A ride in celebration of the Strade Bianche race held in Tuscany, Italy.

This tour featured the ´Weißen Straßen´ of Göttingen plus concrete, dirt, asphalt cycle paths and public roads.

I began the Strade Bianche de Gutingi at the Gö velodrome and 51 gravel sectors followed.

The route took me along the Leine Valley north to south and early on I added a west side loop to the previous versions of this ride. This extended route also saw me include more gravel sectors which took me into the old DDR after Friedland.

The return from behind the Íron Curtain offers an opportunity to visit the cafe at Besenhausen before the route begins the hilly east side return leg, the climbs here are both short and longer drags, either way they make your legs ache.

The last climb took me up to the Diemarden Warte followed by a drop down to Geismar via a gnarly section where in 2020 I split my helmet when I crashed at speed. Next, eight flat gravel sections come after Geismar before I arrive back at the velodrome where I undertook one lap.

I visited the states of Hesse, Thuringia and Lower Saxony.

Links
Strade Bianche de Gutingi – English and German featuring a number of different distance routes (+ video links to the race).

The 84km route in greater detail.

The Ride – 84km
The eastern hilly return leg was hard on me, but the now blooming Sunflowers which border so many trails perked me up! 

51 Gravel sectors: 42.4km (approx.)
Public asphalt roads: 11.6km (approx.)
Farm roads/Cycle paths/Betonweg: 30.0km (approx.)

Garmin Connect: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7222236335
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/5716848416

Pictures in order of appearance