security guard barring the way.
Choices were to divert down to the A90 ( in retrospect, the better option ), or to chance a bit of Comedy Off-Road through Fetteresso Forest on an inappropriate bike.
I had planned to use the improved windfarm access roads, which are pretty smooth. But alas, my gossamer-thin tyres, hand-spun from butterfly-wings were not equal to the task, and let their objections be known in short order.
There then followed a comedy escalating series of technical problems fixing it, which cumulated in the CO2 inflator becoming a permanent fixture on the wheel. It's still there now.
So eventually limped in at 8:30, having taken an epic 11 hours and then some for 238k.
https://www.strava.com/activities/3985111297