Maybe the cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy is not a morning person. “Whose is the grey bike?” he booms in his thick Edinburgh accent. Panic sets in. I shuffle forward and admit it’s mine. “Nice bike, mate. Is it titanium?” I breathe a sigh of relief — this Olympic gold-medallist knows a thing or two about precious metals.
We’ll shortly be going out on a 50-mile ride through the Highlands with LeBlanq, a new outfit that does luxury cycling and dining. So while the six-time Olympic champion might be the legend in Lycra, the event’s other star attraction is wearing whites — he’s Ashley Palmer-Watts, former head chef at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in Berkshire. This trip isn’t for those wary of calorie intake or financial expense; LeBlanq is for people who like their food prepared by world-class chefs in bucket-list locations, in the company of cycling stars.
When we arrive in Aberfeldy, a small town south of the Cairngorms, the 19 other “joyriders” and I are briefed: we’ll do a 15-mile ride to wake up the legs after our journey. While I change into my cycling kit my bike is unpacked from the car, and has its wheels attached, gears aligned and brakes checked by the former international cyclist Kenny Riddle, who runs a bike shop in Inverness.
No level of attention to detail can cater for the weather, though, so when the heavens open we decide to wait it out. “I spent a week in quarantine with my parents to be here,” says Wes, a British banker based in the US.
Spirits are high as we finally start our ride through the glens. The moisture hangs thick in the air. There’s a rumble close behind — not thunder, but the sound of an Aston Martin DB11. James Bond’s car of choice is our support vehicle, with a mechanic at the wheel, making the trip more Goldfinger than cold fingers.
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We stop briefly for a glass of champagne on the banks of Loch Tay, then turn back to Dun Aluinn, our base for the weekend. It is the kind of house that features in interior design magazines, but there’s a lot of cycling kit now strewn across my kingsize bed. Perhaps the butler can help?
“Too often cycling trips are associated with bad food and harsh conditions,” says Justin Clarke, LeBlanq’s founder, who was a professional cyclist before going on to run the Taste food festivals. “Many people believe cycling is only about pain and suffering, but it doesn’t have to be.”
I spare a thought for the riders in this year’s Tour de France as I tuck into a wild mushroom and potato gratin with smoky beetroot puree — they might like to swap their energy gels for jus like this. Palmer-Watts pioneered some of the more inventive dishes at the Fat Duck, including snail porridge. But in the morning, when he sets down a bowl in front of me at the breakfast table, I’m pleased to see that it contains nothing more than oats and milk.
Kitted up and briefed on the two rides on offer — the longer one has an additional 20-mile loop — we split up and set off. Both options are bookended by ascents of Schiehallion, which at more than 3,500ft is the biggest climb around these parts.
Hoy may have joined the shorter ride today, but we’ve got the 1993 Tour of Britain winner Chris Lillywhite and the former GB triathlete Annie Emmerson for company. It’s not long before our ride — along a road that is bizarrely peppered with hundreds of squashed frogs — starts to rise, and continues to do so for the next four miles. The pace is gentle enough to allow for a chat as the route winds through muggy forests of Scots pines, with ski runs visible across the valley.
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The first ascent ticked off, it’s down the other side and a two-hour ride on the flat roads around Loch Rannoch, one of 40 national scenic areas in Scotland. We’re presented with postcard views at every turn, and our “oohs” and “ahs” cause much annoyance for the locals quietly fishing for trout in the black water.
The second ascent of Schiehallion is up the shorter, steeper side. Three quarters of the way up, as the green pines make way for the purples of wild heather, we spot a LeBlanq gazebo. “Continue if you want,” is the message from Clarke, “but why not grab a coffee and take in the view?”
It is lunchtime when we arrive back at Dun Aluinn, and my bike is taken away for a clean. It’s a nice touch that ensures I don’t have to borrow one of the 600-thread-count sheets from my bed to wipe off the road grime.
Instead, I am ushered through to the patio. While we’ve been slogging up hills, the chefs have been slaving over a charcoal grill. “Burger, anyone?” Palmer-Watts asks. My vegetarian option is asparagus and cauliflower tempura, shaved truffle and béarnaise sauce, all sandwiched in a brioche bun. Then it’s off for a massage, followed by a soak in the wood-fired outdoor hot tub.
Dinner is a culinary tribute to Hoy’s Olympic medals, with each course inspired by the cuisine of the countries where he won gold: Greece (one), China (three) and the UK (two). With our plates cleared and glasses refilled, we gather on the sofa as Hoy takes his place in front of Dun Aluinn’s statement whisky cabinet — full of single malts — and begins to talk.
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Finn, a drama student from Fife who has been given this weekend as a gift for his 21st birthday, has the best view as Hoy tells the story of winning his first Olympic gold in the 1km time trial at Athens 2004. As he pulls the medal out of his pocket and shows it around, he admits to having struggled to find it in his sock drawer the day before.
“Time for a golden dram,” announces Matthew Cordiner, global malts ambassador at Dewar’s, which has a distillery in Aberfeldy. After teaching us about the five types of grain and malt whiskies, he pours us a finger each of a 40-year-old, honey-nosed single malt that costs £2,500 a bottle.
Our Sunday ride is a more leisurely affair, with the two groups going east into the Caledonian Forest. Hoy joins my team as we tackle an extra loop around four small lochs. We stop to toast the weekend with a glass of Laurent-Perrier by the river at Dunkeld, and talk about LeBlanq’s upcoming trips: the Isle of Wight with Bradley Wiggins and the French chef Claude Bosi, from Bibendum in London, in September; Champagne with the Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx and Raymond Blanc in October. Norway, the Dolomites and Ibiza will be added to the schedule next year, and there are spas and vineyard tours for non-riding partners.
Cordiner has insisted that we pop in for a look behind the scenes at the Dewar’s distillery. When we arrive we’re greeted with a citrus and camomile tea mocktail — a refreshing treat on a humid day — and examine the huge copper stills glinting in the sunshine.
Hoy sets the pace towards Dun Aluinn, and finally the Aberfeldy sign appears ahead — for road cyclists that means the opportunity for a sprint, with bragging rights for the first to pass it. Hoy doesn’t push it — even in retirement he can generate 2,000 watts, which is twice as much as my personal power best. But as I roll my front wheel past the sign in first place, I’m already thinking about how I’ll tell my own golden tale when I get home.
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Luke Sikkema was a guest of LeBlanq, which has full-board cycling weekends from £2,045 for riders and £1,795 for non-riders (leblanq.com)
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