The intention was to kick off the next scouting ride for the All Along the Watchtowers ride where I last left off and make the climb up to the Gleichen Hills and their castles. I would then return to Göttingen via the final watchtower at Diemarden. Alas, when I showed someone my route and outlined the background to the ride, they pointed out that I had missed out the watchtower at Roringen. Duh!

So, we set out over the Kehr and into the valley across the Lutter River and picked up the route at the start of the Bratental (Roast Dinner Valley) at 8km, this took us to the Roringen Warte. The watchtower looks over the road into Göttingen from the Harz Mountains. This is a cool watchtower and I am pictured sitting in what would have once been a garbage or toilet shaft.

After much thought we decided that it would be a shame to miss out the long fast descent of the Bratental, mind the culverts and potholes, thus we made the trip to the watchtower into a loop that made it possible to combine both.

Thereafter we returned via whence we came and drank beer at the Kehr before descending to the Steinmuhle where we broke away from the All Along the Watchtower route at 29km. The rest was a simple spin back home along the now lost narrow gauge railway.

I had fitted Panaracer Gravel Kings on the winter cross (& guest) bike and it really made it so much more stable over the rough stuff than the previous cyclo cross tyres, a bit of a game changer. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the 38mm fitted nicely on the front and the 35 on the rear with clearance to spare.

P.s. Andrea is a founder member of the London Phoenix.

The Ride
Garmin Connect: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4553304615
Strava – https://www.strava.com/activities/3102257883