A page featuring galleries and links for cycle tours undertaken during May 2023.

I ride regularly, and I do not necessarily post a web page for each tour I do.

I do post to Facebook, Garmin Connect, Strava and occasionally to Komoot and Instagram.

Monthly Tours

Three Gö Scouting – May 28 2023

Andrea, Josh, and I set out to scout future Gö Gravel rides, and almost from the start even after a warning from Josh we found that one of my cunning plans was rubbish.

We then followed Josh´s wheel which led us into the forest riding single track and all sorts of cool terrain.

At ride end and having found out what doesn´t work we consumed beer und cake at the P-Café in Göttingen.

On Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9157556546

Gö Gravel Het Volk (Omloop) Social Ride – May 25 2023

We mixed asphalt and gravel Feldweg plus Betonweg with as little public road as possible (9.1km) on this evening Gö Gravel social ride.

There are 41.06 kilometres of Feldweg on the Het Volk (The Peoples Tour) and this includes 19 Gravel (16.3km), and 4 Kopfsteinpflaster Sectors (0.9km). We added a stretch of gravel at ride end as we rode to the P-Café for cookies.

Danke for the company: Rollo, Josh, Konstantin, Chris, Patrick, Alex, Sebastian, Kai, and Finn.

On Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9140239479

Mehr (Manifest/info): https://veloklubhaus.com/go-feldweg-het-volk-50km

Hoher Hagen in Gö – May 21 2023

We can see the Hoher Hagen and the Gauß Turm across the Leine Valley from our home, in fact most people can see it because it is the highest point in the Göttingen area at 492.5 metres.

Although Mary Poppins may tut with vigorous passive aggressiveness, I sang this song as we climbed to the highest heights.

Oh-oh-oh
Let’s go ride a bike
Up to the highest height
Let’s go ride a bike
And ride soaring
Up through the atmosphere
Up where the air is clear
Oh, let’s go ride a bike.

The Hoher Hagen was one of many datum points used by Carl Friedrich Gauß to formulate a way of measuring the Kingdom of Hannover during 1820 to 1826.

Gauß was able to triangulate the Hoher Hagen, the Brocken Mountain in the Harz (1,142m) and the Inselsberg in Thuringia (916m) with a low level of mathematical error despite the mountains being far apart and considering the Earths curvature plus other factors.

His work and development of mathematical surveying, plus his action with Wilhelm Weber to transmit the first telegraphic message in 1833, suggests to me that we could call Gauß the father of GPS and the patron of Strava.

Gauß died at Gö (1855) and atop the Hoher Hagen is the Gauß Turm named in his memory (51m). This was opened (1964) after the previous one fell (1963) due to Basalt mining directly below it. Despite the end of mining operations, the new tower almost followed suit and had to be repaired when cracks appeared soon after completion.

We descended from the Hoher Hagen via the Zum Hoher Hagen to Dransfeld, this being the principal ascent on the Tour D´Energie mass participation ride route. Looking across the town I could see the crash site of Lancaster aircraft JB320 which was shot down here with all lost-on board (1943).

We then rode back to Gö along the Dransfelder Rampe, an abandoned railway.

It was whilst riding back from the Hoher Hagen in May 2022 when I crashed….

Song Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNSler7jBWs Dick Van Dyke´s Cockney accent is priceless!

On Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9114119826

Kuchen Radfahrt in GÖ – May 18 2023

We rode for cake on what is a public holiday in DE.

Ascension Day is celebrated by some for its religious significance or for most its when men under the cover of it being also Father’s Day pull Bollenwagons stocked with beer around the trails.

Although the emergency services plan for increased drunkenness, we found the groups of drinkers friendly and they cheered us as we went by. What was noticeable was that almost all the groups we came across were not exclusively male.

We went past one huddle who were all young women. Times are changing, its seemingly no longer the pure domain of ´father´s´.

We climbed three big hills, with Craig riding to the top of an ´impossible´ ascent as we rode past sandstone cliffs that were once people´s homes over three thousand years ago.

The purpose of the ride was to partake of cake and this we did for the first time this year at the historic Spinnerei Gartetal.

On Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9094800517

Mehr: https://veloklubhaus.com/2023/05/14/may-2023-rides/

Surprised by Cats and Dogs in Gö – May 14 2023

I opted out of the super hilly Gö Gravel social ride (I will ride it on a future date) and instead at the ride start I handed out stamped brevet kartes.

Later at home I reported that it was very warm, and we need not take coats on our less strenuous tour, in fact it was warm until a very localised hailstorm and rain that came down like cats and dogs upon us.

We and so many others huddled under cover and whilst still raining we restarted only to find that it was dry and warm just one kilometre down the road.

A highlight on the ride was standing next to the one-thousand-year-old oak tree at Klein Schneen, which is actually under 300 years old. A magnificent tree, nonetheless.

On Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9070878645

Gö Feldweg Het Volk Omloop – May 12 2023

The Gö Feldweg Omloop collection of rides offer a mix of asphalt and gravel feldweg plus Betonweg with as little public road as possible.

This version has more gravel than the other Omloop routes and is similar to the Paris Roubaix inspired Gö Feldweg Omloop North. This ride has a page of its own with pictures, links and further information.

Knocking on Heavens Door in Gö – May 8 2023

A year to the day I was seemingly a few steps from heavens door when I somersaulted from my bike performing a perfect Salto, sadly my landing was rubbish and I hurt myself a lot!

Of course, I might have been having a conversation not with St Peter but with Beelzebub, but I am sure ´Old Harry´ would have been cool about it after all I fell from a CX bike, and it was not carbon.

It took me some 10 months to get over the accident first physically and then mentally, the latter being tough.

On this ride we enjoyed a warm Monday evening taking in a mix of gravel and feldweg, and we felt thankful to have moved on from what could have been worst.

On Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9035487124

Mehr: https://veloklubhaus.com/2023/05/04/may-2023-rides/

Gö Strade Bianche Traverse the Leinetal – May 7 2023

I rode out from the Gö Velodrome with the aim of crossing the valley going West to East. This ride has a page of its own.

Gö Gravel Thin Red Line – May 4 2023

Gö North Feldweg Omloop 48km (Omloop means circuit in Flemish).

The Gö Gravel evening social ride followed a thin red line traveling north of Gö reaching almost to Northeim.

No hills, but 26 sektors of gravel (20.4 km) and a mix of asphalt/Betonweg Feldweg, plus Radweg (25.15 km in total), with small sections of straße (0.7km).

This area north of Göttingen being pan flat reminds me of the Flanders Plain and Picardy in Northern France. The area is where Paris Roubaix, a monument of cycling is held annually except there are no coal slag heaps to be seen as is the case in France.

I rode my CX machine, mine outfitted with rim brakes and road pedals with tyres pumped up hard.

Danke Sandra, Josh, Jen, Chris, Ekki, and Franz for their company.

On Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9011447311

Bike Spring Clean in Gö – May 3 2023

We took a short ride to bathe in the sunshine and to see if dirt had been holding my bike together and now when clean whether it would fall to pieces.

After a tough and long winter my bike needed love, a good clean, spanner check, a quality new chain (Dura Ace), new disc pads and bar tape. Changing the disc pads was so much easier than refreshing and setting up cantilever rim brakes.

I have also gone for black bar tape a major departure for me because I normally opt for white, Andrea says it looks better, but I´m not sure although the white tape quickly looked nasty and grimy. The Ergon Allroad tape (www.ergonbike.com) is grippy and plush – danke Josh!

The bike feels like new!

On Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9002809850