Aberdeen

MiniMalts
MiniMalts Posts: 266
edited October 2015 in Road beginners
Any beginners from Aberdeen on here?

Comments

  • Me!
  • I work up that way, and what I would say is , be careful ffs. There seems to be more folk killed in rta`s in Aberdeen than anywhere else. The standard of driving up there is chronic.

    Some cracking back roads mind.
    Trek,,,, too cool for school ,, apparently
  • MiniMalts
    MiniMalts Posts: 266
    Just looked through some of your previous posts. :shock: Hardly a beginner. ;)

    Any clubs around here? nothing competitive though..
  • MiniMalts
    MiniMalts Posts: 266
    I work up that way, and what I would say is , be careful ffs. There seems to be more folk killed in rta`s in Aberdeen than anywhere else. The standard of driving up there is chronic.

    Some cracking back roads mind.

    Yes, the standard of driving up here is shocking. :shock: :shock: I'm trying to avoid cycling on the roads and have been cycling up and down the Deeside Way going as far as Banchory and back.

    The state of some of the roads in the city are shocking too. :shock:
  • navrig2
    navrig2 Posts: 1,833
    I work up that way, and what I would say is , be careful ffs. There seems to be more folk killed in rta`s in Aberdeen than anywhere else. The standard of driving up there is chronic.

    Some cracking back roads mind.

    Yes, the standard of driving up here is shocking. :shock: :shock: I'm trying to avoid cycling on the roads and have been cycling up and down the Deeside Way going as far as Banchory and back.

    The state of some of the roads in the city are shocking too. :shock:

    Head away from the Deeside roads and I think you'll find the roads in better condition and quieter (depending on day and time of day).

    Head out of Aberdeen via Counteswells, Blacktop, Contlaw etc.
  • andcp
    andcp Posts: 644
    Hello Aberdonians (and others),

    Slightly o/t, but my 'lad' is considering Aberdeen as an option for when he goes to university. He's a keen road rider, and loves the hills. Out of the city, what's the area like for cycling?

    Thanks, Andy.
    "It must be true, it's on the internet" - Winston Churchill
  • navrig2
    navrig2 Posts: 1,833
    Hello Aberdonians (and others),

    Slightly o/t, but my 'lad' is considering Aberdeen as an option for when he goes to university. He's a keen road rider, and loves the hills. Out of the city, what's the area like for cycling?

    Thanks, Andy.

    It's pretty good even just for the fact that Aberdeen is a fairly compact city and it doesn't take long to get to into the country and quiet back roads. A bit further and you get rolling hills and even further you get some cracking hills.

    http://www.aberdeenwheelers.com/

    http://www.deeside.org/

    https://www.ausa.org.uk/sports/aurcc/

    http://auroadcycling.wix.com/aurcc

    Have a search on Strava and you'll find plenty of routes.

    Being on the east coast it is that bit drier than the west but you'll get the coastal breeze and occasional haar.

    There is a disused railway line which you can you use to get out to the west of the city without using roads and thereafter you are more or less into the countryside (just be careful the disused rail line is well used by walkers and casual cyclists so you have to take it easy for those first few miles).
  • MiniMalts
    MiniMalts Posts: 266
    Hello Aberdonians (and others),

    Slightly o/t, but my 'lad' is considering Aberdeen as an option for when he goes to university. He's a keen road rider, and loves the hills. Out of the city, what's the area like for cycling?

    Thanks, Andy.

    It's pretty good even just for the fact that Aberdeen is a fairly compact city and it doesn't take long to get to into the country and quiet back roads. A bit further and you get rolling hills and even further you get some cracking hills.

    http://www.aberdeenwheelers.com/

    http://www.deeside.org/

    https://www.ausa.org.uk/sports/aurcc/

    http://auroadcycling.wix.com/aurcc

    Have a search on Strava and you'll find plenty of routes.

    Being on the east coast it is that bit drier than the west but you'll get the coastal breeze and occasional haar.

    There is a disused railway line which you can you use to get out to the west of the city without using roads and thereafter you are more or less into the countryside (just be careful the disused rail line is well used by walkers and casual cyclists so you have to take it easy for those first few miles).

    Yep, I second all of that.

    I'm getting bored of the Deeside way, walkers that refuse to move out of your way and stand in the middle of the path and only move once you've slowed to the point you've basically stopped, dog walkers that don't keep their dogs on a lead and have a cheek to moan at you when you've slowed right down for nearly hitting the dog because it's wandered in to your path at the last minute. And don't even get me started on the tonnes of horse carp all over the place. I saw a rider hit a patch today that had been flattened and he came off his bike, what a mess he was in and the horse and riders I passed further on I stopped to speak to them about the amount of horse carp on the path and they threw their noses up in the air and carried on.

    There are two disused railway lines. The second starts in the corner of Dyce train station car park and will take you all the way up to Fraserburgh or Peterhead I think part of it is part of NCR 1 that goes on to Elgin, Inverness and beyond.
  • andcp
    andcp Posts: 644
    Thanks both, appreciate the help. I never thought of looking on Strava....d'oh!
    "It must be true, it's on the internet" - Winston Churchill
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    Appreciate I'm very late to the party here but another route I often use out of town is the hill off leggart terrace (also probably the best hill for training on near to the city). If you go out from Duthie Park you can get out past the A90 roundabout on bike paths (ish - it's just footpath round the actual a90 roundabout traffic lights). You can do a few really nice runs going out that way. A short-ish (~30km) ride I often do is up that climb then follow the National route 1 back in round the coast.

    Unfortunately I haven't really found a way out to the North except King Street but there's quiet roads which just go on and on out that way. I do sometimes use the cobbled route if I feel like pretending I'm in Paris-Roubaix, I find it good fun.

    I lived in Manchester centre before Aberdeen, Aberdeen is a joy by comparison. Agree that the road surface is terrible. But so long as you avoid the North and South Deeside roads between Aberdeen and Banchory it's not too bad traffic-wise.

    Deeside Thistle do a run from Banchory on Sunday, the "club run" pace is extremely sociable, there's a medium and fast group too usually. Normally Ballater and back, occasionally Queen's View. I went out with them (well the fast group ;) ) a couple of times at the start of the season but getting out to Banchory for 10am on a Sunday always feels like too much effort for me when I have quite a few mates (+girlfriend) who are usually up for café runs from Aberdeen centre.

    Go climb Cairn o' Mount, it's fun. Nice ~100km loop from Aberdeen with café stops ;)