hill of god

no cross race this weekend, so with a favourable forecast we were up early-ish and off on the way to take a wander up ben ledi, north of callendar. not the biggest of mountains (879m), it falls into the corbett category of scottish hills. it's position at the very southern end of the highlands means that it can be seen from all over the place - on a nice evening i can even see it as i ride home over the forth road bridge.

park car, boot up and we're on the way. it might not be that big, but it's a steep old start. up we wind through the forestry and out onto the open hill. sue was feeling the pace and after a while decided to descend back to the car. i press on and up.

it's warm work:
gloves off.
hat off.
fleece off.
sweat out.

above the snow line there's a chance to take in the vista which encompases a huge swathe of central scotland. bee-yoo-ti-ful.

up and on past the harry lawrie memorial - sgt lawrie was member of the killin mrt who was sadly killed whilst on duty in 1987 - and on to the summit. few photos and i'm heading down. skipping past folks on the steeper slopes. moving fast feels good.

had decided not to take the path off the north of the summit to stank glen and back down and just as well. sue's stubborn streak kicked in about a minute after we left each other and she'd followed me up, we meet at about 700m contour, so it's back up again past the folks i'd overtaken. "forgotten something?" they ask.

another few more summit shots, a helping of homemade peanut brittle and down again.

cycling legs are good for climbing hills, but the muscles seem ill suited for descending. a previous trip to ben ledi saw/heard me involuntary groan and grunt my way down as quads spasmed and cramped on the steeper bit. fuck knows what the group of walkers in front of us thought...

before too long we're back at the car and stripping off sweaty gear and dreaming of a late lunch. back into callendar and a quick stop at mhor fish, formerly the ben ledi cafe. the cafe is a grade a chippy and has long been a favourite stop on long and winding a84 trips. this visit doesn't disappoint and we enjoy a well earned cod supper for our efforts.

grand day out and very proud of sue for TTFUing and making the trip to the top.

more days like this please.

next up - ben vrackie?