Route Out – Vane Farm to Kinross to Loch Leven’s Larder. Starting point is here. Then follow the cycle path round the loch in clockwise direction (path not shown on Google Maps but it’s impossible to get lost…).
Route Back – Loch Leven’s Larder to Vane Farm.
- Weather – mostly cloudy, some sunny intervals, very warm and quite windy.
- Distance travelled – 13.67 miles
- Riding time – 1 hour 20 minutes
- Maximum speed – 19.0 mph
- Average speed 10.2 mph
Last Sunday (31st July) I went for a nice short cycle around Loch Leven in Perth and Kinross with Dad and two special guests, my sister Isla and my Mum. The route is all off road, not too far and almost all flat so was easy enough for Mum to come too. She is not a very experienced cyclist and doesn’t like going on proper roads (she thinks roads are very dangerous), so this was perfect for her. Actually, most of the roads we cycle on have hardly any traffic so are quite safe I think. In many ways, cycle paths like the one at Loch Leven are more dangerous because they are so busy (especially at the weekend) and have many more hazzards to watch out for: young children learning to ride their bikes, dogs, pedestrians, push chairs and worst of all, stupid cyclists who think it’s OK to ride on the right hand side of the path and refuse to move across to the left to let you passed. Also, although the path is a really good surface most of the way, it is quite narrow in places and very overgrown at the sides with nettles, thistles and wild raspberries so you have to take care not to go too near the edge.
We got lots of nice views of the loch as well as the Fife and Perthshire hills today. We also spent a lot of time foraging for raspberries and really stuffed our faces. However, by midday we were still hungry so decided to take a slight detour off the main path and stopped for lunch at Loch Leven’s Larder. I had a smoked haddock quiche which was very tasty. We sat outside for lunch and noticed there were loads of annoying wasps flying around. Luckily for us, they weren’t at all interested in quiche, but did seem to be enjoying the fizzy drinks that the people at every other table were drinking…
One thing to note about this route is that if you park at Vane Farm like we did, you have to go down and then back up some steep steps to go under the underpass which takes you to the start of the path on the other side of the B9097 road. This wasn’t very easy with bikes so parking at the waterside in Kinross might be a better starting point, especially if you have small children. There’s also a nice play park there to keep the kids amused whilst you load the bikes off and on the car.
Rowan's Recommended Riding Routes 