The time has come, the sun is thinking about shining and both cafes are open again! That's right, The Great Coffee Apothecary link up is back! The aim - to get between both our cafes as fast as you can by human power and get rewarded with some tasty treats! Now that we are open in the evenings again in Ellon this is the perfect evening jaunt!
If you can remember back to the summer of 2019 when no one had even heard of covid we had a challenge going to get between our two cafes through human power! I guess it never really stopped happening but the cafes had to stop for quite a while so now we want to fire it up again. I (Jonny) ran from the front door of our Ellon cafe to the front door of our Udny cafe just before this lockdown finished (been a bit too busy since then to do it again) down the old railway line and down the 'drovers road'. This can be the first time on the board for this year which can set the ball rolling. It is a great run and now with the drovers road in the route as it is much more passable it means there aren't even any roads on the route at all!
Here's the scoop!
- Get between the two cafes on the route on the map below.
- Use any form of man powered transport you fancy - walk, run, cycle, pogo stick, ride a unicorn, ............. be inventive.
- Track your journey with one of the very many apps out there that do that for you.
- Show the staff at the destination cafe your phone with the tracking and get on the leader board.
- If you top the leader board in your discipline then you get a drink and a cake on the house.
- If you beat your previous time on the leader board (which you always will first time) then get 25% off a drink and cake.
- If you don't beat your previous time but still make it, grab 10% off your drink and cake! (meals excluded in all discounts)
Here's the route and time from my tracking
We think it is just amazing that you can get between the two cafes without being on the roads at all and with the total distance being 9.26km it the perfect distance for a good outing! In 2019 when we first did this the 'drovers road' that links the Udny cafe to the old railway line was pretty unpassable. This year it is in much better shape with improvements in the pipeline to make it even better. If you don't fancy that part of it feel free to use the main road between Logierieve and the Udny cafe. The only other thing to mention is that we also have a category for the lycra clad, mean machines that ride road bikes that aren't really suitable for the old railway line, just pick your fastest route and beat the rest!
If you want to look at the route more closely, check it out below