Burma Rd - Aviemore
Distance: 48km
Neeps Fitness: Hard
Neeps technical Grading : Easy Red
Campsite : Rothiemurchus Estate
Route Direction: Anticlockwise.
The route came from kenny Wilsons book on mountain biking in Scotland. We started and ended at the campsite in Rothiemurchus, so there was no faffing with cars in the morning. From Rothiemurchus campsie to Boat of Garten we followed the superb, well signposted and newly built sustrans no 7 cycling route which meant we used quiet mainly car free roads.
The idea for the camp site came from the Cool Camping Scotland book. We arrived at reception to a sign that said that told us the camp site was fully booked for tents, luckily we have booked ours a week earlier. The camp site is within the Rothiemurchus forest and tents are kept some distance apart. In fact they could have fitted twice as many tents onto the site but I got the impression this was a well managed site and we were not kept up all night by groups. I would highly recommend staying here. 
The route involved a fair bit of navigating and was lengthy, feeling pretty remote in some sections.
Jayne crossing over a steep bridge wierdly placed in the middle of a flat field. 
We stopped at this bridge to fill up with water. It was a hot and sunny day. 
In the distance about 3/4 of the way around the route we caught our first glimpse of the steep Burma Rd.
There was a strong head wind and Jayne looked at me and said "Whose flipping idea was this?". At which point I said nothing but quietly thought to myself that perhaps, this time, I had bitten off more than I could chew.
In first gear in the headwind on the flat gradient wondering how I was going to get up this thing. Various 'head' tactics were used during the ascent including telling myself the headwind would lessen as I got nearer the hill as it would be obstructed by the hill.
Finally at the top looking of the Burma Rd, looking down on a long descent. Some guide books suggest cycling this route in a clockwise direction. This long descent becomes very steep and loose and as I cycled down it I doubted whether I personally could ride back up this road (i.e. In the clockwise direction). Jayne, however disagreed and predicted that all three of us would make it back up the road we were descending. This however will be another trip to the burma rd and the fitness grading would need to be "extra hard"!