Josh Schenk is the first person outside of my immediate bubble that I have met and gone out to play with since February when we began the Covid-19 lock down. We talked and talked. My lack of gravel hill climbing saw me struggle on one long ascent, but and I say this with glee –… Continue Reading

We rode a mix of gravel and road to Bisenhausen which was once pushed up against the now defunct Internal Grenze that split Germany down the centre. The farming complex of buildings that make up Bisenhausen are typical for the area and it was owned by the Hanstein nobility. After World War Two it was… Continue Reading

Cycling is the perfect excuse to eat cake. Another relaxed ride putting as little pressure on Andrea´s knee as possible following sections of the Gutingi Strade Bianche. To eat cake here you must fill in a form to aid contact tracing, you must also socially distance and there are hand wash facilities. Sadly I lost… Continue Reading

Monday was a bank holiday for Whitsun/Pentecost and finally we rode to eat cake! Hooray! This time we added a hill to test Andrea´s knee which is giving her trouble. The wild spring flowers are really brightening everything up and I have been told they are planted especially for the benefit of bees and other… Continue Reading

The theory is if we stick to the flat gravel trails of the Leine Valley and miss out hills etc. plus keep to a cool pace it will allow Andrea´s knee to heal. It seems to be working. Hooray! We also bought strawberries and cake. Hooray! The Ride Garmin Connect: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/5007678021 Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/3530946813 Cycle Fahrrad… Continue Reading

It was Ascension Day in Göttingen and a public holiday which traditionally is also Vaterstag. What this means is that men get together and drag a small cart about full of beer, they slowly get drunk. In this time of Covid-19 social distancing the usual large groups were not seen by us, usually you come… Continue Reading

Riding a well-known circuit helps you judge your fitness as you recover from illness or injury, this time I went just a wee bit further adding a known section of forest trails and new gravel (new to me). I rode through the Hainberg Forest, across the old Panzer base at Kerstlingeröder Feld, followed by the… Continue Reading

I managed four rides in April, and this was my first in May. Near the end of March I caught something which I doubt was the Covid-19 virus, and I just couldn´t get rid of it. I had felt rotten in late March, felt better two weeks into April and then felt bad once more.… Continue Reading

A final scouting ride for the All Along the Watchtower ride (number 10) started in the Hainberg Forest and then I rode along the old medieval city wall (starting at the closed theatre) to pick up the start of the intended ride at 4.3km. The route will start at the Jewish Memorial dedicated to those… Continue Reading

Almost everything is closed here in Germany because of the Covid-19 Pandemic sweeping the world and many are working from home or just having no work. Lots of people are taking their children for a walk or cycle or like me riding bikes. Most seem happy to be social distancing, but I fear that unless… Continue Reading

We took a short ride at a gentle pace to allow us to soak in the sunshine (Scouting All Along the Watchtowers 8). We stopped a lot for this very purpose. (I even wore my white summer MTB shoes) When we first moved from London to Göttingen our first rides were at Kerstlingeröderfeld, a large… Continue Reading

Now part of the ´Göttingen Stadtwald´ Natur Park and open to all, Kerstlingeröder Feld and a large area around it was once a major front line Nato/Bundeswehr Panzer Base. The Panzer Grenadiers based there would often respond to increased alerts by driving just 15km to the Iron Curtain to face the combined might of the… Continue Reading

OK, don´t tell anyone that I scouted a section of All Along the Watchtower on foot, but in my defence, it was hard on the legs and the terrain was challenging at times. Despite no pedals to turn I must admit it was fun. What was cool is that I found another warte, this being… Continue Reading

TourThe sun was shining for a second day and we needed no coaxing to ride again to enable us to soak up the warmth to help recovery from a bug. The proposed All Along the Watchtower gravel ride has taken yet another new turn with the possible introduction of the Rosdorf Warte atop the Wartberg.… Continue Reading

OK, so how do places get named? This crossed our minds when we got to the Lumpensammler Buche or Rag Collectors Beech. The German language can be fun, but don´t ask Mark Twain because he would have told you that it is “awful”, I rather would say that it is confusing. Today, the ride took… Continue Reading

I finally rode the long haul up to the Gleichen Hills hindered just a wee bit by fallen trees across the route. The Gleichen Hills can be seen from a long way off and although almost all the castle on the Neu Gleichen has been rubbed out – the closely adjacent Alte Gleichen features a… Continue Reading

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… Continue Reading

Many horses seemed to be laughing with us and not at us as we respectfully passed them by. It was a day for broad grins and smiles. Helmfried and I met at the velodrome and then followed our noses, deciding which way to proceed by simply picking the coolest looking trail. It was tough at… Continue Reading

We rode out of Lower Saxony into Thuringia on a cold day in more ways than one for the former East German state. This must have been a recovery ride for Josh Schenk who has plans for some great rides in 2020 and he led us out to the old internal border which is now… Continue Reading

After the steady ascent of the cobbled climb through the Zieten Terrace (nee barracks) I began where I left off scouting a gravel ride that features local castles and watchtowers etc. Last time I visited the Grona (now just a monument stone) and the almost intact Plesse Burge (castles) plus the Dreckwarte and Die Rieswarte… Continue Reading

It rained and it snowed (more like sleet) and I got cold and wet scouting ´All Along the Watchtowers´ an idea for a gravel burgen (castle) ride. I started at Judenplatz where once stood a synagogue which was burnt to the ground in 1930´s by the Nazi´s, a fitting place to start my ride of… Continue Reading

Gravel/Road RideAfter the successful screening of the film For the Love of Mud the evening before five of us met at the velodrome on what was a cold day. Being dry there was little chance of black ice. When I comment on the weather to locals, they often remind me that it can reach minus… Continue Reading

At the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt (1806) Napoleon Bonaparte defeated a combined Prussian/Saxony Army and occupied the 460 states that made up ´Germany´ at the time. Napoleon subsequently reduced the myriad of statelets once overseen by the Holy Roman Empire (Austria) to just 32 and he made his younger brother Jerome monarch of Westphalia, which included… Continue Reading

A brand-new bike was inducted into the world of gravel riding this day when we were joined by gravel debutant David who was riding a very clean and new Cannondale Top Stone. It didn´t take long for the Love of Mud to draw us onto the wet stuff and we hit what in summer is… Continue Reading