July 1, 2025
St. Andrews to Kinross

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We are off on another segment of our adventure. Today we were due to meet our friends Eric and Melinda from Bend. They flew into Glasgow a few days ago and were making their way to Edinburgh to pick up a couple of e-bikes to join us for two weeks riding through Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. This is their sophomore bike tour. They met us last summer in France and we spent a week riding together in the Loire Valley. The plan today was to meet them in Kinross on Loch Leven. This meant they would ride from Edinburgh whereas we would backtrack from St. Andrews and rendezvous at the Kirklands Hotel in the village of Kinross.
We had a tough start to the day. We enjoyed splitting a sausage bun (or whatever the Scots call them) and tea in our little suite but then as we were packing up to leave, I couldn’t locate my yellow rain jacket. I was pretty sure I hadn’t used it for the last 48 hours (it was warm in St. Andrews) but we tore the suite apart and then reopened our fully packed panniers to search for it - to no avail. I then made a list of all the places we had been since we arrived so we could retrace our steps to see if I left it anywhere. We made our way down to the lobby feeling pretty bummed but fortunately the front desk clerk Olivia, remembered it had been turned in and returned it! We were very happy.
We had a good ride to Kinross, the first half being retracing our ride in for two days previously. It was cold and we got a little spitting rain, but it wasn't too bad. I had identified a cafe on the route to eat lunch, but before we arrived we came to the Falkland Estate which had a cafe and we stopped there instead. The Falkland Estate is now run by a charitable organization but it is an historical estate visited by Mary Queen of Scots and other royals. (It was featured on the Outlander series). After a forgettable sandwich (soft white bread, a slice of processed ham, and butter - very British) we rode through the forest associated with the Estate and it was very enjoyable.

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1 week ago
We also saw these cows with an interesting white stripe, which are belted Galloway cows, a traditional Scottish breed of beef cattle. It derives from the Galloway stock of the Galloway region of south-western Scotland.

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At the end of the ride we rode for about 8 km on the Loch Leven Heritage Trail, which was an A plus gravel trail with lots of bird nesting activity. It encircles the entire loch (21 km) but we only rode that part that sent us to Kinross. It would be a wonderful amenity if you lived in the area.
We learned that Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned at Loch Leven Castle for a year in 1567 and dramatically escaped, but not before she was forced to abdicate the throne.
We arrived at the Kirklands Hotel where we greeted by Cameron, who worked the front desk (and just about every other position in the hotel), and he helped us check in, carried our luggage up two flights of stairs to our large and airy room and rearranged things so we could get a tub in our room. Kirklands Hotel was a classic solid, but worn British hotel.
A few minutes after we got settled Eric and Melinda arrived, having had a more or less smooth ride in from Edinburgh over the Forth Bridge, just as we had done a few days ago when we were on our way to St. Andrews. It was great to see them and of course we all had lots of news to share that night at dinner. They have gotten to know the folks housesitting for us, Scott and Ann, as they live right across the street from us in Bend. Eric had his first shot of Scotch whisky, and Cameron kindly gave him a primer on whisky and how to drink it, to no small amount of merriment at the table from the rest of us. To Eric’s credit, he was game to try it!

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We are excited to get on the road tomorrow.
Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 2,165 km (1,344 miles)
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