TT2 | Saturday Report | Edinburgh - Old Deer (380 miles)

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TT2 | Saturday Report | Edinburgh - Old Deer (380 miles)

There's a long way to go today and I can't wait. I can't remember what time we arranged to meet in the car park but it's earlier than I'd like. By the time we're all packed and fuelled most of the cars have already left. The route starts off passing Knockhill and then onto Crieff.

First stop of the day as we let another group of cars past

Not far from Crieff a large group of cars joins the back of our group. Not wanting to get tangled up in another group I put a sprint on for a couple of miles. I make the first roadkill of the weekend by hitting a bird as it decides to fly across my path. They're always doing that! Once we're pulled out a decent gap from the group behind I then pull our group over for a toilet stop. We get a chance to wave to the other cars from our elevated position as they blast past. The day starts here.

The next section leads onto some narrow roads and I get separated from my group as we catch back up with the other group of cars when it's their turn to take a toilet break. Eventually I'm driving with just Simon and local Iain. We thread our way along some very narrow roads to the north of Loch Tay. Actually the word "road" is an overstatement - this is a goat track, not much wider than the Elise itself with so many blind crests and corners that we rarely top 30mph. What's more there are sheep and lambs all over the place and they don't understand the concept of traffic. I'm wondering, "why did Tut take us down here" when we crest a hill and find ourselveves facing Lochan Na Lairige and a huge dam. This is a very impressive sight and certainly worthy of a toilet break! Shortly afterwards we catch up with the rest of the gang. At this point we realise that it's 11:45 and we've got a fair way to go before lunch. And I'm hungry...

So it's on the A82 to Glencoe which has some fantastic scenery but it's also pretty busy. There's plenty of straights for overtaking but that's all I'm doing and it's really not that much fun. There's a motorbike in front of me that's going just fast enough to stay ahead but just slow enough to be frustrating. I go by it a couple of times but in the heavier traffic he gets back ahead. I'm not really comfortable with this so I just stay behind and sulk. We're soon at the Isle of Glencoe hotel at Ballachulish for soup and sarnies and next up is the lap of the loch.

I've been looking forward to this since last year when a few people drove round Loch Leven and told stories of computer game roads. I'm not going to miss it this year. After lunch we head back the mile or so to Ballachulish and turn off towards Kinlochleven. Just as we turn there is an almighty noise and we are passed from above by a Sea King helicopter taking off. The noise is incredible and as we look up (it's handy not having a roof) we are being waved at from the hatch. Cool! The first half of the lap around the loch is dampened by having to watch out for motorbike trial riders and lots of cars parked at the side of the road. After leaving Kinlochleven we get the road (mostly) to ourselves and it's just what I was hoping for. Mostly 3rd gear sweeping corners and gentle undulations with lots of good visibility. Good stuff!

Back on the A82 towards Fort William the traffic is bad. The weather is glorious and this is a bank holiday weekend. We're stuck in traffic and overtaking is futile. A few Elises decide to cut their way throught the traffic which doesn't impress me. The dull slog is brightened for a moment when a motorbike pulls up alongside me and starts gesturing at me. Then he cups his hand to his 'ear' and I figure out what he's on about. He wants to sample my exhaust note and he's chosen the right car! I floor the throttle which lets out a distant grumble - doh! - wrong gear. I drop down to 2nd and give the EBD trumpet a blast. Thumbs up from the biker and he's away.

Once we're back on the B-roads towards Inverness things get much better. These are the sort of roads I remember from last year and although there is still traffic, it's not too bad. Tom manages to cut through the traffic ahead of us and disappears into the distance. By the time the rest of us break out of the traffic he's nowhere to be seen. I up the pace to try and catch up but after 10 minutes it's clear that he's on solo sprint. The rest of us make merry progress through some fantastic twisties and stop to regroup a couple of times. We get a call from Tom saying that he's stopped at Cawdor Abbey so we can catch up with him there. We look at the map and it's bloody miles away - how the hell did he get that far ahead?! When we get to Cawdor we find Tom and Kirsty finishing a round of pitch and putt.

It's 5pm and we're still a long way from Old Deer. We're back on the road and it's not long before we're at one of my favourite stretches. The roads around Tomintoul, Dufftown and Cabrach are fantastic. Sweeping 3rd/4th gear corners with the occasional 2nd gear bend to keep things interesting. All the while the road rising and falling and there's hardly any traffic to hinder our progress. Simon flashes be from behind as we approach one of the highlights of last year as the road climbs steeply uphill, twisting all the way. Powering up there in 2nd gear I know everyone is grinning like an idiot (except maybe the passengers).

The last 50 or so miles seems to last forever. We've been on the road for about 10 hours so far and I almost get cramp in my right calf from my constant fancy footwork on the pedals. I have to stop using heel and toe for a while and change my seat position. I hope it doesn't come back tomorrow. It's 8pm and starting to get dark by the time we roll up at Tut Towers. Judging by the number of cars already parked we must be the last ones here. But it looks like food is about to be served so we're bang on time! After unpacking the car and putting the roof on for the night Brian and Georgie turn up. They had been visiting the injured in hospital which is a much better excuse than ours.

Tut and Verian (well, just Verian really!) have laid on a fabulous pig spit roast and lots of other good stuff. Some suculent pork, a large helping of potato salad and a bottle of beer. Bliss. After eating we find that the conservatory is empty and so we install ourselves in there, fighting for seats. We're missing Kev so we give him a call on the mobile and let him know where we are. He is instructed in no uncertain terms that he should arrive with plenty of beer. Kev obliges and now we're sorted. Simon starts telling stories of the day's driving. The more he drinks the bigger his imaginary steering wheel becomes. We end up navigating a boat round Knockhill...

More drinks and lots of laughs later it's time to hit the hay. But where? All the good spots are taken and we're looking at a night in the main hall. Eventually we discover that we can use one of the kid's rooms (thanks Claire). And it even has it's own toilet - result! The only problem is that Claire and her mates keep bursting into the room, giggling the way drunk girls do, trying to find something in the chest of drawers. I wouldn't mind so much but they keep turning the light on! Eventually they find what they're looking for and we get a reasonable night's sleep.