Tour # 2.
Stonehaven - Aberdeen - Banchory - Aberdeen
120 km.
Approx. total hill climb: 600 meters.
Highest point: Cairn O Mount 475 meters above sea level.
Traffic: Light to Moderate
Severity Rating: *****
Fun rating: ****

How to get to Stonehaven: Train from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness and London.

This tour combine some medium heavy cycling along the North Sea between Stonehaven and Montrose with hard inland & mountain cycling between Montrose and Aberdeen. Cairn O Mount is among the steepest in mountains in Scotland and United Kingdom. The cycle trip is very varied. It is recommended for it's variety. It is a very exposed tour in bad weather. This cycle trip is strictly a nice weather tour.

The road out of Stonehaven is steep up to the A 90/A 92 crossroad. Take the Coastal Road (A 92) towards Inverbervie. The road is gently up and down. No particular difficulties. The road descends down to Inverbervie (shops) and goes up again after passing this town. The road towards Montrose is mainly flat, with a small hill after the bridge over River North Esk.
Just before Montrose, the road (A 937) towards Marykirk follows the railway line towards Aberdeen. The climb up to Marykirk is very modest. When entering this small village, take the small road (A 974) towards Fettercairn. After some kilometers, you will cross the motorway (A 90) before you continue over the flatlands to Fettercairn. This small village is worthy a long stop. The Old Fettercairn distillery is also nearby. The road continues in a gentle climb until it climb steep and then drop down into a small, narrow valley. The small restaurant (where cyclists is very welcome) is an obligatory stop. Some meters after this restaurant, the road goes into a vertical climb for several kilometres. The gradient is close to 20 %. The climb flattens out for half a kilometre, before the last and steepest part of the climb. The view from the top is worthy of all the sweat and blood shed on this climb. The descent down from the top towards Banchory is long and is broken by several, nasty sharp climbs. Down in the valley at Strachan, the road flattens out before a small descent into Banchory. The busy road (A 93) from Banchory to Aberdeen is quite flat with no particular problems.