Bank Holiday Monday was the end of our holiday and time to start back home. The initial part of our journey was a cycle ride from Midmar to Aberdeen. It was another nice day as we set off.

Initially, we passed through Comers, retracing part of the route we had taken a few days previously.

We finally reached Echt and it was at this point that our route started to differ. When we had cycled to Midmar we had gone via Drum Castle but this time we took the straight route back towards Aberdeen.

The views along the route we still great.

We passed through Garlogie along the way.

Even away from the hills, there was heather out in bloom making the verges look purple in patches.

We turned off the main road as it started to get a little busier and made our way onto a quieter road that ran parallel with the B9119.

Although some of the roads were wet, it didn’t rain on us.

Just like on the Coast & Castles North Ride, we passed under the new Aberdeen bypass road that is being built.

Even as we came into the outskirts of Aberdeen, we managed to stick to quite routes.

There was an interesting monument on Justice Mill Lane.

Before long we were back at Aberdeen’s Union Street Station, where the Coast & Castle North Ride had finished, just a few days before.

Having reached Aberdeen, we then had a long train journey back to Stockport. Our first train took us to Edinburgh, where we had nearly 3 hours to wait for our next train – a good opportunity to go and get something to eat. We finally manage to get a train from Edinburgh to Manchester and then another from Manchester to Stockport.

By the time we got home, it was about 22:15. A late finish to what had been a fabulous Coast & Castles North tour