JOGLE Day 5 was the first of the two toughest days of the tour. It began with the now usual morning panic when we couldn’t open the side door of the support vehicle. Thankfully Neil had a brainwave and managed to sort everything out.

We had planned to be on the road earlier than usual, and for once managed to achieve this. As I mentioned yesterday Pitlochary SYHA was up a hill, so the first bit of cycling we did was cycle down that hill! This was only a brief respite as the route took us straight up a hill on the other side of the valley. And thus the tone for the day was set – a rolling ride of peaks and troughs.

It was another overcast day and again we were essentially following the A9. Thankfully however today we followed NCN 77 and were far enough away from the A9 that for most of the day we never really saw it.

 

Early on we crossed Logierait Bridge which is owned by the local community.

We continued on through Dunkeld and passed our support vehicle …which was empty. Nic and Sarah spent the early part of the morning looking around Dunkeld Cathedral.

A common theme of our tour so far is to arrive for a coffee stop at a cafe which had planned to visit only to find it wasn’t open. This continued again this morning when we arrived at Bankfoot. Thankfully our support vehicle wasn’t far behind and by now have got used to this scenario. So instead we simply enjoyed tea and cakes by the side of the road.

Then it was on again to Moneydie and Pitcairn Green.

We entered Perth following a cycle path along the River Tay.

We had a short break in Perth then cycled through the Bridge of Earn picking up NCN 775 and then tackling the major climb of the day, a ‘snorter’ on the way to Glenfarg. Again there wasn’t anywhere to stop and again our support team did us proud by supplying us with lunch at a car park just beyond the village.

After lunch we headed for Kinross.

And then picked up the B990. This passes through Kelty, Hill of Beath and Crossgates. By now you may have guessed we were back amongst civilisation!

Finally we spotted the Forth Bridge in the distance.

Before crossing the Forth Bridge first we stopped off at Inverkeithing for a cup of tea and some chips at a smashing little cafe found for us by Sarah and Nic.

Refreshed, it was time to cross the Forth Bridge.

  

We finished the day following NCN Route 1 weaving our way in to the centre of Edinburgh.

Tonight we are stopping at Edinburgh Central SYHA. Today we have cycled 75 miles and climbed 3800 feet.

You can view our JOGLE Day 5 route from Pitlochry to Edinburgh below:
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Tomorrow is what looks like the toughest day of our JOGLE as we make our way through the Scottish Border hills to Langholm. Now however it is time for a shower, something to eat and then a refreshing beer!