Long Ride in Perth & Kinross with Roddy

A week of sickness meant no training but I had a ride with Roddy Pattison scheduled and was determined not to be banned by the Mrs. So although I was coughing up the green stuff I said I was fine!
Met Roddy at Kinkell Bridge, an easy 7 miles from Crieff for me. He had 18 miles to ride just to get there for 8am. The sky was blue but there was a wind, so much that I had to pedal downhill to maintain speed. This was going to be tough.
Roddy was 2 minutes late, he was gutted, the wind and a stuck gear had caused it, and he'd blasted the last 3 miles in hope of making it.
From Kinkell we went up the old Roman road to Trinity Gask and turned right to Dalreoch Bridge. We stopped for a brief photo and from there, we went to Dunning and climbed Dunning Glen and descended to near Yetts o' Muckhart.
The climb was 21.5 minutes of solid zone 5 effort. We don't have hills like that in Hertfordshire. The descent was an average of 29mph - woo hoo!
At the bottom, we made a sharp right turn and ascended Glendevon, descending towards Gleneagles. This was into the wind and very tough. We then took the right turn past the Duchally estate into Auchterarder, ascending a very sneaky climb which Roddy absolutely nailed. We then headed up the B road back to Kinkell Bridge. Simple.
3000 calories expended. Tremendous elation at managing the route. Roddy led 99% of the way which was awesome given the wind. My brief spell at the front was exhausting. Major respect to the Doc who conquered Ventoux this summer.